#05 TFI Specials | Screendance: hybrid language between film and dance
Luglio 2025
The fifth TFI Specials is made in collaboration with onLive Campus, organized by Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo to bring together the artistic sector, institutions, policy makers, companies and the academic world in order to investigate the relationship between live entertainment and new technologies. Increasingly fluid and hybrid, onLive – with the scientific direction of Simone Arcagni – finds its natural place in TFI Torino Film Industry.
Today's focus is the screendance short film "Landed". Ninth film of the Migration Dance Film Project, the short film is the result of the collaboration between the artists Marlene Millar, Canadian director, and Sandy Silva, American choreographer. The Migration Dance Film Project is made of a series of award-winning dance films dedicated to the theme of migration, through movement, rhythm and song. “Landed” is produced in collaboration with Associazione COORPI (Torino) and Augenblick (Genova), entirely set and produced in the Ligurian and Piedmontese territories, between Genova and Torino, with the logistical support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte.
The union between cinema and dance has existed since the birth of moving images, as it naturally identifies movement itself as the main object of filming. Screendance is the contemporary term commonly used to indicate the creation of dance through the use of the video camera, as an autonomous expressive language. Screendance deliberately combines the movement on the screen with the movement of the video camera and the movement created through the editing process.
On the occasion of the regional premiere screening of “Landed”, Saturday 5 July at the Reggia di Venaria, as part of the “Sere d’Estate” program, created in collaboration with the Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo, today we host an interview with director Marlene Millar and choreographer Sandy Silva.
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Could you briefly tell us about the Migration Dance Film Project—how it started, how it has developed over time, and more generally about your approach to the hybrid language of dance film?
Migration Dance Film Project (MDFP) began in 2015 when Marlene and Sandy first combined their practices. Sandy brought together community artists and citizens to walk in reflection and mourning after the loss of her parents, resulting in her choreography that gave rise to Lay Me Low, a short film directed by Marlene. Their collaboration was established, and evolved into a series of dance films shaped by universal themes of migration drawn from lived experience and memory—both personal and collective. The project's language of movement, rhythm, and voice emerged from a blend of syllabic vocalizations, melodic phrasing, and gestural choreography—evoking the essence of ritual, reflection, and belonging. MDFP continues to explore how percussive dance and vocal traditions can be created for and reimagined through the sensorial gaze of filmmaking to tell stories of transformation.
The hybrid language of dance and film is inherently interdependent. As a filmmaker and a choreographer working in close collaboration, we develop both elements—movement and image—almost simultaneously, allowing one to inform and shape the other. There is an ongoing conversation between the choreography and the cinematic choices: how the camera moves, how a scene is framed, how time is stretched or compressed in the edit. These creative processes don’t happen in isolation; rather, they converge organically, guiding us toward a point of fusion where the two forms become inseparable. In this sense, the final film embodies a true fusion of forms: one in which Sandy’s embodied language and Marlene’s narrative perspective are mutually formative, shaping the emotional and spatial experience of the work towards a unified cinematic expression.
How does “Landed” fit into the continuum of the Migration Dance Film Project? Could you tell us how this new chapter connects with the previous ones and what themes or new creative explorations you eventually introduced?
“Landed” marks both a continuation and an evolution of the Migration Dance Film Project. It draws on over a decade of collaboration between filmmaker and choreographer, and builds on the creative and relational knowledge developed through eight previous films. Each project has opened the door to the next, forming a continuous journey shaped by movement, place, and community. In “Landed”, that journey deepens through sustained collaboration with Italian artists and communities. Over three years, we created together—on location, in workshops, and at a distance—allowing trust, dialogue, and shared meaning to guide the process. The film’s choreography, music, and visual style emerged in response to the unique qualities of the participants and landscapes. The locations, chosen for their layered histories, became vital to the narrative—spaces where movement, memory, and transformation converge. Framed with intention and traversed by the performers, they reflect the film’s themes of displacement, resilience, and arrival. With “Landed”, our visual and choreographic language continues to grow, shaped by collaboration, shaped by place, and guided by the belief that each project leaves an opening for what comes next.
What impact did the Italian experience, in Torino and Genova, have on the creative process? The project included a true three-year on-site creative atelier, shared with local communities of artists and residents through workshops, meetings, and filming in symbolic locations. In what ways did the Italian context influence the form and essence of “Landed”?
