In December 2020 I completed cutting my dance film Void. This film was the most complex editing I had ever undertaken with the multiple matte layers. I think some people thought I had simply added a collideascope effect to make the multiples versions of Erin, however it took months to create with intricate and precise layers. This was particularly complex when there was a lot of movement involved.
After completion in late 2020, over the next few months I submitted Void into a few film festival, curious to see how it was received. Festival submissions can be costly and rarely see much financial renumeration. Every film is different and can extend beyond the ‘genre’ of just dance film in submissions. I was very selective with the submissions for Void, and despite some knock backs to the usual favourite festivals, I was quite surprised that Void was accepted into more European festivals as well as some more specific ‘genre’ festivals. For example, Void was accepted into a festival specific to darker genres such as horror. Not that Void is a horror film, but it has themes of psychological entrapment, and is generally a dark film aesthetically.
The creative development of Void was made with the support of a stART Grant from Metro Arts. Completed in December 2020, Void premiered in July 2021 in the 11th Festival de Cine-Arte en la Frontera, San Cristóbal-Venezuela, and has since screened in 24 festivals around the world including the Tipperary Dance Program TDP’21 International Dance Festival, Ireland, Florence Dance on Screen Festival, Florence, Italy, Thessaloniki Cinedance International, Greece, Dance (Lens) Festival at Dancehouse Melbourne, Short to the Point Bucharest, Romania, 7th Dancinema Festival, Washington D.C., Dance Camera Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, In Shadow 14th Annual Screendance Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal, 8th ScreenDance Festival Stockholm, Sweden and 14th Lighthouse International Film Festival on Long Beach Island, NJ.
In 2021 Void was a finalist in the Vesuvius International Film Festival, Campania, Italy and in 2022 was a semi-finalist in 3 festivals including the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sacramento World Film Festival, California, USA, Dumbo Film Festival, New York, USA. Void was also a nominee for the best dance film in the Milan Arthouse Film Awards, Italy (Nominee – Best Dance Film) 2022.
Void has won 7 festivals including Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany (Best dance film 2021), Red Movie Awards, Reims, France (Award Winner – REIMS Excellence Director 2021), Short Film Factory– Bucharest, Romania (Award Winner – Dance category 2022), 5th Dark Veins Horror Fest, Lecce, Italy (Award Winner 2022), Stockholm Short Festival Stockholm, Sweden (Award Winner – Best Dance clip 2022) and the San Francisco Indie Short Festival, San Francisco, USA (Award Winner – Best Dance Short Film 2022) and most recently in May 2022 won the Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal!
I feel so grateful that people have appreciated this film, and it has been screened in so many amazing festivals.
