Hofesh Shechter’s POLITICAL MOTHER: The Final Cut
*Grand Winner – Best Dance Film – Cannes World Film Festival 2023
*Best Dance Film – Cannes World Film Festival 2022
*Best Live Performance Capture – San Francisco Dance Film Festival 2022
*Audience Award for Best Live Performance Relay & Camera Rework – Cinedans Festival 2022
Director, Choreographer, Composer & DOP – Hofesh Shechter
Performed by Shechter II
Hofesh Shechter’s iconic stage work Political Mother exploded onto the screen as an UNPLUGGED, unapologetic and exhilarating new short film.
Filmed in lockdown at Battersea Arts Centre, Shechter brings the striking iconic architecture of the venue centre stage – from the elegance of the Grand Hall, the atmospheric intimate spaces to the labyrinthine gothic corridors, creating an extraordinary film and dance piece which is at once emotionally complex, powerfully significant and theatrically thrilling.
Performed by Shechter II, a new generation of exciting world-class dancers and set against a backdrop of Shay Hamias’ animations and Shechter’s cinematic score, the UK premiere of POLITICAL MOTHER: The Final Cut was available to stream on-demand for a limited time via the Battersea Arts Centre website in July 2021.
Director, Choreographer, Composer: Hofesh Shechter
Dancers: Jared Brown, Jack Butler, Chieh-Hann Chang, Evelyn Hart, Charles Heinrich, Evelien Jansen, Rosalia Panepinto, Jill Goh Su-Jen, Niek Wagenaar
Costume Design: Merle Hensel
Video Projection Designer: Shay Hamias
Director of Photography: Hofesh Shechter
Lighting Design: Rich Godin
Consultant Director of Photography: Sebastian Cort
Editor: Todd MacDonald
Colourist: Toby Tomkins
Musical Collaborators: Nell Catchpole, Yaron Engler
Percussion Arrangements by: Hofesh Shechter, Yaron Engler
Produced by: Hofesh Shechter Company
Additional Music:
Verdi Requiem, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Courtesy of LSO Live Ltd
Abide with Me, arranged by Sir Stephen Cleobury. Published by Encore Publications
György Ligeti – Atmospheres, performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra. Published by MDS London
For any further information regarding POLITICAL MOTHER: The Final Cut then please contact James@hofesh.co.uk
Reviews
★★★★ ‘… This seminal work arrived with the force of a punch, the visceral pulse of its drum-beat hitting your chest and ears, the bright lights and surging dance blinding you in a frenzy of movement.
– Sarah Crompton, The Guardian
‘… It’s a potent mix. Political Mother: The Final Cut is a complex emotional cocktail that, if anything, hits harder on film that it does on stage.
– David Mead, Seeing Dance
‘… The dancers are like liquid.
– Audience Viewer, aged 12
‘… the piece was exceptional. I was particularly impressed by the camera work - superb work!
– Audience Viewer
‘Partners and Funders
POLITICAL MOTHER: The Final Cut was filmed on location at Battersea Arts Centre.
Hofesh Shechter Company gratefully received support towards the delivery of Shechter II 2020, which includes project funding from The Foyle Foundation, The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation and the International Music and Art Foundation, and core funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Hofesh Shechter Company is supported using public funding through Arts Council England and benefits from the support of BNP Paribas Foundation for the development of its projects. With thanks to the UK Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, Hofesh Shechter Company continues to be #HereForCulture.’