Inside Motion Picture: A Night Celebrating Philly Filmmakers

Green Room attendees watch locally created short films at Motion Picture.

The lights are dim. A single screen illuminates a crowd of people, in chairs and couches or huddled together on the ground, chattering and eating. Finally, the screen flickers to life and a silence falls over the audience. It’s Friday night in the Green Room, and Forbidden Fruit is hosting Motion Picture: a dance film showcase. 

People from all around the city attended the viewing of 5 local short films within our creative wellness space, featuring Philly filmmakers Lauren Linder, Britt Fishel, and Scribe Video Center youth Amina Frink, Gabriella Alexander, and Grant Cussac. The creators of these films sat in the audience as well, watching with their contemporaries as their ideas hit the screen in front of a crowd of Philadelphia film students, creatives, and local art enthusiasts. The evening culminated in the premiere of Eclipse Wind, a dance film created by Crux and Daniel Krantman, followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers. 

Each film featured a statement relating to dance, every instance taking the medium in its own creative direction. Some were related to the spiritual aspects of dance, the oversexualization of dancers, and even dance as emotional expression. No matter the theme, guests enjoyed the creative visions of some of the area's most talented up-and-coming performers from the film and dance world. 

The evening was designed in true Forbidden Fruit fashion - food, networking, familiar faces, and community. Attendees talked before and after the films, sitting next to each other and enjoying refreshments and fresh popcorn, graciously provided by cineSPEAK. With a focus on filmmaking and the visual art world, it was a unique opportunity for local creatives to connect; both with each other and the art.  

(Left to right) Daniel Krantman, Grant Cussac, Britt Fishel, Laura Linder, and Crux take a photo after showcasing their films at Motion Picture.

We spoke with Idris Mansaray, a local attendee with their own film projects going on, about their experience throughout the night. “The biggest thing I get out of events like this is meeting other artists,” Mansaray explained, “being able to build a community is something that's really important for me in my life, but also from a work perspective. It's your bread and butter sometimes.” The writer and filmmaker found the opportunity to ask questions and engage after the film to be particularly useful. “Whenever there's an opportunity to talk to another artist about their art, I always want to know about that. And being able to have both a filmmaker and a choreographer talking about the collaborative process, I think is something very valuable.” 

The crossover between the film and dance worlds continued to be evident in conversation with Teresa Barr-Mann, a Philadelphia-based professional dancer. She described her own perspective as someone both local to the area, and familiar with the work that goes into a dance production. “I am always super excited to see the intersections of film with other art forms,” Barr-Mann said, “Philly’s got an amazing art scene.”

Teresa also detailed her feelings as a creative, towards events like these that bring fellow artists together. “It’s just a great way to uplift each other. It doesn't always have to be about networking,” she advocated, “It can just be about  holding space for each other as artists. Especially for those newer artists that are trying to find their way in this new space,” she shared of the emerging filmmakers featured at Motion Picture. 

The final film, Eclipse Wind, was a production by Crux and Daniel Krantman, a dance performance split into 3 parts. Inspired by Krantman’s real world witnessing of a solar eclipse, the movie became a dramatic exploration of the feelings it evoked through choreography. A passion project for both creators, each was very proud to see it brought to a local audience for the first time. 

“Rather than describing or photographing an eclipse, I wanted to recreate this experience as a film to convey a sense of awe, terror, beauty, and proof of our own smallness,” Krantman asserts, “dance is a great medium to express a multifaceted experience like this.” From this idea, he met with Tyra Jones, also known as Crux, to bring this vision to life in the form of dance. 

Crux and Daniel take questions about their film, moderated by Caitlin Green of cineSPEAK.

As the final credits rolled, the audience applauded and dug deeper into the little things about the movie, asking questions and jotting notes here and there for their own projects down the line. Both Crux and Krantman described the exhilaration that a premiere like this brings to an artist. “It’s excruciating every time, whether people like your work or not,” Daniel admits, “sharing your work is an unavoidable part of the artistic process. Fortunately, this film got a great response. When I approached Ty and Alyssa to make this film, I hoped they would get their own meanings from the concept… My hope for the audience is the same.”

Crux shared a similar feeling of duality towards the debut of her project. “So much of this project was built through experimentation over almost two years of time, so to finally experience it in a room full of people felt both vulnerable and affirming,” she acknowledged. Seeing her own dance on screen marked a big moment. “As a choreographer, movement usually disappears once it’s performed. Film allows those embodied moments to live longer and reach people in a deeper way.” Despite the feelings of vulnerability, both Crux and Krantman found the intersection of their two art forms to be very successful “Watching the audience react in real time reminded me how powerful dance cinema can be as a storytelling tool,” Crux explains. 

This event came near the end of our Green Room creative wellness residency, serving as yet another night for the creative community within our space. If you missed it, it’s not too late to attend our final showcase, Soul and Soil, which is coming up Sunday June 7th. It will feature live dance performances choreographed by Crux, as well as arts, community, and networking for all.