FILMS

Ria Higler can be considered a ‘mother-spirit’ of SNDO – School for New Dance Development of the Amsterdam University of the Arts. A graduate of the first student cohort of Moderne Dans Opleiding, as SNDO was called back in 1976, she transitioned into teaching in 1980. From 1989 to 1998, she served as the co-director of the school alongside Trude Cone, continuing as a core team member, mentor, and teacher until April 2024, when she passed away.

Drawing from Higler’s personal archive, which includes hours of footage from her travels in India and Indonesia, as well as recordings of her performances and interviews with those who worked and studied alongside her, this documentary aims to activate the archive and ensure her teachings, spirit and legacy remain visible and accessible for further generations. The film serves as a visual ode celebrating the life and work of one of SNDO’s longest-standing and profoundly impactful educators.

The film is produced by SNDO – School for New Dance Development, in partnership with Cinedans.

dramaturge and editor: Kristina Daurova
producer: Andreas Hannes
additional cinematography: Daniel Donato
sound design: Alexandros Papamarkou

Screenings:

Cinedans FEST (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 2024)
Antic Teatre (Barcelona, Spain, November 2024)

The Moroccan Tea is a short documentary essay film. It is an inner journey, an exploration of a foreign culture through a traditional gesture – making tea.

The film was supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and Josine de Bruyn Kops Fonds.

director and editor: Kristina Daurova
cinematography: Daniel Donato
composer: Aleksandra Popovska
sound mixer: Niek de Wit

Festivals:

SHORT to the Point, monthly edition (Romania, June 2022) – Award for Best Documentary
Short Film Factory, monthly edition (Romania, July 2022) – Honourable Mention
Lonely Wolf International Film Festival (London, UK, December 2022) – Award for Best Short Documentary, Best Doc Cinematography, Best Doc Editing, Best Film Essay
New Renaissance Amsterdam Film Festival (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 2023) – Honourable Mention

Screenings:

Piligrim Fund, online film platform
Blauwe Zone Festival (Cinema De Vlugt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 2024)

How To Be a Perfect Human is a short documentary essay using choreographed body language to visualize collected experiences from the covid19 lockdown. Through the main character the film depicts how the covid19 restrictions have affected our daily routines, such as how to wash our hands, sanitize personal items and what to wear, as well as how we relate to others in private and public spaces. Inspired by Jørgen Leth’s sociological approach in the short film The Perfect Human (1967), the film questions how and what it means to be a perfect human in the uncertain times of a pandemic.

The film was supported by Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.

director: Kristina Daurova, Maia Elisabeth Sørensen
performer: Maia Elisabeth Sørensen
cinematography: Daniel Donato
composer: Nikolaj Hess
editing: Kristina Daurova, Maia Elisabeth Sørensen

Festivals:

Cinedans FEST (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 2021)
CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, Denmark, April 2021)
Athens Video Dance Project (Athens, Greece, December 2021)
Kansk International Video Festival (Krasnoyarsk, Russia, January 2022)
Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (The Hague, The Netherlands, April 2022)
Ekko Shortlist (Denmark, April – May 2022)

Screenings:

Nordatlantiske Filmdage (Copenhagen, Denmark, March 2024)
Tanssin talo (Helsinki, Finland, September 2024)
Helsinki International Film Festival (Helsinki, Finland, September 2024)

Listen to the Grass Grow is a short abstract personal memory; sometimes too emotional, sometimes too illogical. But that’s the way our thoughts are floating in the space of our consciousness. This is the story of Maria. We are observing her at the beginning of her ‘new life’ in a new and unknown place. An unfamiliar house, she has no memories here, not yet. Her past belongs to other spaces, far away from here. She’s exploring this new place with her body, in order to awaken its physical memory and to reach an inner authentic movement. Maria is trying to feel this place; her body is trying to feel this space; her movements, driven by old memories, are filling the void.

director: Kristina Daurova
starring: Maria Vlasova
cinematography: Daniel Donato
sound design: Sergio González Cuervo
editing: Kristina Daurova, Danniel Danniel, Patrick Minks, Stefan Kamp

Festivals:

Light Moves Festival of Screendance (Limerick, Ireland, November 2018) – Award for Outstanding National/International Student Work
International Meeting on Video-dance and Video-performance (Valencia, Spain, October 2018)
Videoskin – Contemporary Dance Video Works (Yukon, Canada, November 2018)
VGIK International Student Festival (Moscow, Russia, November 2018)
InShadow screendance festival (Lisbon, Portugal, December 2018)
Cinedans FEST (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 2019)
[SET.mefree] Dance & Movement on Screen selection (by VeNe & future melon)
Festival All’ Improviso (Bologna, Italy, July 2019)
Mestre Mon Amour Festival (Venice, Italy, September 2019)

Screenings:

IkonoTV broadcasting (Germany, September 2018)
Casting a Shadow Wherever We Stand vol. 2, exhibition (GOLEB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 2019)
Dance Films Weekend (Novaya Stsena Aleksandrinskogo Teatra, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, November 2020)
Piligrim Fund, online film platform
Moments Not Behind Us, short films screening (De Vlugt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 2022)

(2024) “RIA”

(2021) “THE MOROCCAN TEA”

(2020) “HOW TO BE A PERFECT HUMAN”

(2017) “LISTEN TO THE GRASS GROW”

(2016) “РЕНЕССАНС” / “RENAISSANCE”

(2016) “WAITING”

(2015) “УНЫНИЕ” / “A SAD FILM”

(2013) “МУЖ НА ЧАС” / “HOURLY HUSBAND”