Films documenting music – fictional or not – are my favourite, right after science-fiction and animation. After a couple of weeks, I started to feature some music films here. Void, One Year Of Silence is the latest one I have seen.
At the end of March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic. To this day, clubs remain closed. Some of these venues will never reopen. The short film by British filmmakers Tom Andrew and Sam Davis aims to capture this deep sense of loss. They both visited clubs across England, filming and photographing their empty dance floors. The shots they gathered in the abandoned venues merge with English electronic producer Daniel Avery’s original music.
VOID was a concept born amid the past twelve months, while time stood still. We wanted to represent this feeling of paralysis that had integrated itself into our lives. We were drawn towards the distance we were feeling from the alchemy and escapism of the dance floor. Clubs, currently empty, contain an atmosphere that’s searching for the love and togetherness they once held, while also carrying a restrained potential to create the same again… We wanted to capture this, while bringing an honest vision of the present, suspended between these two worlds.
Tom Andrew, Sam Davis for Resident Advisor
I’m a huge admirer of Tom and Sam’s work and the idea behind the film obviously ran deep with me from its inception. Clubs mean so much to our community; a world founded on love and connection will be the most welcome of returns. There was no starting point with the music as I wanted to be led by the images and everything they evoked, which turned out to be a somewhat entangled combination of restless longing, nervous excitement and the promise of ecstatic rush.
Daniel Avery for Resident Advisor
Besides reflecting on a year without clubbing and human connection, the aim of the audiovisual piece is to raise money and awareness for Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). The charity is leading the movement against suicide in the UK. With the lockdown and restrictions in human interactions, CALM is needed more than ever. I realize how specific to the UK this charity is, but you can find and contact charities fighting suicide and miserable living every day near you.
I know that this post isn’t necessarily one that can spark joy. However, I believe that it is one that can spark creativity, initiative and inspire you in doing things to make this whole pandemic situation better. Hardships will always arise, but we are problem solvers. Throughout time, the human mind was able to work through hardships and deal with struggles that no other being was able to. One thing that I would recommend doing when feeling blue, is to treat yourself. It doesn’t have to be expensive. I mean, it can be free too. All you have to do is take time to enjoy something. It can be your favourite pot of ice cream while watching your favourite movie. It can be reading your favourite book one more time. Go on a run or bike ride. Take photographs. Paint. Write. Scream. It can be literally anything. As long as no one else gets hurt, you can do anything to feel better.
🖖🏾