Astraphene is an experimental, collaborative dance film project between the US-based Film Repertory Group (John Noel & Sarah Misch) and Dublin-based composers Stephen Shannon & Úna Keane - watch above.
The unique project was born out of the worldwide Covid-19 shutdown, when travel and in-person work were restrained and discouraged and artists were searching for innovative ways to connect and create together.
All transatlantic collaborative work on this project was carried out remotely over video calls.
Inspired by Shannon and Keane's evocative music and crowd-sourced thoughts about emerging social anxieties, the film speaks to the alienation, missed connections, and sense of lost time many experienced during the beginning stages of the pandemic.
The film also seeks to explore the universality and individualization of these experiences during this peculiar time: the way in which we have all gone through the same thing and also not at all.
The title 'Astraphene’ is a nod to the otherworldly, and reflects the surreal nature of the time.
Astraphene was choreographed and directed by Sarah Misch. John Noel was the cinematographer and editor. The film is performed by Tali Custer, Mel Gallo, Sarah Misch, Emily Pintel, and Pamela Shapiro.
