PASSING: A Short Film by Jo Bannon
Find the audio described trailer here.
After many months of hard work, we’re delighted to be sharing the PASSING film. Alongside Jo, this has been a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our commissioning partners, The Space, as well as Unlimited, Wellcome Collection and Arts Council - without whom this project wouldn’t be possible. We hope you enjoy the trailer as a taste of what’s to come.
PASSING is a short film from Jo Bannon which invites us to pay attention to the barely visible but highly choreographed ways in which we all perform, or pass, on stage and in everyday life.
We meet two performers, Augusto, a sleight of hand magician, and Sindri, a visually impaired dancer, who allow us to observe them at work. We pay close attention to Augusto’s hands as they perform a series of magic tricks; we are invited to witness the complex choreographies of Sindri’s tactile navigation of space and objects.
It is a strange duet, a funny kind of twinning, a kinship. We begin to notice parallels in the learnt, repeated, highly precise actions of the performers. And another kinship emerges.
All of this work, if done correctly, doesn’t look like work at all. Theirs is a labour of concealment and misdirection. Their skill is to conceal their own virtuosity, to appear at ease, to pass as if they’re not doing anything remarkable at all.
Objects, hands and bodies fall in and out of focus. The camera and ASMR sound design hone in on the intimacy of touch, the precision of choreography, the labour that both performers undertake. It brings into relief the contrast between this effortful work, and the seeming ease of the performers. It makes us see that this performance of ease is a central part of their labour.
Experimenting with sensory modes of seeing, including audio description, tactile cinematography, ASMR sound design and close up choreographies, PASSING attempts to disrupt the primacy of vision by proposing a more embodied, up close and personal mode of ‘seeing’.
As always, Jo’s work is guided by her offbeat humour and her ongoing fascination with objects, visual perception and how strange the ordinary world really is.
PASSING will be released on all of MAYK’s platforms 27 March 2024. You can find out more about the BLIND MAGIC triptych here.
Credits
A film by Jo Bannon
Performer - Augusto Corrieri
Performer - Sindri Runudde
Director of Photography - Candida Richardson
Line Producer - John Stephenson
Set and Costume Designer - Katherina Radeva
Set and Costume Maker - Rositza Radeva
Sound Designer - Julie Rose Bower
Composer - Yas Clarke
Colourist - William Glass
Editor - John Stephenson
Produced by MAYK
Commissioned by The Space, made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England. Supported by Unlimited and Wellcome Collection.
PASSING is part of BLIND MAGIC: A triptych of artworks exploring the performativity of visual impairment. A film PASSING, an installation SLEIGHT OF HAND and a live performance THE DIRTY WORK created by Jo Bannon
BLIND MAGIC has been commissioned by Unlimited, Wellcome Collection, The Space, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Cambridge Junction, The Place & Tramway. With additional support from Fabric and Horizon. Supported using public funds through Arts Council England.