Running Time: 16:07
Aspect Ratio: 16 x 9 1.78
Shooting Format: HDV (NTSC)
Exhibition Formats Available:
DVD (NTSC)
HDCAM (NTSC)
DigiBeta (NTSC)
.MOV
HD Frame Rates: 1080/60p
Sound: Stereo
Written and Directed by David Roussève
Cinematography and Edit by Cari Ann Shim Sham*
Produced by David Roussève and Cari Ann Shim Sham*
Choreography by David Roussève and Sri Susilowati
Music Composed by Yohanes Subowo
Sound by T.K. Broderick
VO Recording by Henrik Jakobsson
On Site Producer: Heni Winahyuningsih
Best Boy: Noor Utayanto
Featuring: Sri Susilowati, Daruni, Erlina Pantja, Nunik Widiasih, Heni Winahyuningsih
Introducing: Maria Christabel, Revianna S. (Students of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta)
“Siter Guitar” by Yohanes Subowo courtesy of Robert Lemelson, Elemental Productions, and Musik Kepala Desa.
“Yèndisaré Aimando” by Choir from Mara from “Music of Indonesia, Vol 10: Music of Biak, Irian Jaya”, Smithsonian Folkways SFW40426. Copyright 1996. Used by permission.
Funded in part by UCLA Faculty Research Grant; UCLA Chancellor’s Office; UCLA Dean Christopher Waterman’s Office.
Special Thanks: Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta; Prof. Drs. Triyono Bramantyo, Ph.D; Dra. Jiyu Wijayanti, M. Hum; Daruni; Heni Winahyuningsih ; Arny Pertiwining Ristiarsih Sukarman; YB. Ngalimandardjo; Robert Earle; Kyle Ruddick; Conor McTeague
Trailer
The 16-minute film Two Seconds After Laughter premiered in 2012 and has since screened at 45 film festivals in 11 countries and received 10 awards including four for “Best Film.”
An original intersection of documentary, dance-for-camera, and dream-like fantasy, Two Seconds After Laughter creates a border-jumping dialogue on a universal irony: the heart longs most for the one place to which it can never fully return… home. With a narrative inspired by choreographer Sri Susilowati's experience of leaving Java to become a dancer in America, Two Seconds… is a conversation on the nature of memory; a cry of longing caused by separation; and a fable-like tale of the joys and emotional dislocation experienced by contemporary immigrant peoples. Weaving stunning cinematography (shot in Yogyakarta, Java and edited by Cari Ann Shim Sham*), traditional Indonesian dance, postmodern Sundanese music, and an emotionally-potent narrative, the film resonates as a meditation on the nature of being alone in a fast-moving transnational world.
The main storyline follows Susilowati’s memories by way of a rapid-fire chronological narrative punctuated with explosions of dance, music, and sumptuous imagery. The film begins as she returns to Yogyakarta after 20 years, and recounts a joy-filled childhood, an adolescence of growing isolation, and an adulthood defined by dislocation as she moves to America. This main narrative’s emotional through lines are told through the dancing of Susilowati and three other sublime practitioners of traditional Javanese dance, who happen to be the actual women Susilowati studied beside as fellow students in the Indonesian School of the Arts, Yogyakarta (indeed, Two Seconds... was shot in a residency at the Institute).
Known for his award-winning dance/theater, this is the second short film directed by renowned director/choreographer/writer David Roussève. Roussève’s works for stage are known for fusing the ‘no-limits theatricality’ of Pina Bausch, the relevance of Spike Lee, the kinetic propulsion of Twyla Tharpe. The director/choreographer’s dance/theater company REALITY has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America including three critical and popular successes at the prestigious Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Roussève’s dance-films have screened internationally and he was twice Fellow in Sundance Feature Development Program’s Screenwriter’s Lab. Two Seconds... is his first collaboration with Shim Sham*, whose film SAND recently screened at the Austin Film Festival and at Cannes’ American Pavillion. Roussève and Susilowati choreographed with a vocabulary uniquely combining Indonesian dance with a postmodern gestural vocabulary. Original music is by Yogyakarta-based composer Yohanes Subowo who layers traditional Javanes and Sundanese music with postmodern structures. The film is performed by Susilowati and a team of stellar faculty and students from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta.
