CLARITY, 6min., Germany
Directed by Marcus Patrick Witte, Nupelda Ciftci
Clarity is a short film that combines the art of dance with the exploration of personal growth and the complexity of relationships. In a one-take performance, we follow the journey of a young woman as she delves into her past to find the ability to make crucial decisions in the present.

http://www.undwitte.com/
https://instagram.com/marcuswitte.vis

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I always wanted to make a film with movement! In addition, the theme of time and speed has always been a topic that preoccupies me. I really wanted to tell such a story with dance and the challenge was to combine all this in one continuous shot. That was clear relatively quickly, I wanted to try something like that. The idea of playing everything backwards was there from the beginning, but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought, especially in combination with the water.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
From the idea to the finished product took us about half a year. But for the pure shooting on set with the camera and the team we needed 7 full shooting days of training, choreography and various tests with the water and the camera.
The last 2 days we needed for the final shots - luckily the first shot was the one that made it into the film.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
clarify identity

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest challenge was to reconcile all the tasks in just one onetaker and to time them correctly. We pulled and controlled the water with a hose in the middle of the shot, another person protected the camera. Likewise, the lighting operator changed the light live, controlled the fog and even moved 2 lights in between off-camera. Another person directed the fog in the right direction with a leaf blower.
But even more interesting was the preparation and development of the onetaker - we had 2 scripts and storyboards one that is played back in time in the direction of the film which we titled "Watchtime", the other inverted which we used to shoot in real time and control proper keypoints for the choreography, camera and lighting, this we gave the name "Rolltime".

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was just an amazing feeling especially when talking about the story and the reversed time in consumption everything working together as intended - wow!

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
In the summer of 2022, the idea came and we started directly with the elaboration and first storyboards.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
That must be Lord of War & Inception

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
An exchange platform with other filmmakers would be just great.An exchange platform with other filmmakers would be just great.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The experience with FilmFreeway was just straight forward and worked out really well!

10. What is your favorite meal?
Pasta

11. What is next for you? A new film?
We are currently focusing on two new projects.
A smaller music video with the same dancer from Clarity but also with the actress Nupelda Ciftci in combination between dance and acting with which we want to tell a story with experimental music.
The other project will be a short film about human memory and its loss, set in a rather dystopian world. This project needs a lot of props and planning so we can only hope to let the cameras roll in autumn this year. Fingers crossed ;)