Bodies that do not fit within the framework of society are treated as foreign bodies and are ultimately rejected. But can only bodies excluded and alienated as foreign bodies be called foreign bodies?
In her short film production Foreign Body, the choreographer Howool Baek digitally deals with foreignness in our society.
In everyday places in the Berlin metropolis, the clones negotiate exclusion, power and prejudice. The 10 episodes sensitively tell of strange encounters and familiar group dynamics that are thought-provoking in the increasingly alienated society in which we live. Anyone could be a foreign body – anywhere.
Project type
Dance Film
Duration
00:19:27
Completion date
03.08.2022
Award
2024 Best Film / Minimalen Short Film Festival – Multiplié Dance Film Trondheim, Norway
Country of origin
Germany
Country of filming
Germany
Direction & Choreography
_ Howool Baek
VFX, Editing & Camera
_ Marc Poritz
Composition & Sound Design
_ Matthias Erian
Dance
_ Nicole Michalla, Lorenzo Savino and Shoko Seki
Shooting assistant
_ Miji Lee
Trailer
_ Thomas Gill
Promotional Material Graphic Design
_ Philipp Carbotta
Press & PR
_ Sarah Tehranian
Production Management
_ Mario Stumpfe
Produced by Howool Baek BODIES.DIGITAL
Production Supported by
the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK – STEPPING OUT
Production Funded by
the Minister of State for Culture and Media within the framework of the initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Assistance Program for Dance.
Screening
09.2025 KOTE Arts Festival – Special Screening of Seoul Dance Film Festival / Seoul, Korea
04.2025 Seoul Dance Film Festival / Seoul, Korea
02.2025 Tanz Biennale / Heidelberg, Germany
01.2025 Minimalen Short Film Festival – Multiplié Dance Film 10th Anniversary / Trondheim, Norway
08.2024 Festival für Freunde / Dahnsdorf, Germany
01.2024 Minimalen Short Film Festival – Multiplié Dance Film / Trondheim, Norway
11.2023 Imajitari International Dance Film Festival / Jakarta, Indonesia
10.2023 Jinan Dance Media Festival / Jinan, Korea
09.2023 HundertPro Festival / Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany
06.2023 TanzOrtNord Festival / Luebeck, Germany
05.2023 Brighton Festival / Brighton, UK
05.2023 Festival of Korean Dance / London, UK
05.2023 Festival of Korean Dance / Manchester, UK
05.2023 Festival of Korean Dance / Coventry, UK
11.2022 New Adits Festival / Klagenfurt, Austria
08.2022 online / vimeo
Jury’s quote Multiplié Dance Film
In this film, the choreographer’s view of the body and the possibilities of dance are highlighted in new and surprising ways through digital and cinematic means. By excluding facial expressions, the film gives us an entrance to expand our imagination of what the body can be. The bodies turn into creatures that are somehow recognizable as human, producing images that create sensations that are a mixture of something repulsively disgusting and attractively exotic.
HOWOOL BAEK 