london · song nothing compares 2u, relayed in british sign language, a wondrous pole-dance by...
TRANSCRIPT
LONDON
mmeLIMF 2021 ran from 18 - 31 January, entirely online and successful beyond our most optimistic expectations. Our nine workshops all sold out and there were more than 100,000 views for the festival’s talks, Five Short Films and Videotheque programme of landmark productions from previous years. The pandemic meant there could be no live performances, but specially curated for online presentation LIMF 2021 was seen by a global audience, and great feedback has come from every continent. We’ll continue with online initiatives next year and for the future. But first and foremost and together with our wonderful venue partners we’re planning to return to live performance for LIMF 2022. This year’s Festival would not have been possible without funding from Arts Council England.
We applaud all the featured artists for allowing us to show their work digitally - we truly hope that we can all sit in theatres soon to applaud in person.
Helen Lannaghan &Joseph Seelig
February 2021
“This week, from my attic, I’ve been watching short films commissioned by the London international mime festival’s ever resourceful directors, Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, reacting to current restrictions by moving events online. For the first time since its 1977 debut, people worldwide can experience the crazy diversity of work for which the festival is justly famous”
Clare Brennan The Observer
Photo: Compagnie 111 Sans Objet © Aglaé Bory
Cover photo: Jacqui Beckford © Jaco Van Dormael
2/3
4/55 SHORT FILMS
When it became clear that LIMF’21 couldn’t run as a live event, we invited five artists to create a series of short films for our online festival. The commissioning brief was to create a work lasting between 3-10 minutes that wasn’t driven by spoken text, but otherwise giving complete freedom over subject matter and style. Five Short Films is the result, featuring Jacqui Beckford, Andrew Dawson, Gavin Glover, Kristin & Davy McGuire and Toby Sedgwick.Whilst four artists were creating entirely new work, we asked BSL interpreter Jacqui Beckford to reprise her signing of Nothing Compares 2U from Kiss & Cry, a production staged at the Barbican as part of LIMF 2017. Happily its co-director, Belgian film-maker Jaco Van Dormael, offered us his beautiful, atmospheric, black and white footage, which we were delighted to accept.
https://mimelondon.com/5-short-films
Jacqui Beckford Nothing Compares 2U
Gavin Glover Bleak House
Kristin & Davy McGuire Vertigo
Toby Sedgwick ...is Bernard Knowes
Andrew Dawson Proximity
“The annual LIMF offers an online bonanza. There are five short films, including an exquisite account of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2U, relayed in British Sign Language, a wondrous pole-dance by Kristin McGuire, and new work from multimedia artists Davy and Kristin McGuire. There’s also a video vault of past productions, drawn from France, Italy, Belgium and Russia, in happier times.”
Dominic CavendishDaily Telegraph
Photo: Gavin Glover Bleak House
WATCH NOW >
6/710 TALKS
LIMF’21 hosted a series of free online talks, featuring artists chatting about specific shows, or more generally about their work and inspiration. These talks will remain in our online archive for you to enjoy..
https://mimelondon.com/talks-2021
Familie Flöz Creative Process and the Role of the Mask
Nola Rae in conversation with Joseph Seelig
Eleanor Perry & Daniel Hay-Gordon in conversation with each other
Paul Hunter in conversation with himself
Jacqui Beckford in conversation withHelen Lannaghan
Guillaume Pigé Who was Etienne Decroux?
Sean Gandini in conversation withThomas Wilson
Jos Houben in conversation withAndrew Dawson
Amit Lahav in conversation withShôn Dale-Jones
Vamos Theatre Nothing About UsWithout Us
“Nearly 1500 views for our lecture on Etienne Decroux!!!”
Guillaume Pigé
WATCH NOW >
8/9VIDEOTHEQUE 1In the course of its 44 year history, LIMF has presented 729 productions.
