VERDICT: A young women who suffered a stroke at the age of thirteen, reconnects with the use of her body through dance in this moving and affirming documentary portrait.
Artistic expression is far more than just a creative outlet in Hafey.
Instead, Hanna Hulda Hafthorsdottir’s deeply empathetic documentary explores the way that various forms of art, but most specifically dance, have allowed a young woman a second chance. This is not just through the ability to work through the emotions of a childhood destroyed by illness, though that is evident and compelling, but to do so in a scenario that literally offered her the opportunity to reconnect with and rediscover her body. Hafthorsdottir’s 15-minute film perfectly balances these two sides of Hafey’s story, maintaining their shared importance in her story.
“I woke up in a different world with another body,” explains Hafey, describing the experience of a 13-year-old girl reacquainting with her life after waking up in intensive care having survived a coma and brain surgery. When she was young, Hafey was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called ITP in which a person’s body destroys the platelets in their blood, stopping it from clotting properly. She was used to being in and out of hospital, but this was a life-altering moment.
Hafthorsdottir communicates the story through a collage of forms including Hafey, now in her 20s, telling it to camera and reading excerpts from her teenage diary, as well as archival photographs and newly shot footage of Hafey’s dance practice. Dance is not always the easiest artform to transfer to cinema, often losing its haptic allure via the camera lens and feeling much colder and more abstract as a result. By combining the performance elements with Hafey relaying her experiences, the film shortens the distance and shatters that barrier, creating something in which the movement and bodily experience are not just conveyed by acutely felt. The result is a film that allows Hafey’s performance to speak to her experience, while her voice gives context to her performance.
Director: Hanna Hulda Hafthorsdottir
Cast: Hafey Lipka Thormarsdottir
Producer: Hanna Hulda Hafthorsdottir
Cinematography: Wies Breed
Music: Nina Solveig Andersen
Sound design: Cecilie Moller
Venue: Stockfish (Documentary Shorts)
In Icelandic
15 minutes
Read more about short films at Verdict Shorts
