Rebecca Jane Arthur
Barefoot Birthdays on Unbreakable Glass
16 MM , COLOUR, 4:3, ENGLISH SPOKEN WITH DUTCH OR FRENCH SUBTITLES, BE, 2023, 17’
In Barefoot Birthdays on Unbreakable Glass, three women – Constance, Azam, Anna – each spend a day with the filmmaker in their homes. With a succession of dynamic short takes, close ups of actions and rituals, objects and trinkets, bookshelves and photographs, the filmmaker is revealed in her proximity to each of them who confide in her stories of art creation, immigration, and familial bonds and breaks.
As the protagonists find distance from their families, both over time and space, they reflect on their own mother-daughter relationship: relationships cut short, relationships evolving, relationships to treasure. Each woman recalls a gift their mother gave them – a gesture of reconciliation, a keepsake to wear on the skin, a word of advice to hold onto.
Following insights of independent experiences of love and loss, they unite in one space to pose and play for the filmmaker, to commemorate a new chapter of life, and to celebrate friendship.
Directed, filmed, edited by Rebecca Jane Arthur
With Constance Neuenschwander, Azam Masoumzadeh, and Anna Dede
Barefoot Birthdays on Unbreakable Glass contributes to a feature-length omnibus film of 5 shorts called yours,.
Yours, is the result of one collective process that was commissioned by CONT1OUR (curated by Auguste Orts) and moderated by Fairuz Ghammam, resulting in five films in homage to Chantal Akerman directed by Eva Giolo, Rebecca Jane Arthur, Katja Mater, Sirah Foighel Brutmann & Eitan Efrat, Maaike Neuville, and produced by Andrea Cinel of kunstencentrum nona.
Post-production management Esteban Lloret Linares & Fairuz Ghammam
Grading Miléna Trivier
Mixing Laszlo Umbreit
Credits Maaike Beuten of garage64
Facilities: argos centre for audiovisual arts, beursschouwburg, Bruits, Cobalt, Color by Dejonghe, elephy, Empire Digital, LABO BXL, Stempel, Studio Baxton,
Subtitling The Subtitling Company
Produced by kunstencentrum nona in the context of C0N10UR
Co-produced by Elephy
With the support of The Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), KAAP, argos centre for audiovisual arts, Messidor, elephy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgium