WomenCinemakers vol V WomenCinemakers vol V | Page 27

Jennifer Drotz Ruhn,
When Cinema meets Dance
A look at Jennifer Drotz Ruhn ’s Tofino
lost in a conventional stage room. ”
I find that dance has the ability to express a rawness
that otherwise can be difficult to get to the core of.
Bodies and movement are so fascinatingly individual
and I like to embrace that. Therefore, when finding
your own stripped down physical language it is equally
vulnerable as it is powerful; there is nothing to hide
behind. Those kind of portraits intrigue me and that is
what I aim to explore when I choreograph.
We want to take a closer look at the genesis of your
short film: how did you come up with the idea for
Tofino?
The film was originally intended to be part of a greater
How
did
you
collaborate with Brian and Stuart on this film?
Tofino was our first project together and we didn
really interfere too much in each other work but
trusted in the skill of one another. The key part in this
project was an open mindedness and not having any
prestige or pressure to create something extraordinary
which made the whole process very relaxed. Maybe if
there had been a pressure we would have created
something different, maybe better maybe worse, but
for this piece I think it turned out to be the right
approach. Since Tofino we have worked together on
two more occasions and each time we get a better
B
scale project of Brian Vass
inspired by Chris
Jordan
work
on
mass
consumption
and its impact on
T OFINO IS ANIMATED BY DYNAMIC CAMERAWORK
the
environment.
After
a
first
photoshoot
on the topic
THAT GIVES A FIERCE ENERGY AND RAW BEAUTY
Brian wanted to explore it further through film and
TO J ENNIFER D ROTZ R UHN ’ S DANCE . A STUNNING
movement, and that when he contacted me on the
COLLABORATION BETWEEN S WEDISH CHOREOGRAPHER
possibility of a collaboration. He shared the
AND DANCER J ENNIFER D ROTZ R UHN , B RIAN V ASS
background of the project and suggested we make a
new interpretation of the original photoshoot with the
( PHOTOGRAPHER ) AND •
S TUART D OCHERTY
TV being a symbol of modern distractions, lies and
( COMPOSER ), THIS EXPERIMENTAL STOP MOTION DANCE
disillusionment. Our plan was then to create a stop
FILM PUSHES J ENNIFER ’ S INTEREST IN TEXTURE , SOUND
motion dance film delving deeper into the idea of
AND MOTION TO AN EXPRESSIVE EXTREME , GIVING WAY
coming out of an oblivious trance and realising where
TO A SENSORIAL RICHNESS RARE IN CINEMA TODAY . W E
the world is heading. However, once we started filming
ARE PLEASED TO PRESENT J ENNIFER D ROTZ R UHN FOR
I think Tofino was progressively starting to take its own
THIS
YEAR ' S
WOMENCINEMAKERS E DITION .
shape and throughout the process it became
increasingly clear that
J ENNIFER , TELL US ABOUT YOUR
“I have always had a love for detailed and
Tofino had developed
TRAJECTORY AS A CHOREOGRAPHER AND
intricate movement and through a camera
into an independent
lens you can offer the audience an intimacy
DANCER . W HAT INSPIRED YOU TO EXPRESS
film.
with the dancer that can otherwise be easily
YOURSELF IN THIS MEDIUM ?
EAUTIFULLY SHOT IN CRISP BLACK - AND - WHITE ,