A sunset in a mirror; purple, black, orange – soft colours; movement – symmetrical human limbs. A small organism, a small living being. Water. Sand. Purple vegetation. Trembling water. Purple vegetation and a human figure peeking from the edge of the frame. Little flies and water. Purple vegetation, a human figure, boot steps. Countless tiny flies on the horizon. A moving water reflection of a human figure. Reflection of a human figure painting amid purple vegetation. The animal world in the water. Vegetation islands. Cracked earth and a shadow. In the shallow water. A human figure in a water reflection. Shallow and quiet again. Pieces of land and water. Fluttering skirt. Slow stream. A beach and a white bird. Boot, plants, purple, steps. Water. A human figure, but not a reflection; boots; wind. Human, plants, water, electric poles. Blond hair on the verge of the frame. Underwater roots. Earth and water. Tall electric poles and two legs – black silhouettes. Thin wires and endless sky. Ankles, calves, thighs. Wires and poles. Legs changing the landscape. Desolation on the shore. Blue vastness of sky and water and a body and boots. Boots and shallow water. Choreography with hands, fingers and water. Islands. A water reflection in black. Horizon. Glistening water. Center. Out of focus. Landscape, trembling fingers. Touch by the sun. Islands. The lagoon from above. Birds, water, more birds. Hands across the horizontal line of the film. Human. Symmetry. Approaching from above. Vegetation. Life. A bird’s beak. A girl in brown – a dancing bird; gentle waves. Thin-legged birds and more water. Islands. Sunset. Perfect reflection. An attempt at balance. Lines without beginning and end. Reflection in motion. Very high. Human. Creature. End and bacoming a beginning. Perfect sunset. Infinite sky. Hands and sun. World. Flight. Home. Here.

75 sentences, corresponding and describing (in one of countless possible ways) the 75 frames of Collettivo Confluenze’s film Intertidal.Barene Some can be assigned a single word. In others there are more objects, beings and occurrences. Therefore, the full stop comes after a longer sentence. In this text there are words that either help – or hinder – or fade into indifference. But there is not a single word within the film. The visual touches deeply. And in every consciousness that has had the chance to perceive and experience Intertidal.Barene. are imprinted distinct images.

In our online meeting (part of the Translation on Air initiative) with two representatives of the Collettivo Confluenze – Anja Dimitrijevic and Laura Santini, we learned more about the artistic language they have chosen for this unforgettable dance film. They eagerly shared with us details about the use of variety of lenses, as well as the drone camera; about the cinematic influence of Andrei Tarkovsky; the music – composed and inspired by the sounds of the natural habitat; about movement practices and the vertical human body as either a counterpoint or a harmonious inflow into the horizontal landscape of the lagoon. Undoubtedly Intertidal.Barene is an artwork of great meditative and emotional power. It provokes the viewer to feel, to be engaged and involved in the visual poetry, to enter specific psychological states. The interesting thing about this project, however, is that its powerful influence does not diminish after the intervention of words, explanation, and logic. On the contrary – the more one knows about the problems it focuses on, the more closely and with nuance the film seems to affect. Collettivo Confluenze’s work was shot entirely in the Venetian Lagoon and its important mission is to raise awareness of the dangers of the region’s irreversible loss of flora and fauna due to prolonged human activity and water and air pollution. When you think of Venice, it is unlikely that the first thing that comes to mind is the nature in and around this city. It is famous and special with its canals, boats, accumulations of historical and cultural events; and at the same time it is constantly changing. Venice is where the creative team Confluenze meets and works. Anja and Laura talk about the importance of the ecosystem in the lagoon – how complex it is, how rich, colorful, but also how fragile it is. It is the largest wetland in the Mediterranean basin and home to great biodiversity inhabiting the tidal zones. Through the performative insertion of the body in the frames of the film and the natural landscapes, the group of artists asks questions about the places, presences and absences of humans in the natural world of the Venetian Lagoon.

The creative artwork Intertidal.Barene is useful on three levels – as visual poetry, as meditative experience, and as a meaningful message. It has a great affect because it is precisely completed in all three layers. The material, the aesthetic, the visual, the musical all have an affect, being beautiful by themselves, as they are. But within them the attention and mastery of each artist of the team is intimately woven – their individual view, originating from their specific artfields. The film has a focus and a very clear goal. The messages and feelings that the artists potentially want to convey are intense and tangible. The lagoon, a world and a home, longs to be saved. 

Мога да кажа, че решаващ критерий за ценностната ориентация на режисьора, която определя дали е задълбочен, е в името на какво снима и въобще не е важно какъв метод използва.

As I see it, the one thing with which the director has to concern himself is the unfaltering assertion of his own ideas. What camera he uses is up to him. Questions of ‘poetic’, ‘intellectual’ or ‘documentary’ style are beside the point because documentalism and objectivity have no place in art. (Tarkovsky, 175)

Intertidal.Barene is a gentle political act. And an artwork that can be interpreted through the prism of screendance. The movement is in the decisions regarding the camera and the montage, so that it is possible to capture how time flows in the lagoon. The choreography is in the human body language. Human in symbiosis with the choreographed structures of the natural cosmos. Or vice versa – the human as pressure on the ecosystem. Intervention. Intrusion.

Countless little flies soar through the horizon. A skirt blows in the wind. Tall electric poles protrude, two legs rise like black silhouettes. The islands are whispering. Birds, water and more birds live. The islands are speaking. An eye approaches from above. Trembling fingers move the landscape. The sunset goes down in a mirror; purple, black, orange – soft colors. You return – home. Seeking a world.

Translated by Miryana Mezeklieva