Return to a Strange Land

synopsis

The ebb and flow of the tides on the Dutch island of Terschelling mark the boundary between land and sea, and also between life and death. In this picturesque landscape, bathed in bright sunshine, world-renowned Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián becomes, for the first time on camera, the dance partner of his lifelong love and muse – German dancer Sabine Kupferberg. Amidst the sand dunes, untouched by civilisation, their intimate dialogue unfolds. Instead of words, it is conducted through their bodies, which are in perfect relational and creative symbiosis, and accompanied by the music of Beethoven, Debussy and Janáček. Their movements bring to life several decades of shared life, as well as their struggle with their own physicality and ageing. This visual poem about the courage to live and dance through the present moment to the fullest is simultaneously permeated by echoes of Kylián’s post-August exile, his eternal search for his own homeland, and the unrelenting awareness that everything will one day pass and that the soul of each of us will ultimately become part of the universe once more.

“Sabine could read my thoughts and feelings. And sometimes she could express them better than I could myself.”

biography

Olga Malířová Špátová (1984) is a Czech documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. She focuses on prominent artistic figures and themes of memory and the passage of time. She is the director of films such as Eye Above Prague (2010) and The Greatest Wish (2012), as well as feature-length portraits of musicians Karel Gott and Petr Janda.

film details

director:	Olga Malířová Špátová, Jiří Kylián
producer:	Michal Sikora, Carmen Thomas, Viktor Tauš
photography:	Olga Malířová Špátová
editing:	Šárka Sklenářová
sound:	Tomáš Kubec

contact

Michal Sikora / Lonely Production
michal@lonelypro.cz