The short dance film, titled Re-Shaping Landscapes, is a collaborative project by ARU senior lecturers Dr Eva Aymami Rene (Dance) and Josh Newman (Film). It will be screened as part of the Cambridge Connections local short film strand at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse on 25 and 29 October 2026.
The film investigates how individuals adapt to and find belonging within landscapes that are visibly shifting, eroding, and disappearing. It prompts reflection on how we inhabit and respond to worlds in continuous transformation, moving with them rather than merely observing their loss.
Bringing together artists from Cyprus, Hong Kong, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, Re-Shaping Landscapes traverses four distinct locations: the Norfolk coast, urban Hong Kong, the Mediterranean landscape of Kyrenia, and the Swedish coastline. Through these varied settings, the film examines how bodies interact with environments impacted by erosion, flooding, and desertification.
Drawing on eco-performance studies, dance, and posthumanist philosophy, the work delves into the connections between bodies, places, and ecosystems. Performers engage with site-specific environments using a shared choreographic framework informed by geographical coordinates, interacting with natural elements like wind, tide, sand, and stone. This choreographic research aims to forge connections across distant locations while highlighting shared environmental conditions.
The film encourages audiences to consider their own relationship with places undergoing transition and highlights movement as a method for fostering ecological awareness and connection across geographical and cultural divides.
Beyond its selection for the Cambridge Film Festival, Re-Shaping Landscapes has gained international recognition, including selection for the Greensboro Dance Film Festival 2026 and awards for Best Dance Film and Best Dance Short at various international film festivals.
