With “Temporary Contemporary”, filmmaker Oliver Brand impressively stages this transience by turning it into a stage for contemporary dancers. In doing so, he creates a moving testimony to the ephemeral nature of places that are in precisely that state only on the day the film is shot.
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Director Statement
Dance has always been a great avocation passion of mine. Which is why the idea and the concept of showing contemporary dance in places that are hardly accessible to the ordinary mortal, or are in a great state of flux, has been around for a long time. I had a clear idea of the locations. They should not just be abandoned, run-down mystical places as you know them. I wanted to show clear lines in the architecture, which radiate a certain aesthetic and tranquility. I wanted to fill these places with humanity and life in the form of dance.
At the beginning of the film you hear an offvoice that philosophically sums up the essence of the concept of the film. The screen is completely black. The viewer should be able to fully engage with the content of the text and the wonderful voice. Nothing distracts visually. No logos. No credits. I wanted to draw the audience into the world of „Temporary Contemporary“ right at the beginning for the nearly 14 minutes film.
I continue to pull this concept of "kidnapping" into the world of "dance, music and architecture" when the first images appear. I establish all locations in rotating (vortex) slow motion shots. The viewer should lose the sense of up and down, ask himself, where are we? ...what is this?
The vortex shots are later also used as a transition between locations. There however in different speed, in order to catapult the spectator from one into the new location.
With each location, however, the transitions become shorter, since only the ones that are still in the queue are shown. I break this pattern after the fourth location.
What was very special, especially for a dance film, is that the music was not created until the end.
The dancers performed on location to completely different music.
I wanted to break out of the usual approaches a bit for myself and for this film.
What happens when a performer lets you dance and then changes the music?
The composer also found the challenge extremely exciting. Hours of exchanges about mood and atmosphere went into the final product. Each location had to have its own mood, each part its own highlight, and yet everything had to come together as one.
It was an incredibly exciting project and I am extremely happy with the final result.
Film playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.
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