“Pellington’s boldest and most audacious film to date, an unclassifiable dance movie that plays like a cross between Wim Wenders’ Pina and Saw…Pellington moves beyond the limitations of narrative to get at something primal and raw—but also ultimately transcendent and life affirming—that perfectly conveys the transformative effects of grief and loss.”
– Jim Hemphill, Filmmaker Magazine
“Pellington’s continuing rumination on the progress of grief: now a wildfire, now a slow, creeping cancer, always a constant companion…the answers to The Severing are written in flesh and bone.”
– Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Kino Lorber presents Mark Pellington’s THE SEVERING, a cathartic dance movement piece created in collaboration with the brilliant choreographer Nina McNeely (Gaspar Noe’s CLIMAX) and rising Dutch cinematographer Evelin Rei.
Screening 31st March in NYC at Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan
**Mark Pellington in attendance for Q&A **
Screening 6th April in LA at Brain Dead Studios
Followed by a Dance Performance by Nina McNeely
**Mark Pellington in attendance for Q&A **
THE SEVERING from acclaimed filmmaker Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies) is a visceral and powerful feature-length dance film. This cathartic movement piece was created in collaboration with the brilliant choreographer Nina McNeely (Gaspar Noe’s Climax), rising Dutch cinematographer Evelin Van Rei, and editor Sergio Pinheiro. Inspired by the Wim Wenders film Pina, Pellington was interested in expressing feelings and emotions through a ‘narrative of movement and text,’ told through the physical expression of dancers’ bodies and souls. Grief is physical and lies in the body, in our very DNA, which makes movement the ideal way to communicate it. In Pellington’s words, “It’s the way to express what it feels like to be severed or to feel nothing. The film is a cathartic reencounter for anybody who’s felt loss, or isolation, or struggled with these themes: fear, reconnection, isolation.”
About Mark Pellington
Mark Pellington is a filmmaker, artist, and single dad. He worked at MTV from 1984-1990 and is widely regarded as being instrumental in creating “the MTV look”. Regarded as one of the world’s foremost music video directors, his legendary video for Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” won four MTV awards in 1993, including Best Director and Video of the Year. Pellington has worked with such musical artists as U2, Demi Lovato, Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy, Moby, Flaming Lips, and Bruce Springsteen among others.
Pellington’s career directing feature films began in 1997, with GOING ALL THE WAY, starring Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz, ARLINGTON ROAD, starring Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges, and cult fave THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES, starring Richard Gere. He also directed the award-winning mini-series The United States of Poetry for PBS in 1995, and created the distinct look for network TV shows such as Blindspot, Red Widow, The Enemy Within, and Cold Case. Pellington has continued directing feature films such as HENRY POOLE IS HERE, I MELT WITH YOU, THE LAST WORD, NOSTALGIA, and SURVIVE.
