IDFA on stage: Simple as ABC #7: The Voice of Fingers

Thomas Bellinck (BE) & Said Reza (FI) Adib / ROBIN (BE)

Fri 10 Nov ’23 and Sat 11 Nov ’23

Why is one person allowed to travel freely and the other not? In a multimedia performance, a Belgian artist and an Afghan journalist based in Finland consider the fingerprint as an instrument of control and a symbol of inequality

Fri 10 Nov ’23

and

Sat 11 Nov ’23

Fri 10 Nov ’23

20:30

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Past event
Sat 11 Nov ’23

20:30

Frascati, Amsterdam

Frascati 1

Past event

Why is one person free to cross EU borders, while for others they remain closed, or can be opened only with great difficulty and after extensive checks? Why does a journey from Afghanistan to Europe takes a day for some and eight years for others?

Over the past seven years, Brussels artist and theater-maker Thomas Bellinck has been working on “Simple as ABC,” a series of performances and installations about European mobility regulations. In Simple as ABC #7: The Voice of Fingers, Bellinck collaborates with the Finland-based Afghan journalist Said Reza Adib to examine one of the instruments of control employed by the border police: the fingerprint.

This multimedia performance, with dozens of red tulips in the leading role, zooms in on the legacy of Francis Galton and his eugenics, on the interplay of lines on fingertips, and on the degrading journey that Reza made to Finland. Because Reza is not allowed to travel within Europe, he is forced to work with Bellinck remotely, and two performers interpret their dialogue on stage.

Run time: 95 min
EN spoken
Dutch subtitles

Credits

director Thomas Bellinck codirectorSaid Reza Adib production ROBIN key collaborator Esther Severi, Musia Mwankumi, Furkan Ak executive producer Sandra Raes Oklobdzija, Marte van Hassel coproduction Theater Antigone, Arsenaal/Lazarus, Münchner Kammerspiele, Spielart, KASK School of Arts, The Flemish Government animation Léna Iloo designer Rachid Laachir, Mirjam Pleines, Stef Stessel technical artist Pieter-Jan Buelens, Arthur De Vuyst, Janneke Donkersloot screenplay Said Reza Adib, Thomas Bellinck narrator Manizja Kouhestani, Jeroen Van der Ven, Said Reza Adib, Sajjad Hosseini, Fatima Mousavi

IDFA on Stage: Simple as ABC #7: The Voice of Fingers is a co-presentation of IDFA and Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond.

About IDFA

IDFA strives to strengthen the international documentary climate by focusing more than ever on documentary film as an art form. This focus includes documentary films with an original visual language or structure, films that show lesser-known cultures or are filmed from a non-Western perspective, and interactive or immersive documentaries that innovate the field.