Collaborators
Cari Ann Shim Sham*: Cinematographer, Editor, co-Producer
Cari Ann Shim Sham* is a filmmaker, editor, dancer and musician. With 30+ films in her pocket, she walks the line between the film festival circuit and the dance film world.
Always working on a film, she loves to teach and advocate for education. In 2009, Cari Ann authored a ten lesson video and photography toolkit for the worldwide participation of students in the multi-platform participatory media project & feature doc, One Day on Earth, which she is currently working on as an editor. www.onedayonearth.org
Her writing on Dance Film is published in the International Journal of Screndance and she was a guest speaker at the Dance Camera West 10th Anniversary conference in 2010 and also programs a dance film showcase for the Topanga Film Festival.
Her film SAND is a featured film in the 2011 Docuweeks August program at Laemmle Sunset 5 in Los Angeles, a qualifier for the Academy Awards as well as a finalist in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes, Official Selection at Austin Film Festival and Best Director from First Glance Film Festival, Best Mini Documentary from St. Louis International Film Festival and Best Short Documentary from the Oxford Film Festival.
She’s taught workshops in Dance Film in Malaysia, Java, Indonesia and UC Riverside and teaches Dance for Camera and Social Media at UCLA in the World Arts & Cultures Department, her alma mater. cariannshimsham.com
Sri Susilowati: Co-Choreographer, Lead Performer, Inspiration for the Film’s Narrative
Two Seconds After Laughter is based on the life of Sri Susilowati, a choreographer from Indonesia who has choreographed extensively in the U.S. and Indonesia. Sri founded and directed Sri Dance Company, a dance group that creates and performs contemporary works on the subjects of community, gender, and ethnicity through dance and multi-media. Sri also founded the group, Harsanari (Old Javanese for “Dancing Joy”) based in San Francisco.
Sri has performed as a solo dancer and with her group throughout the United States, Europe, and South America including at the Kennedy Center, the Symphony Space, TanzTangente, Pier 59, the Palace of Fine Arts, Brisas del Titicaca, Highways Performance Space, the Ivar Theater, the Barnsdall Theatre, the Deaf West Theatre, the Electric Lodge, Jacob’s Pillow, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Dance Center of Columbia College, Freud Playhouse, and a variety of universities and other local venues. The Dance Documentation Project filmed her workshops and performances for the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum. Sri’s other projects include producing the annual Dancing in the Margins Festival, a project consisting of community workshops and an opportunity for world dance choreographers to develop and present their contemporary work in a professional setting.
She has been the recipient of many fellowships and distinctions including City of Los Angeles Artist-in-Residence (AIR) grants from 2005 to 2009 and a 2006 COLA grant, the Puffin Foundation grant, the James Irvine Foundation 2006 Dance: Creation to Performance grant, the Global Citizenship Initiative grant, the Alma Hawkins Choreographic Award, the Lester Horton Dance Award, the Rainbow Award from the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival, and National American College Dance Festival finalist. Sri received her BFA from Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta and MFA from UCLA. Her current and recent artistic projects have included producing and directing the Dancing in the Margins Festival, creating new work for CounterPulse, touring with David Rousseve/Reality in his new work, Saudade. Sri currently teaches at Santa Monica College.
