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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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