“Landed” unfolded over three years as a deeply immersive, site-based creative process. Through workshops, gatherings, and filming in resonant, symbolic locations, we cultivated meaningful relationships with local artists and residents in both Genova and Torino. This sustained engagement was not peripheral—it was central to shaping both the form and the essence of the film. Our partner organizations, COORPI and Augenblick, were instrumental in creating the conditions for this co-creative process. They curated the call for artists and crew and managed complex logistics with grace and attentiveness. Their deep alignment with our artistic and relational values allowed for trust, openness, and genuine exchange to flourish. The choreographic phrasing, vocal motif, and cinematic approach were born in response to the specific qualities of the land, and the participants—their presence, their ideas, their lived experiences. The creative process unfolded in real time, adapting fluidly to the energy and discoveries that emerged through each encounter. The choice of filming locations played a foundational narrative role. Through the filmmaker’s lens, spaces revealed themselves as layered geographies of movement and transformation—traces of the past reimagined in the present. The landscapes were not mere backdrops, but characters: the way performers traversed, lingered, and interacted with them deepened the film’s exploration of journey, displacement, and arrival across urban, natural, and post-industrial terrains.
Working with a remarkable Italian crew led by cinematographer Marzio Mirabella helped ground the visual language in each setting. Navigating the ancient urban fabric of Genova posed both a challenge and an inspiration, as we followed the performers ascending from the port through narrow passageways etched with history. In contrast, the final sequence—filmed in Parco Dora, a vast post-industrial site in Torino now transformed into a green public space—reflected a shift toward regeneration and hope. The site itself, a symbol of ecological renewal, aligned with our growing commitment to connecting dance film to environmental and social questions. Musically, the project was enriched by the contributions of Italian composers Giorgio Li Calzi and Stefano Risso, whose collaboration began through a serendipitous meeting at the Torino Jazz Festival. Their sonic textures added new layers to the film’s soundscape, woven together with the musical direction of longtime Montreal collaborator Jean Fréchette. The result is a rich, cross-cultural musical conversation that supports and expands the emotional contours of the film. Ultimately, the Italian context didn’t just influence “Landed”—it became embedded in its DNA. The landscapes, the communities, the collaborators: each left an imprint, contributing to a work that is at once site-specific and, we hope, universally resonant.
In “Landed”, themes of loss, hope, belonging, and memory emerge. How are these elements reflected in the relationship between landscape, movement, and sound in the film?
From the very beginning, the threads of loss, hope, belonging, and memory have woven themselves through every stage of “Landed”’s creation, quietly guiding our artistic choices and intentions. These themes breathe through the film’s core, shaping the movement, sound, and landscape into a living tapestry. Loss is explored vocally through soft humming and melodic fragments carried while walking—embodying a quiet, reflection in motion. Gestures were researched and developed to hold memory in the body—each movement layered with lived experience. The choreography often invites reflection, with pauses, repetition, and directional shifts that mirror emotional turning points.
The rhythms themselves respond intimately to the unique textures and pulses of each landscape, the sound reverberating with the spirit of place. Together, movement, sound, and environment converge into a shared space where individual and collective memories meet—offering moments of belonging, resilience, and hope.
And is there an image or sequence that best captures this tension?
Early in the film, at the port of Genova, the visual presence of water, shifting clouds, and the distant horizon establishes a somber and contemplative backdrop for the ensemble of performers—both dancers and musicians. They are palpably grounded in sensations of loss and memory, yet simultaneously infused with a budding sense of hope. As the performers move together, embarking on their journey through the varied landscapes—winding streets, rugged pathways, and mountain terrains—each setting carries with it layers of memory and emotional resonance. This movement through space becomes a metaphor for passage and transformation. The film culminates in a powerful moment of belonging at Parco Dora in Torino, where performers and community members converge. This final scene embodies a place of connection, reflection, and renewal—offering a visual and emotional resolution to the tension between loss and hope that permeates the entire work.
The interweaving of percussive dance, singing, music, and visual storytelling defines your pioneering work. After more than 10 years of collaboration and a number of awards, what inspired you to continue experimenting with this format in Italy today, and where do you see the project heading in the coming years?
We arrived in Italy with a profound sense that the world was slowly reawakening after the long pause of COVID. We sensed a collective desire for reconnection, as we were met with remarkable warmth and openness from the communities we engaged with. The workshops, in particular, generated powerful shared experiences and a strong collective energy. It felt as though our work was entering a new phase—one where the form began to open itself to new narratives and voices. “Landed” reflects this evolution. The film brings together the many elements that emerged during the process: the distinct movement languages of each dancer, the layered musical compositions by Giorgio Li Calzi, Stefano Risso, and Lapsus Lumine, and the evocative presence of Chandra Candiani’s poetry. Each of these elements shaped a richer, more porous form of storytelling that deepened the interplay between sound, body, image, and space. Looking ahead, we remain open to where the work will lead us. Our commitment is to continue with care—following what resonates, what we have the energy and capacity to realize—while always holding space for artistic depth, time to reflect, and the possibility of meaningful connection. We see the project not as a conclusion, but as an opening—one that invites further collaboration and new ways of bringing communities into the creative process.