Symphonic Distress (2022)
SYNOPSIS
The music came first: a mixed contemporary piece by composer Yuliya
Zakharava, in which instrumentalist Pamela Reimer plays a piano score,
while also triggering prerecorded sequences and incorporating vocal
and percussive elements. Asked to provide a visual component for the
work, I was struck and conquered by its intensity and beauty from the
very first listen. Although both the music and the film are in themselves
apolitical and stateless, the wish to collaborate and the urgent impulse
to express ourselves through art have been exacerbated by the outbreak
of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The intention, therefore, while avoiding
any direct reference to war, is to tacitly evoke certain universal emotions
born out of its consequences: fear, suffering, outrage, vulnerability,
abnegation, hope.
TECHNICAL SUMMARY
Experimental short film / Music video • Runtime: 10:04 • 4K Video
Color / Black and white • Aspect ratio: 1,33:1 • Language: Silent film
CREDITS
Screenwriting, directing, photography, editing, production:
Marco Joubert
Composer: Yuliya Zakharava
Piano, voice, percussions: Pamela Reimer
Interpretation: Marie Tifo
Puppeteer: Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw
Extras / Hands: Marco Joubert, Pamela Reimer
Animals: Camouflage, Clara, Cosmos
With support from:
FILMS
Marco Joubert | Filmmaker + cinegrapher
PHOTOGRAPHY
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
Winner: Best Music Video, Aasha International Film Festival, Nashik, India, 2023
Winner: Best Experimental Film, Cinema Cappuccino, Jaipur, India, 2023
Winner: Best Music Video, Ciudad del Este Independent Film Festival, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, 2023
Winner: Best Experimental Short Film, RIFFA - Regina Int. Film Festival and Awards, Regina, Canada, 2023
Winner: Best Experimental Short, Top Indie Film Awards, Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Winner: Best Editing, Top Indie Film Awards, Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Nominee: Best Experimental, Busan New Wave Short Film Festival, Busan, South Korea, 2023
Nominee: Best Music Video, Top Indie Film Awards, Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Nominee: Best Original Idea, Top Indie Film Awards, Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Nominee: Best Music, Top Indie Film Awards, Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Official Selection + Honorable Mention, Festival de Sorocaba, Sorocaba, Brazil, 2023
Official Selection, Anti-War International Independent Film Festival, Jõhvi, Estonia, 2023
Official Selection, Astana International Short Film Festival, Astana, Kazakhstan, 2023
Official Selection, Athens International Digital Film Festival, Athens, Greece, 2023
Official Selection, Black Cat Award International Film Festival, La Paz, Bolivia, 2023
Official Selection, Cut International Short Film Festival, Millville, United States, 2023
Official Selection, Ekurhuleni International Film Festival, Germiston, South Africa, 2023
Official Selection, Encuentro para Cinéfagos - Fest. de CineArte en la Frontera, San Cristóbal, Venezuela, 2023
Official Selection, Festival Fotogenia, Mexico City, Mexico, 2023
Official Selection, Festival Internacional de Cine Austral, Córdoba, Argentina, 2023
Official Selection, Ícaro Festival Internacional de Cine en Centroamérica, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 2023
Official Selection, Indefilm Fest Le Havre, Le Havre, France, 2023
Official Selection, La Fábrica - Festival de Cine de Tocancipá, Tocancipá, Colombia, 2023
Official Selection, MARFEST - Matanza Reel Festival, La Matanza, Argentina, 2023
Official Selection, On Art Dance & Music, Warsaw, Poland, 2023
Official Selection, The Unprecedented Cinema International Festival of Short Film, Tallinn, Estonia, 2023
Official Selection, UNTHINKABLE, Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom, 2023
Semi-finalist, International Moving Film Festival, Abadan, Iran, 2023
SCREENINGS
Studio New Star Art Cinema, Athens, Greece, 12/2023
Barco Utopía, Mexico City, Mexico, 12/2023
Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias - Salón Dorado, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 11/2023
Arsenal Cinema, Astana, Kazakhstan, 11/2023
Cinéma Le Studio, Le Havre, France, 11/2023
Whitefriargate, Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom, 10/2023
Fundación Cultural Bordes, San Cristóbal, Venezuela, 10/2023
Levoy Theatre, Millville, United States, 09/2023
Teatro Municipal Ciudad del Este, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, 09/2023
Anant Bajaj Limitless Ideas Hub, Jaipur, India, 08/2023
Jõhvi Kinomaja, Jõhvi, Estonia, 08/2023
Chono Lulu Bistro & Bar, Park Pięciu Sióstr, Warsaw, Poland, 08/2023
Shu-Box Theater - University of Regina, Regina, Canada, 08/2023
