Embodyment

Embodyment, the new short film from Mnemocine Pictures, brings together contemporary dance, a fantastical cinematic style, and four spectacular locations to present a unique experience inside the world of the primal creative process.

What is Mnemocine?

Mnemocine Pictures (ni-mah-si-nee) is a newly formed film production company that takes its name from Mnemosyne, the Ancient Greek titaness who gave birth to the 9 muses.  The word is also from the root meaning "memory" and, along with cine for cinema, it declares an interest in making memorable, impactful films that are rooted in a deep appreciation for the motivating preoccupations of the human experience.

What is Radical Love Movement?

Radical Love Movement (RLM) is a Denver-based contemporary dance company that specializes in an authentic and emotionally driven movement practice.

Its three members (Phannie Haver, Les Martin, and Rachel Brady), each with more than 20 years of experience and training, have developed a unique approach to their work, combining collaborative introspection and sophisticated technique in order to achieve impactful results. By beginning their process with a desire to connect immediately with an audience they present an experience that is unlike any other, and have acquired a reputation for work that puts them in a class of their own.

Their most recent performance was yet another innovation, adapting their process to include integrated video that put the viewer directly onstage with the dancers to mesmerizing effect.

With Embodyment, RLM is bringing this process to a cinematic audience, and evolving into a new form that pursues even greater achievement.

Embodyment

In the first collaboration between Mnemocine Pictures and Radical Love Movement, Embodyment seeks to present a dazzling and insightful view into the process RLM has developed, embellishing it with surreal, fantastical imagery and elaborate costumes, while retaining its connection to a grounded, emotional core that will make the viewer feel strangely at home in this exotic and otherworldly dimension.

We open on the three dancers arriving at their rehearsal space, ready to begin, and as they connect with that creative force inside themselves the viewer sees each of them in two places at once: together in the space they share and separately in three individual worlds of their own.  As they summon their magic from their primal, emotive selves we see these forces depicted as grandiose caricatures of their own personal essences, resplendent and ferocious as the energy of that creativity is brought into the world.

In the midst of this they connect with each other in ways that are all the more impressively human, supporting each other's exploration and facilitating each other's expression as they conduct that strange and mysterious process.  Their worlds collide and flow into and out of each other, and by the end we are left with the feeling that we've come along with them on their journeys, yet hardly moved from where we first began.

What We Need & What You Get

We're bringing everything we need for this project to the table, except (unfortunately) for the money.  We're combining our artistry, our technical know how, our resourcefulness and creative problem solving, and so many other assets, including the bare bones we need to get it done.

With the high level to which we hold ourselves, though, there is a certain standard of quality we have in mind that can only be met through your generosity.  Without a single dollar from our supporters this film will end up getting made, but you have the opportunity to help us in making it the best that it can possibly be, while also aiding us in offsetting the personal financial burden each of us will take on in order to make this movie happen.

"We're very lucky today, as filmmakers, in that what we can achieve with very little is so great.  The technology today enables us to make small films that feel very big if we know how to use what's available to us, and that means that every dollar invested in a project can be returned with far more than that amount in production value.  A little really does go a long way."
-- Daniel Thorne, director

In thanks for this, we're providing digital downloads of the finished short, invitations to join us at our premiere (whether virtually or in person), and every contributor will be included in a 'Special Thanks' section of the film's credits.

The Impact

Your contribution to this project funds 5 passionate, professional artists.  Plain and simple.  But apart from just compensating us for our efforts, you're participating in arts funding that makes so much of what we do possible.

You're also supporting women's voices and women's expression, something that is very important to both RLM and Mnemocine.  Our collaboration also includes queer and LGBT creators, and we are each entirely independent organizations.

And not only does your support help this project-- funding independent artists helps us when we apply for grants and funding from other sources, it helps us obtain equipment and resources that we can use in future projects, and it helps make the work we do sustainable.

Risks & Challenges

The biggest risk for this project, like all collaborations at the moment, is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  Each of us is being conscientious about the precautions we take to offset this risk personally, but of course it's difficult to predict if there will be a rise in the situation's severity or if it will fail to improve.

However, we are lucky in that it will only take 5 of us to do the work of many in getting this short film made, and we hope sincerely that by the time we shoot we will have obtained vaccines for all of us.  Part of our team is already vaccinated, and as we move forward we will be employing every reasonable precaution.

In any case, any complications would be extremely likely only to delay the project temporarily.

Other Ways You Can Help

Even if you can't contribute financially we'll absolutely appreciate any support you can give this project for free.  If you want to help you can:

• Follow Mnemocine Pictures and Radical Love Movement on Instagram!
• Subscribe to Mnemocine Pictures and Radical Love Movement on YouTube!
• Check out radicallovemovement.com