a Dangerous Comfort

Описание: This is not a film made to be "pretty", logical or pleasurable to the eye and ear.
This is a film that hopes to leave you with questions - feelings of slight discomfort, displacement, even disinterest.

This film tells a story of a South African who leaves home for the first time to go to Denmark. All is well and exciting until a poem appears in her journal on one peaceful day, a little lonelier than the days that came before.
This poem is birthed along with a bit of confusion and discomfort because she never thought she felt this way.
This is when the search for comfort in an unfamiliar, foreign place began.

This project took place at Engelsholm Højskole, Denmark, in November 2019.

This is a collaboration piece, with the poem, filming and visuals made by Tali Lehr-Sacks and the music composed and performed by William Gerdes.

Narration of the poem by my Japanese classmate, Sayuri Murooka.

Featured in this film, is (Carl) Ludvig Björklund Moulvad, Alberte Spork, and Maia Lehr-Sacks.

The poem accompanying this film:

a Dangerous Comfort
by Tali Lehr-Sacks

1.
The moment your physical body
finally starts to adjust
and settle;
to the bittersweet taste of a new land's water
to the smells attached to a new land's culture
to the wetness of the ground
and air
and sharp coldness
that hits the back of your throat when searching
for a hard to swallow breath
through layers of coats and wool.

2.
To the comfort found within a person or two
who's thoughts
align with yours;
wavering
and intertwining
around the shapes of the words;
travelling through the spaces between
shared misty breath -
from within,
the warmth found wrapped up in your chest
amongst tangled scarves, fingers and curls;
to without,
stretching yourself
across frosty soundscapes,
as you try to feel the texture of forgotten words
between your fingertips.

3.
the moment your physical body finally starts to
adjust
and settle
to foreign vowel sounds
and silent "d' s"
creeping into your ears with familiarity
but no understanding;
to the feeling of acceptance
of eating in silence
involving fragmented thoughts
among overlapping voices;
to new habits formed
with strange intentions;
to not having enough time
to enjoy the excess of your free time.

4.
the moment your physical body finally
starts to adjust
and settle;
your mental body
is still stuck
and wanders to rich soil on which your feet no
longer stands;
to more colorful streets,
faces
and smells;
to mutual understanding.

5.
and as I search these new, interesting faces
all I can seem to find
is a smile,
movement,
hands
and crossed legs
which already belong
to a more familiar body;
creating a dangerous comfort
between what is seemingly real
and what is not.