Low hanging fruit

Directed by Iggy Perry Peleg

Synopsis:
The film “low hanging fruit” is a video-dance that deals with interpersonal relationships and their inherent fragility, intergenerational trauma and the choice of healing. The psychological term ‘unheimlich’ (uncanny) describes the feeling of alienation and strangeness in the familiar place, the domestic area - home, which supposed to be a source of comfort and confidence. The work takes place in the ‘unheimlich’ space. The juxtaposition between the body and the hollow plaster balls creates a potential for movement as well as breakage. The movement with the plaster balls is complex, the floor fills with broken pieces, a memory of the previous experiences, the remaining imprint. Through movement, electronic sound, and visual imagery, the work look straight into the source and tries to perceive the small nuances of communication and intimacy.

Director Statement:
The film deals with social transformation and the ways to enable it. At first, analyzing and understanding of the distresses which exist in the human society and a proposal of a way to resolve it. Since the society is composed by individuals who constitute it, there can be no solution of social problems without resolving first the problems of the individuals. Attempts in the past to change the society without a personal transformation of the perception resulted more harm than a benefit. The problem I have focused on is the feeling of alienation, rejection, discomfort, and suffering it causes. Zygmunt Freud has coined the term 'das Unheimliche' (the uncanny) which describes the feeling of alienation in the familiar place, the domestic area - home, which supposed to be a source of comfort and confidence. The home may be both the private home and broader circles of identity such as culture, shared history and state. Each individual in the society carries with him the seeds of trauma passed from generation to generation. Each one of us walks in the world with his “story” and the commonality can be observed in people's struggle with human suffering. The only possible way, in my opinion, to create a radical change is through self-transformation, through deep introspection and a radical acceptance of the moment and the reality as it is. The way to cut the restoration of the trauma circle is to distance ourselves from its source - brutality and domination – and choose the path of observation, tenderness, tolerance for oneself and to others. Peace is brought about by peace, not by war. This inner transformation requires a deep perceptual change, liberation from the chains of the past that oppose change and prevent us from reaching inner peace, mental balance, joy and concentration – which are essential for releasing the human suffering. Aspiring to perceive ourselves as equals to those around us and to nature, observing the flow of life, nature and the universe as it is will allow us to break free from the personal, social and national trauma circle. In my film, through the personal experience I attempt to touch the universal, from the private microcosmos to reflect on the state and the society and suggest a path to a deep change.