International Dance Festival Birmingham

After a formal tender process, Swift Films was chosen as the preferred production company to provide all of the filming requirements for International Dance Festival Birmingham’s (IDFB) biennial festival. IDFB is the UK’s largest dance festival.

WINGS OF DESIRE

The pinnacle of the 2012 festival was a large outdoor performance of the show Wings of Desire (see above), a dance adaptation of the classic Wim Wenders film.

This show was free to the public and performed in Victoria Square in the heart of the city.

Over 12000 people crammed into the square over four nights to watch the performance which was hosted by DJ, musician and television star Goldie.

A dazzling array of performers took part in the show which was staged on venues, buildings and platforms in a 360 degree plane around the audience in the centre of the square.

Our biggest logistical challenge during the festival was working out how best to film this large, live outdoor extravaganza.

We did so by utilising six independent camera and jib operators strategically positioned around the square.

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IDFB 2014

For each of the month-long festivals that we have worked on, we have been required to film dance performances at venues across the city.

Using a combination of footage from the the shows that we have filmed, photographs and clips that has been supplied to us, we have then edited together a highlights showreel for each year.

The 2014 showreel was structured by interviewing key members from the IDFB team.

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CONCERT DANSÉ

One of the key shows from the 2014 festival was the world premiere of a unique collaboration between Birmingham’s Ex Cathedra and Québécois dance company Cas Public. Entitled ‘Concert Dansé’, it was performed at the prestigious Symphony Hall.

It featured works for choir, organ and cello, and the evening culminated in an evocative re-imagining of Duruflé’s Requiem with a mix of ballet, Kathak and contemporary dance.

We produced a full-length versions of the show and a showreel featuring extracts from the performance and interviews with the artists involved.

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B-TOWN

B-Town was the 2014 festival’s outdoor street-dance extravaganza.

This was a live show performed consecutively for 4 nights which we broadcast onto a big screen in Victoria Square.

The set up involved using six cameras and an outside broadcast unit. We also streamed the show live online where it reached people as far afield as Peru and South Korea.

RESULTS

Exceeding all previous audience and participation numbers, over 60,000 people saw a performance in the 2014 festival and over 7,500 participatory experiences engaged people of all ages and abilities.

The films we produced have helped cement the festival’s reputation as one of the biggest and most varied dance festivals in Europe.

TESTIMONIAL

“Swift Films was the perfect company for the job. They offer cost-effective and creative solutions, are flexible and reactive to change, deliver high quality service and materials, and possess a professional, dedicated and approachable team who are an absolute pleasure to work with.”

Katherine Flynn
Marketing Manager
International Dance Festival Birmingham

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