Thanatonauts—the movie
2004
Leah Mercer, RealTime:
Thanatonauts is a video in which the live and the mediated co-habit. The ultimate impact of the piece is achieved through an accumulation of information that works at both emotional and intellectual levels. One of the interviewees relates her experience of lying in the ocean and feeling as if water and air were one. For her, this is a perfect evocation of death. This metaphor of oneness captures Igneous’ marriage of form and content.
People living around, working in, or visiting the Brisbane Powerhouse in September 2003, were invited to contribute to this production by participating in an interview in which they were asked to talk about death in front of a private studio camera. These interviews, along with choreographic material generated in the 2001 residency, formed the basis of the movie.
Director: Suzon Fuks
Choreographer: James Cunningham, in collaboration with Director and Performers
Performers: James Cunningham, Vinildas Gurukkal, Scotia Monkivitch, Simon Adams
Director of Photography: Russell Milledge
2nd Camera: Karenza Bowen
Editors: Suzon Fuks, Charlotte Cutting
Composer: Zane Trow
Sound Designer: Andrew Kettle
Lighting & Production Manager: Charles Wiles
Costume Designer: Sharka Bosakova
Production Assistant: Sunita Jariwala
Supported by Brisbane Powerhouse, Arts Queensland and the Australia-India Council.