Music and Sound by Leonhard van Voorst
Vocals, Piano and Synthesizer
Director: Theresa Maria Forthaus
Edit: Theresa Maria Forthaus, Viktoria Hall
Music: Leonhard van Voorst
Camera: Leon Frind
Colour Grading: Anna Hitova
1AC
Gaffer: Alexander Schmutzler, Ana Kockot
Assistance: Lucy Pullicino, Roberto Vitali
BTS Camera: Elisa Méchin-Angot
Location: Studio65, Kunstquartier Bethanien
Special thanks to the protagonists: Nyssa (7), Emma (22), Vivian Assad (31), Thuli (35), Karin (60).
Thanks to BFF Förderpreis, Valentin Gienger, Leica Store Berlin, SEE YOU Rent Berlin and Centre Talma with Marnie and Bettina Lutze-Luis Fernández.
Speaking Without Words – Dance as Embodied Practice
Five women, four generations, one shared language: dance.
Whether at the youth centre, on the opera stage, in a club or barefoot in the kitchen – dance has different meanings in the lives of these five women.
Theresa Maria Forthaus accompanies them in Speaking Without Words and explores the extent to which dance is political and can be a place of self-determination and visibility. How do experiences become inscribed in our bodies? How do we find connection to ourselves and to others – especially at a time when bodies are still politicised, controlled and standardised? Dance becomes a purposeless, playful activity – between attribution and freedom, expectation and expression.
The project was created as part of BFF Förderpreis 2025/26 and unfolds as an installation with a photography series and an experimental video work that combines movement, light and rhythm. It is complemented by a documentary video piece with interviews that reveal memories and intergenerational perspectives of the five women.