Chicago Feminist Film Festival / Utah Dance Film Festival 2019 – counter//balance
A foot balances precariously on a slick floor. A wheel turns and poses en pointe. They meet and overlap to balance memory and loss, presence with absence.
Interview with Director Anu Rana and Producer B. Rich
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
ANU RANA: I believe that in our memories, both collective and individual, reside the most important and compelling stories. When I met Anita, she was grieving the loss of her mother, while also worrying about potentially losing her dance partner of many years, Kris Lenzo. Kris, who I (and B. Rich, the producer and cinematographer) have had the pleasure of working with on a prior film, was at the time considering ‘retirement’ from dance, and so this was possibly their last year dancing together. I had recently lost my grandmother and my uncle, two people I was very close to, within a year of each other. Their deaths were unexpected and left me in shock, not quite knowing how to feel. I did not get the chance to say goodbye, being separated by a continent, an ocean, and a 22 hour flight.
counter//balance is the result of following Kris and Anita over the course of a year, as they choreographed and developed two dance pieces. For the second collaboration, they invited Jamie Fillmore, a musician (and Anita’s brother), to compose the music for the final piece. The foundation of the dance and our collaboration was a meditation on the loss of loved ones and the process by which we accept it. We question what it means to feel someone’s presence even when they are physically not there. And what of the loss we feel for people still with us, or the ones we feel but aren’t consciously aware of yet?
The film became a much larger collaboration as cinematographer, B. Rich, brought his intimate visual style and patient camera to the process. We would end each session with a conversation, sitting on the floor as we reflected on how the piece was developing, what thoughts and emotions emerged through the physical process, as well as the process of observing it. Though the conversations and interviews did not become a part of the final film, they were integral to the overall process of filming and are an unseen part of what we do see on screen.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
ANU and B: If you’ve ever been curious about how creative collaborations work and a piece of art comes into being, counter//balance can give you an insight into the workings of one such situation. Filmed over the course of a year, the film shows the development of a dance performance from idea to the stage. This short experimental film weaves together footage filmed over the course of a year as choreographer and dancer, Anita Fillmore Kenney, works with dancer Kris Lenzo and musician Jamie Fillmore to craft a short piece that examines numerous themes – absence and presence, love and loss, equilibrium and instability – as they meditate on the loss of loved ones and the process by which we come to terms with, and celebrate, an unyielding emotion, set within a framework of differing physical abilities.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We started with an idea and the entire process was collaborative. We filmed all the rehearsals and talked after each one to understand how Anita and Kris’ (and then Jamie’s) process was evolving. The film post-production started after the final performance and took another two year before we decided on the structure of the piece.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have submitted the film to festivals as both a documentary and as an experimental film. The feedback has definitely been mixed, but overall very heartening. People have responded well to the structure of the film and its absence of interviews or talking heads. We have subtitled the film in four languages (as well as providing closed captions and an audio description) and it has screened around the globe in countries including France, Belgium, India, Brazil, Greece, Portugal, the UK, Australia, and the US.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback has reminded us of why we make films. Festivals that have screened the film have loved it and the audience feedback has been very supportive of the style. During rough cut screenings we got a lot of mixed responses with people not seeing it as a 'documentary' and wanting to know more about Anita and Kris' backgrounds and intentions. However, the feedback has been different with the finished film. Our intent as filmmakers has come through and even viewers who wanted to know or hear more about Kris and Anita, are glad to have been ‘in the moment’ with them as they brainstormed and created art together.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We hope that many more people watch our film and that we can reach the audiences who are interested in seeing it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We would love to have a distributor on board to help us distribute this film so it can reach an international audience.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
counter//balance addresses and confronts the notions of abilities and able bodies. The visual images of Kris and Anita dancing are meant to challenge any existing stereotypes of what disability means, and what people with differing abilities are capable of. We would like this film to screen as widely as possible around the globe. We have already presented the film in partnership with Access Living in Chicago and with Momenta Dance Academy in Oak Park, as well as at festivals around the world. We will continue to present this film in the community with partners and organizations, focusing on the representation of different abilities in a positive way. In seeing Kris’ strength and beauty on screen, supporting and in balance with Anita’s vulnerability, we present strong visual images of different bodies and what it means to be able.
We need more images of different bodies on our screens. We need to see people who do not fit the popular notion of what is ‘normal’. We need to see the beauty in variations. We also need to go beyond focusing on a person’s difference and instead focus on what makes us all human. counter//balance focuses on ability. We all have our own challenges and this film looks at how we push boundaries to explore what is possible.
Dance is a basic human form of expression. It challenges us and pleasures us. It brings us together as a community and it humbles us with emotion. To see the variation of bodies in this art form is a reminder that there is no one ‘form’ or perfect ability. There is only performance that awes, inspires, and reminds us of our humanity.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The film speaks to two questions:
How do we process the loss of a loved one? How do we push our own boundaries to explore and own our strength?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Currently, Anu Rana and B. Rich are in production on 'Language of Opportunity (working title)' about cultural identity and immigrant aspirations, and 'Superdogs (working title)' which follows three women mushers in the Upper-Midwest over the course of a year as they prepare for the Copperdog race.
Interview: February 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
counter//balance
A foot balances precariously on a slick floor. A wheel turns and poses en pointe. They meet and overlap to balance memory and loss, presence with absence.
Length: 7:00
Director: Anuradha Rana
Producer: B. Rich
About the writer, director and producer:
ANURADHA RANA is an independent filmmaker whose work focuses on themes of identity, representation, and varied perspectives in a global environment. Her award-winning short films have screened internationally. She is the program coordinator for Diverse Voices in Docs at Kartemquin Films, and teaches filmmaking at DePaul University in Chicago.
B. RICH is a writer, filmmaker, designer, teacher and scientist. He holds an MFA in Film/Video, and a BA in Biology. He writes and directs both fiction and nonfiction films, shoots his own and others’ documentaries, and develops stories about complex concepts and issues across multiple media formats. So far, filming has taken him to Russia, England, Israel, Palestine, India, Japan, Ecuador and around the United States.
Key cast: Kris Lenzo (dancer), Anita Fillmore Kenney (choreographer), Jamie Fillmore (musician)
Facebook: Counter//Balance
Twitter: @anurana
Instagram: @anurrana
Other: IMDB
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Canada Independent FF/Montreal, 2/16; The Big Muddy/Carbondale, IL 2/20; Utah Dance FIlm Festival, 2/22; Chicago Feminist Film Festival, 2/28; Canada Independent FF/Montreal, 2/16; Las Cruces International FF/ New Mexico - 2/19; Ethnografilm/Paris, France - April 16; Contact Dance International/Toronto, Canada - June;