Sometimes to One Hundred
Director: VERSUS
Email:jason@versusversus.com.au
Synopsis
A lonely protagonist wanders Western Sydney, monitoring the audio levels of various everyday occurrences. An exploration of noise and how it shapes space and perceptions in Western Sydney, featuring prose from Eda Gunaydin, animation by Serwah Attafuah, and a score from Nerdie (1300).
‘Sometimes to One Hundred’ was created as part of the Latitudes film series. Traversing movement, music, and art, Latitudes weaves together artistic commissions by artists from the underrepresented Western Sydney region in dynamic short films that explore themes central to the Western Sydney experience through objects in the Powerhouse Museum's collection.
Trailer
About the director
VERSUS is an independent director duo comprising Serbian-Australian Tanya Babic and Indonesian-Australian Jason Sukadana.
Meeting at art school the two bonded over a shared creative approach of combining contemporary art theory with commercial aesthetics. Known for pairing striking visuals with a commitment to authentic storytelling, VERSUS craft compelling work with a commitment to presenting new voices and perspectives on screen.
Filmmaker's note
The concept for Latitudes was borne out of an interest in exploring the unique creative possibilities presented by the collision of artistic practices. What happens when you enlist completely different artists to execute the same task independently of one another? Will the artists naturally discover creative latitudes? Or will we, the directors need to uncover them?
The artists were instructed to explore core themes in their native medium and given some loose parameters around the output. This process was minimally invasive, we wanted to ensure the artists were given the breadth to deliver work that felt genuine and unencumbered by the process itself.
The resulting artworks were astonishing and a testament to the incredible talent of the artists themselves, who threw everything they had at the project.
Once we received the artworks, we began the process of merging the works into film form. Which for us, was one of the most exciting and daunting creative challenges we have ever been presented with. To us, It felt right that the artworks come together in film form. Film is one of the most genuine expressions of creative collaboration.
Western Sydney has long been “othered“ or flat out ignored in the Australian cultural landscape. The expansive area diametrical opposed to Sydney's famed beach suburbs, Western Sydney is often associated with working class and migrant communities. Underrepresented both culturally and artistically, Latitudes exists to give voice to the thriving scene of creative talent in the area.
Western Sydney is woven into the fabric of each and every creative decision and expression in this project. It feels trite to say that we wanted the films to feel like a love letter to Western Sydney, but we approached the work with so much affection that it’s hard not to.