We are all in need of love and care. But what happens when those who love and care for us are also physically or verbally violent? What happens when we are the violent ones? Out of this, how can you evolve a sense of safety?
Small Acts of Violence is a surreal cinematic 360° experience concerning the entanglement of love and non-consensual physical violence and self-harm in intimate/ family relationships. The work is built from testimonies of women, non-binary, non- cis male perpetrators of domestic violence from Belgium and the United Kingdom, alongside repetitive, intimate performances of a fictional family. The experience seeks to expand our conception of domestic violence as the fragmented narratives traverse intergenerational trauma, sexuality, fear and shame beyond simplistic assumptions of the victim and perpetrator binary. The experience itself is fucking beautiful, gross, sexual, rancid and tender, asking: What are the actions we take in the name of love? What violence do we, in hindsight, blame on love?
CREDITS:
Writer & director: AAY LIPAROTO
Produced by: ARGOS CENTRE OF AUDIOVISUAL ARTS
Co-production: C0N10UR AND V2_ LAB FOR THE UNSTABLE MEDIA ROTTERDAM
Supported by: Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF)
Executive producers: REBECCA JANE ARTHUR, DUŠICA DRAŽIĆ, PHOEBE ROBERTS, AAY LIPAROTO, JULIA WIELGUS
Featuring: Matilda Cobanli, Marie Diaby, Jihan Imago, Kaori Ishiguro, Hazel Lam, Charlotte Nagel, Lucia Palladino Voiceover: Conway McDermott
Assistant to the director: Suzanne Cleerdin
Music by: LUCIJA GREGOV
Sound designer: Kwinten Van Laethem
Costume Designer: Sofie Durnez
3D Illustration Designer: Loulou João.
XR studio: Poolpio