SHE 2.0

Filipino–Dutch artist Wennah Wilkers dances us through senses, nature and urban environments.

In the creation of SHE 2.0, sound artist Matt Benyayer teamed up with Director Rijko Fernandez to create a poetic portrait of the Amsterdam-based Filipino–Dutch dancer Wennah Wilkers, who co-directed.


The narrative behind the body of work is of Wennah in pursuit of her artistic identity—diving into her personal experiences, inspirations, cultural influences and values. Finding a loss of connectedness through strained family relationships, she uses dance as a way to convey her feelings and find deep connections with herself, others and the moment.

The connections Wennah finds are those linked to her present and her past. Her present being her dance crew XGEN. Her past being her mother, who she has dedicated this film to. Her solo performance titled ‘SHE’ is inspired by her mother’s journey and life.

Wennah Wilkers, '[my mother], as a young woman, migrated alone to Europe for work in order to provide for her family in the Philippines. She experienced hardships and was not treated fairly. She eventually lost herself in her fears and thoughts. I’m scared because I have experienced how my mother lost herself, that the same will happen to me.'

Sound Artist, Matt Benyayer, 'The soundtrack came together in quite an organic way. After reading the subtitles and watching the film on mute with Wennah a few times I started to hear ideas in my head.

I wanted to see how sound design could enhance the abstract nature of certain scenes so the audio became quite experimental in parts to reflect this. The film also features rhythmic tracks with intros and outros that have been morphed to complement the emotional and physical flow within the dance scenes and leading up to them.'


CREDITS

ROLE

Dedicated to

“This documentary is dedicated to my mother who recently passed away. She will always be my biggest inspiration in life and art. Her values and legacy will be shared through my language and message. Forever in my heart.”

Concept

Wennah Wilkers & Rijko Fernandez

Directors

Wennah Wilkers & Rijko Fernandez

Dancers

Wennah Wilkers

XGEN

Sharani Sowikromo

Kelly Bigirindavy

Hassani Le Couvreur

Irfan Bayu

Joel Westerveld

Romario Almeida Gomez

Argil Randon

Director of photography

Rijko Fernandez

Additional Cinematography

René Huwaë

Editor

Rijko Fernandez

Colourist

René Huwaë

Music

Matt Benyayer (Dark Sky)

Special thanks to

Julian Wilkers

Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie

MAAS Theater en Dans

Dansateliers