Is It My Turn Explained

Is It My Turn
Director:Shelagh Carter
Producer:Hersh Seth
Based On:Spellbinding by Deborah Schnitzer
Cinematography:Danielle Sturk
Editing:Chad Tremblay
Production Companies:Goldenboy Pictures
Runtime:6 minutes
Country:Canada
Language:English

Is It My Turn (originally released as Spellbinding) is a 2012 Canadian experimental digital 3D black and white dance film directed by Shelagh Carter. The film features an original score by Keri Latimer, dance performances by CindyMarie Small, Natasha Torres-Garner, and Ali Robson, and is choreographed by the dancers taking an award-winning original poem by Deborah Schnitzer as inspiration.[1]

Title

In its earliest release, the film bore the title of its source poem, Spellbinding,[2] which won a Margaret Laurence Award.[3] The film was re-released under its new title in 2013.[4] Some early National Screen Institute sources mistakenly refer to the film as Is It My Turn?[5] No question mark appears in the film's title onscreen.

Synopsis

At first seen through a dome or globe, three women perform a piece of interpretive dance to music.

Performers

Themes

Is It My Turn has been described as an "expression of the hope of thefeminine, expressed through dance"[6] and an exploration of the nature of "creative female energy" through dance. Shelagh Carter herself stated: "In capturing the moving images of three female dancers as an act of love, I return to that deep personal and professional space whose channels I have learned to open and touch as an artist.

Production

Background and inspiration

Is It My Turn is based on the poem Spellbinding by Deborah Schnitzer, who in turn was inspired by Gertrude Stein.[7] Schnitzer has collaborated with Shelagh Carter several times on her films,[8] starting with Rifting/Blue (2005).[9]

Financing

Carter's film received support from the Winnipeg Film Group, Manitoba Film and Music, and a film/video tax credit from the Government of Canada.

Filming

The film was shot in the University of Winnipeg's Asper Centre for Theatre and Film, "with film students handling everything from shooting, camera angles, lighting, sound and post-production."

To make the film, the three dancers were given a poem by Deborah Schnitzer, Spellbinding, and asked to interpret assigned sections through dance, their movements filmed by cinematographer Danielle Sturk, who had also made a career as both a dance artist and choreographer. Carter found that the use of the 3D camera offered an opportunity to explore the visual depth of dance choreography as it could take far greater liberties with space and time, enhancing further the film's ability to be interrupted at any moment.

Editing and music

After the shoot, the film was edited and scored, respectively, by Juno Award-winning musicians Chad Tremblay and Keri Latimer.

Release

The film was initially released under the title Spellbinding, beginning its festival run in Los Angeles,[2] at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in September 2012. Is It My Turn was re-released under its new title in 2013, premiering in Canada at the Gimli Film Festival on 26 July, screening in competition or as an Official Selection and award-winner in numerous film festivals in North America, Asia and Europe through to 2016, including the Canada Dance Festival as part of a programme with ten other dance films on 10 June 2016.[10]

A special screening took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at the request of the Canadian High Commission in January 2015, with Carter in attendance. Carter and her husband Brad Loewen had moved to Dhaka in December 2013 when, following the Rana Plaza Collapse of 24 April 2013, he was given the responsibility of implementing the Accord signed by Western clothing manufacturers upgrading the safety features of 1600 Bangladeshi garment factories.[11] [12] While living there, Carter produced a short documentary, Rana Plaza: Let Not the Hope Die (2014), commemorating the one-year anniversary of the tragedy,[13] "to support his work".[14]

Online platforms

Is It My Turn may be viewed in its entirety on the NSI website and Vimeo.

Reception

Accolades

Awards
Special mentions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Is It My Turn . Winnipeg Film Group Film catalogue . . 21 March 2019.
  2. Web site: Cast & Crew . passionflowerfilm.com . 20 March 2019.
  3. Web site: Is it My Turn? . National Screen Institute . 21 March 2019.
  4. Web site: Film . www.darklingpictures.com . 21 March 2019.
  5. Web site: MacDiarmid . Lauren . NSI programs short film lineup at Gimli Film Festival . . 21 March 2019.
  6. Web site: Rohde . Christopher (curator) . Frame lines: 11 choreographies for camera . . 6 August 2019.
  7. Web site: Professor Shelagh Carter – International exposure . The University of Winnipeg News Centre . 20 March 2019.
  8. Web site: Schnitzer . Deborah . Film works . /www.deborahschnitzer.com . 23 February 2019.
  9. Web site: Rifting/Blue . Winnipeg Film Group Film Catalogue . . 23 February 2019.
  10. Web site: Frame Lines: 11 Choreographies on Camera . nac-cna.ca . . 19 September 2019.
  11. Creating a safer world: Brad Loewen's new super-job gives him sweeping powers to protect garment workers in Bangladesh . The Marketplace . March–April 2014 . 8–9 . 20 March 2019 . Mennonite Economic Development Associates . 21 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190321041624/https://www.meda.org/latest-issues/back-issues/2014/197-the-marketplace-2014-march-april/file . dead .
  12. News: Talaga . Tanya . Winnipegger Brad Loewen new chief inspector of 1,600 Bangladeshi factories . 20 March 2019 . . 22 October 2013.
  13. Web site: Rana Plaza: Let Not The Hope Die . Winnipeg Film Group Catalogue . Winnipeg Film Group . 13 March 2019.
  14. Web site: A Wide Array of Cabaret Artists . Sarasvati Productions . 20 March 2019.
  15. Web site: Shelagh Carter . On Screen Manitoba . 10 June 2019.
  16. Web site: Shelagh Carter's Is It My Turn Receives Award at Accolade Global Film Competition . On Screen Manitoba . 21 March 2019.
  17. Web site: Awards of Merit November 2014 . accoladecompetition.org . Global Film Festival Competition . 21 March 2019.