Mother Melancholia by Samantha Shay is a multi-layered portrait of four women and a eulogy for the planet set to, and inspired by Sóley’s album of the same title, a self-proclaimed soundtrack for the end of the world as we know it. Co-commissioned by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, the dance film approaches patriarchal politics and ecofeminism through an unguarded, unsettlingly beautiful meditation on the difficulty, and immediacy of being fully present in the world. Filmed in the surreal and eroding Icelandic landscape, Mother Melancholia is a quiet, yet urgent conduit between the internal world of the human experience, and the planet we inhabit.
Screenings, Nominations & Awards:
Pina Bausch Zentrum, Wuppertal, Germany, May 2022
Cinedans, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 2022 Award won: Audience Choice Award
TanzaHoi Dance Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany, September 2023
Portland Dance Film Festival, Porland, Oregon, USA, September 2022
San Francisco Dance Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA, November 2022
Dance Camera West, Los Angeles, CA, USA, January 2023
Dance on Camera presented by Film at Lincoln Center, New York, NY February 2023
Montreal International Film Festival, Montreal, Canada, March 2023 - Nominee: Best Experimental Film
Stockfish Film Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland, March 2023 - Nominee: SPRETTFISKUR Award
Bollwerk Dance on Screen co-presented by Cinedans, Zürich, Switzerland, April - May, 2023
TanzMoovy Dance Film Festival, Cologne, Germany, May 20th, 2023
Contact Dance International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, June 8th - 10th,, 2023, Award Won - Social Issues
Lago International Film Festival, Lago, Italy, July 21st - 23rd, 2023
Manifest Dance Film Festival, Puducherry, India, 2023 - Award for Most Inspiring Film
American Dance Festival, Durhan, North Carolina, USA, April - September, 2023
On Art Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, August 17th, 2023
Choreoscope - Barcelona Dance Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain October 18th 2023
Press & Reviews:
“Mother Melancholia is a visually stunning film, with four outstanding actor-dancers. It grabs you immediately and doesn’t let go even for a second.” - Seeing Dance
Mother Melancholia on Film Freeway
