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The Ant Colony
A Film by Natasha Cantwell, Australia, 2023
this film was scheduled on 10 October. (Register or login to vote and add your comment)
Original Title
The Ant Colony
Country of Production
Australia
Year of Production
2023
Running Time
02'23''
Language
No dialogue
Credits
Director: Natasha Cantwell; Cast: Sean Molloy, Lauren May; Sculptor: Wanda Gillespie; Music and Sound: Jack Palmer
Synopsys
In an inner-city park, buzzing with wildlife but hemmed in by elevated freeways, a game is being played out on an ornate abacus. Within this space of controlled chaos, where the insects have taken over but are constantly disturbed by park-goers, the game is a bridge between the natural world and the industrialised world, the hive mind and the individual. It’s uncertain whether the participants are working together to solve a complex equation or if they are in competition. Or perhaps there was only ever one player, trying to see both sides?
Name
Natasha Cantwell
Country
New Zealand
Biography
Spanning music videos, editorial photography and art projects, Natasha Cantwell’s work openly embraces awkwardness while drawing from the absurdity of human behaviour. Her hand-printed analogue photographs and 16mm experimental films have been exhibited worldwide, including at the U.S. festival Experiments In Cinema, and the European Media Art Festival and Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival For Expanded Media in Germany.
As a film programmer, Cantwell has produced the Brunswick Underground Film Festival, the Auckland Underground Film Festival as well as events for Channels: The Australian Video Art Festival. Since 2018 she has curated archival and contemporary street photography for the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery. Working between New Zealand and Australia, she is currently based in Melbourne.
Filmography
The Ant Colony 2023
Keith 2022
The Abacus 2022
Leave Your Body 2021
Chicken Dinner 2020
Andrei 2019
Spinneret 2018
Genevieve 2018
Cove 2016
Experimental Films:
Lauren 2015
Claws 2015
The Solar System (In Luncheon Meat) 2014
Te Aroha 2013
Meat 2013
Philip 2012
Music Videos:
Go Home Now by Autow Nite Superstore 2020
Shimokitazawa by Ded Square 2019
Showgirl by Lisa Crawley 2016
Hell by Sean Molloy 2015
Jeff by Autumn Splendour 2013
Malcolm by Autumn Splendour 2012
Director's notes
The Ant Colony' was made in response to a sculpture (the ornamental abacus which features in the film) by Wanda Gillespie. The abacus is the original computer, used for centuries from China to Ancient Greece. It is a reminder that we often need to go backwards in order to go forwards. This film imagines a paradigm shift - a reawakening to the intrinsic value of harmonising with nature, even as we navigate the uncharted waters of technological evolution.
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