Festival Screenings and Awards
Awards
January 2012
Jury Award Finalist, Dance on Camera Festival (Lincoln Center)
April 2012
Best Film, Delta Int’l Film Festival
April 2012
Best Short, San Francisco Dance Film Festival
October 2012
Best Experimental Film, New Orleans Film Festival
November 2012
Jury Award Competition Selection and Audience Award Competition Selection, Souq Film Festival (Italy)
April 2013
Best Experimental Film, Indie Grits Film Festival (Columbia, SC)
May 2013
Honorable Mention, Int’l Festival for Environment, Health and Culture(Jakarta, Indonesia; Indonesia Premiere)
May 2013
Best Screenplay, Experimental Film and Best Actor, Experimental Film
Women’s Independent Film Festival (Los Angeles)
September 2013
Newcomer, Award of Excellence, Int’l Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration, Equality (Jakarta, Indonesia)
October 2013
Special Recognition: Vanguard Award, San Francisco Shorts Film Festival
November 2013
Best Documentary, Voarte Int’l Festival of Film, Performance, Technology (Lisbon, Portugal)
Screenings
July 2011
Topanga Film Festival; Topanga CA (in-progress)
October 2012
Looking Left; Santa Cruz, CA (in-progress)
January 2012
Play Festival; Manipur, India (World Premiere)
January, 2012
Dance on Camera Festival; Lincoln Center, NY (American Premiere)
February 2012
Dance Film Festival, University of Michigan
February 2012
Byron Bay (Australia) Film Festival (Australian Premiere)
March 2012
San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival
March 2012
San Francisco Int’l Dance Film Festival
March 2012
Agite y Sriva Film Festival, UNAM; Mexico City (Mexican Premiere)
March 2012
Delta Int’l Film and Video Festival, Cleveland, Mississippi
April 2012
Downtown Arts Festival, Cairo, Egypt (Egyptian Premiere)
May 2012
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
June 2012
Dance Film Festival, Leonardo Museum, Salt Lake City
July 2012
Asian American Int’l Film Festival, NYC
July 2012
Dance Film Festival, American Dance Festival
July 2012
World Financial Center Media Wall, NYC, Dance on Camera on Tour
August 2012
Nomad Express Festival, Burkina Faso, Africa
September 2012
Cincinnati Film Festival
September 2012
Salt Lake City Film Festival
October 2012
New Orleans Film Festival
October 2012
D.C. Asian Pacific Film Festival
October 2012
VIDEO FEST 2012: Agite y Sirva, Baja California
November 2012
San Diego Asian Film Festival
November 2012
Vancouver Asian Film Festival
November 2012
Oklahoma Dance Film Festival
November 2012
Dans Kamera Istanbul 2012 (Istanbul, Turkey) (Turkish Premiere)
November 2012
Asian Americans in Media, Claremont, CA
November 2012
Souq Film Festival (Milan, Italy) (Italian Premiere)
February 2013
Thin Line Film Festival (Denton, TX)
March 2013
Women’s International Film Festival (Miami, FL)
April 2013
Women and Minorities in Media (Towson, MD)
April 2013
Indie Grits Film Festival (Columbia, SC)
April 2013
Kansas City Film Festival
April 2013
Asian CineVision National Tour (NYC)
May 2013
Curt Ficcions Short Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain) (Spanish Premiere)
May 2013
Int’l Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture (Jakarta, Indonesia; Indonesian Premiere)
May 2013
Women’s Independent Film Festival (Los Angeles)
June 2013
Biografia Film Festival (Italy)
August 2013
Destero Dance Film Festival (Florianopolis, Brazil)
September 2013
Int’l Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration, Equality (Jakarta, Indonesia)
September 2013
Rome Int’l Film Festival (Rome, Georgia)
September 2013
Greenpoint Film Festival
October 2013
Dance on Film, Jacob Burns Film Ctr., Pleasantville, NY
November 2013
Memphis Indie Film Festival
November 2013
Voarte Int’l Festival of Film, Performance, Technology (Lisbon, Portugal)
February 2014
Fargo Film Festival
April 2014
Reeling: Dance for Screen Festival (Alberta Canada)
April 2014
Voarte (InShadow) Extensions (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
April 2014
Voarte (InShadow) Extensions (Braga, Portugal)
April 2014
Voarte (InShadow) Extensions (Porto, Portugal)