producer / documentary / 2020 / 5 mins

Marie-Astrid Mence has been a member of Ballet Black since 2014—a seminal dance company formed of Black and Asian performers who astound audiences with displays of balletic beauty and power. Mence’s journey to becoming their Senior Artist, however, had a turbulent beginning in her hometown of Paris. In this documentary profile comprised of prose and pirouettes, Mence narrates her uncomfortable journey from adolescent to ballerina and her struggles in an industry that fails to see past her skin colour.

FESTIVALS, AWARDS & SCREENINGS
Nowness Premiere (Friday 13th November 2020)
Shiny Award Winner for Best New Director
Galway Film Fleadh 2021, Official Selection
Bolton International Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
Interfilm Festival 2021, Official Selection & Nominated for the Eyes Wide Open Award.
Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival 2021, Official Selection & WINNER: Best Short Film Award
EFN Festival Spring Edition 2021, Official Selection
Little Wing Film Festival 2021, Official Selection & WINNER: Best Documentary Film Award
Norwich Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
European Short Film Festival 2021, Official Selection & WINNER: Audience Award
Edinburgh Short Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
This Is England Film Festival, 2021, Official Selection
Women X Film Festival 2021, Official Selection & Nominated for Best British Short, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design
Suffolk Shorts Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
Food and Film Festival 2021, Official Selection
Beeston Film Festival 2022, Official Selection & WINNER: Best Non-Fiction Film
Short Shorts Film Festival 2022, Tokyo, Japan
Filmocracy Festival 2022, Official Selection, Los Angeles, USA
British Short Film Awards 2022, WINNER: Best English Film Award & Finalist: Best Short Film Award
London Short Film Festival 2023, Special Screening
Interfilm Festival 2024, Special Screening as part of EMBODIMENT – The Black Gaze Programme

PRESS
“A powerful telling”, The Guardian
Featured on Girls in Film
Featured on Blacks in Ballet
Featured on Brown Girls Do Ballet

CREATIVE TEAM
Dancer: Marie Astrid Mence
Director: Rebecca Murray
Director of Photography: Liam Morgan
Producers: Hannah Tookey & Sam Katz
Production Companies: Choreo Arts and This Little Rock
Sound Designer: Ed Matthews
Colour Grade: Vlad Barin, Cheat
Grade Producer: Nicki Coombes, Cheat
Editor: Rebecca Murray
Photographer: Richard Oxford
Location: Dance Attic Studios