With the impossibility of staging live performances in January 2021 we took the opportunity to explore our back catalogue, looking for recordings of past productions that we felt would work online. We wanted to offer a chance to watch shows that you’d missed, or might want to see again, or perhaps experience the festival for the first time. Video technology was in its infancy when the festival started back in 1977. Very little footage exists from our first two decades and what there is, mostly of poor quality. Showing any of this work would not have done justice to those artists. Happily things improved greatly in later years. What we selected for the Videotheque was not intended to represent ‘the best of LIMF’, rather a choice to represent the breadth and richness of the visual theatre world that LIMF promotes and celebrates. The 28 videos in the Videotheque were free to access between 18-31 January 2021, and more than 100,000 people did! The Nola Rae and Philippe Genty videos are still available.
https://mimelondon.com/videotheque
Videotheque 1 Archive1990 - 1999
Nola RaeElizabeth’s Last Stand*LIMF 1991
Andrew Dawson &Gavin RobertsonSpace PanoramaLIMF 1991, 1999
CompagniePhilippe Genty3 Knocks on the Door*LIMF 1992, 2007, 2014
Andrew Dawson &Jos HoubenQuatre MainsLIMF 1998
Paolo NaniThe LetterLIMF 1999, 2000
Nola RaeMozart Preposteroso!*LIMF 1999, 2008
Josef Nadj CompanyWoyzeckLIMF 1999
* still available
Photo: Compagnie Philippe Genty Forget Me Not © Pascal François
10/11VIDEOTHEQUE 2
Videotheque 2 Archive2000 - 2009
Andrew DawsonAbsence & PresenceLIMF 2002, 2006
Compagnie Mossoux-BontéLight!LIMF 2003
Akhe Engineering TheatreWhite CabinLIMF 2004
Fabrik, PotsdamPandora 88LIMF 2004
Nola RaeExit Napoleon, Pursued by Rabbits*LIMF 2005
Ockham’s RazorMemento MoriLIMF 2007
Ockham’s RazorArcLIMF 2007
Jos HoubenThe Art of LaughterLIMF 2007, 2008, 2011, 2016
Josef Nadj & Miquel BarceloPaso DobleLIMF 2008
* still availablePhoto: Joseph Nadj & Miquel Barcelo Paso Doble © Christophe Raynaud de Lage
12/13VIDEOTHEQUE 3 Videotheque 3 Archive2010 - 2020
Collectif Petit TraversPan PotLIMF 2010
Compagnie 111 / Aurélien BorySans ObjetLIMF 2011
Peeping Tom32 Rue VandenbrandenLIMF 2015
Gandini JugglingSmashed: Special EditionLIMF 2017
Peeping TomMother (Moeder)LIMF 2018
GeckoThe WeddingLIMF 2019
Olivier De SagazanTransfigurationLIMF 2019
Thick & TightQueen Have & Miss Haven’tLIMF 2019
Les AntliaclastesWaltz of the HommelettesLIMF 2019
Gandini Juggling / Alexander WhitleySpringLIMF 2019
Peeping TomFather (Vader)LIMF 2019
Thick & TightPink NarcissusLIMF 2020
Photo: Peeping Tom Vader © Oleg Degtiarov
14/15WORKSHOPS
Led by top physical and visual theatre professionals, the LIMF’21 workshops catered for all levels of experience and ran throughout January. Due to the stricter lockdown, all courses had to be moved online, or, in the case of Angela De Castro, postponed until the summer. We were delighted that the teachers rose to the challenge and were joined by participants from across the world - from China to Canada, Reunion to Hungary. Everything was fully booked, with requests for repeat courses to accommodate even more people. We’ll be back next year with more online courses, alongside live ones we hope.
https://mimelondon.com/ workshops-2021
Nola Rae Upgrade Your Clown
Les Bubb Playing with the Invisible - A Crash Course in Mime
Mark Down/Blind SummitWhat’s So Special About Zoom?
Told By An Idiot Building the Chaos
David Glass Ensemble Devised and Physical Object Theatre
Avner Eisenberg An Introduction to Eccentric Performing
Mark Down/Blind Summit How to do Puppetry Home Alone
The PappyShow How We Play and Move
Guillaume Pigé/Theatre Re Falling Man
“A week with David Glass: an incredible precious time, learning and rediscovering physical theatre fundamentals, deepening my practice and meeting some wonderful artists. What a great way to wrap up January. Thank you.”
Tweet from Workshop participant
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OUR DIGITAL AUDIENCELIMF was seen by a global audience. More than 100,000 people watched our videos