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Jodi Kaplan is an internationally renowned filmmaker whose work features the movement of the human body. Her award-winning shorts have screened at over one hundred festivals, museums and venues worldwide including Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, New Directors/New Films at the Museum of Modern Art, and at the World's Fair in Lisbon, Portugal. Her work has also been broadcast on PBS television and The Sundance Channel. Awards and honors include the Gold Plaque in Experimental Film from the Chicago International Film Festival, Prize for Tomorrow's Cinema from Festival International du Film Independent du Brussels, Cinematography Award from the Northampton International Film Festival, and Best Experimental Short from the Worldfest/Houston International Film Festival.
Pushing the boundaries of dance film, Jodi has shot movement in alternative locations and mediums that cannot be reproduced outside of film form - against a mirror (Chorea), underwater (Immersion), beneath a trampoline (Wall and ONTO), and now inside a boxing ring (In The Blood).
Jodi views filmmaking as "sculpting in time," and the creation of her works akin to making "visual poetry." Her films evoke a sense of timelessness while exploring the brink of life and death. They capture moments of truth, and reveal the ineffable nature of what it means to be human.
Like a "method" actor who delves into a character's inner life, Jodi considers herself a "method" director, and immerses herself mentally as well as physically in her subject matter. In preparation for In The Blood, Jodi has spent the last three years researching and training at various boxing clubs around New York City.
A graduate of Columbia University's MFA Film program (2001), Jodi received honors in directing coursework. She has a BA from Smith College with High Honors in Religion and Philosophy (Phi Beta Kappa), and spent a year at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in Divinity School. She has also been a Fulbright Scholar in dance in Jamaica, where she documented the religious dance ceremony the Kumina; a Wallenberg Scholar in Israel where she received a diploma in International Relations from Hebrew University; and has toured as a guest artist throughout France, Scotland, England, Portugal, Israel, the Czech Republic/Slovakia, the Caribbean and the United States. Jodi has taught seminars in film at such venues as the Film and Video Workshop in Rockport, Maine with editor Evan Lottman, and has twice been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY.
In addition to her film work, Jodi is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the New York Academy of Science. She is also a former dancer and choreographer, and has run her own dance booking agency for the past decade www.bookingdance.com.
As an independent filmmaker, Jodi works under the auspices of Jodi Kaplan Films. She and pioneer dance photographer Lois Greenfield have recently established Elijah Films, a production company for their collaborations. They are currently embarking on an international feature film exploring ritual dance and prayer around the world.
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