Interview with Filmmaker Sibel Guvenc (ONE STEP APART)

ONE STEP APART played to rave reviews at the June 2020 Experimental, Dance, Music Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Sibel Guvenc: ONE STEP APART is a hybrid fiction dance/drama short film about a couple struggling with a past secret that puts their relationship on the verge of separation. Their emotions are revealed through dance where they are trying to get out of this infinite loop of anger and sadness.

ONE STEP APART is a short film about different levels of communication. Through movement, I’m analyzing how two stagings of the same emotional conflict can inform, interact and complicate each other. The dialogue is kept opaque and the complexity of the scene is expressed through movement. Their emotions are revealed through dance where I focused on two emotions: anger and sadness. These emotions are shared interchangeably in between them while they’re trying to get out…