Just Be There

Simply being there: For two years, Caspar Pfaundler accompanied two dance ensembles on two continents during rehearsals with his camera: The Vienna State Ballet and the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Taiwan. Just be there: That's one of the instructions Patrick de Bana gives his dancers. Just be there: This describes both the motto of the film, which seemingly unintentionally documents how the dancers' bodies come into contact with each other, begin to talk about themselves and show how something common emerges. Simply being there: this is probably also the invitation to the audience to engage with this fascinating work, which enables us to "grasp a world that - like the medium of film itself - speaks to us beyond spoken language." (Alejandro Bachmann) (Florian Widegger)