bodies of resilience

bodies of resilience

Directed by Jill Woodward
A poetic exploration of the ephemeral experience of immigration in Greece through dance.

Overview

Genre
Human Rights
Synopsis

A group of asylum seekers in Greece join with artists for a performance project. The participants improvise duets and group dances amidst ruins and graffiti in Athens, while we hear them recount painful stories of their pre-flight suffering, harrowing journeys, and reflections on Greek life during the financial crisis and rising fascism. Physically, they explore the question of how a body can find softness and resiliency when their surrounding environment is harsh. The refugees come from Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Senegal, Tanzania, and Turkey, and include a Kurdish political prisoner, a sex trafficking victim, and victims of the Taliban. "bodies of resilience" is a filmed performance outside a traditional theatrical setting, but contains intimate elements of real life revealed through audio interviews. The participants provide a soundtrack of folk songs sung in their native languages, and speak in Greek. An English translation is provided using English-speaking voiceover actors

Stage
finished
Running time
9 minutes

Credits

Production Details

Country
United States
Years of Production
2012-2015
Locations
Athens, Greece

Distribution Details

Release year
2016
Festivals
Athens Video Dance Festival 2014 (Greek version), Socially Relevant Film Festival 2016
Language
Greek, English

Photos

622135aea46990a7cd510726deea98d7

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