Lotus Family welcomes you to an afternoon of short films, music and dance to celebrate the release of KNOT a short film by Marie Lechevallier, produced by BFI Network and Bridgeway Films and the soundtrack by My Octopus Mind.

The night will be a smorgasbord, with live music from:

Harriet Riley & Alex Garden

Emmy the Harp & boci

intermission tunes from Tikoda

Dance from Elina Akhmetova 

and a selection of short films from:

Roos Mattaar and Heather Colbert - DNA, The Keys
Marnik Loysen - Brunch
Paolo Russo
Georgina Rose Shire

KNOT

Balanced carefully on a tightrope, Blue lives his life in fear of falling into the abyss below. But when he meets Orange, a carefree spirit, he is tempted into a sensual dance that forces him to confront his deepest fears. Blue journeys deep into his subconsciousness to heal the wounds of his past and find his way back to embrace the euphoric energy of Orange.

“Knot represents a particularly promising debut from new director Marie Lechevallier, whose background largely centres around puppet-based stop-motion animation. Her production approach here combines these stop-motion skills with 2D animation sensibilities, constructing an atmospheric world of fantastical acrobatic characters in a multiplane environment. Said atmosphere is in no small part due to Knot’s striking colour theory and meditative soundtrack, courtesy of musical outfit My Octopus Mind. At the film’s heart is the interplay between Blue, whose fearfulness of stepping out of their comfort zone inhibits their performance, and the comparatively free and easy Orange. Through the encouragement of Orange, Blue is able to take their first, faltering steps toward a less reticent way of life.” — Ben Mitchell for The Encounters

Marie Lechevallier is a French stop-motion Animator and Director currently working on Aardman Studio’s latest feature: Chicken Run 2.

After graduating in France from the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et du Textile, she was an assistant director on the award-winning short animated film Manolo, directed the commissioned student film Frankulstein and animated on children series at Semafor Studio in Poland before obtaining a certificate in character animation from the National Film and Television School and Aardman Academy. She is animating at Aardman since, working on major feature films like Early Man, Robin Robin and Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon. 

Her new short film KNOT produced by BFI Network and Bridgeway Films was made in 2020 at the Estate of The Arts, in Bristol, in close collaboration with the musician Liam O’Connell (LEEEM).

Harriet Riley and Alex Garden

Harriet Riley & Alex Garden’s debut album presents a novel, hypnotic dialogue between a highly unusual pairing of instruments. Inspired by arcane single-word track titles, obscure definitions are presented to guide the listener’s attention through twelve original compositions, taking in trad folk, minimalism and jazz along the way. The album was recorded in Bristol during the summer of 2020 and released on November 13th the same year. Their February 2022 tour features special guest Stevie Toddler on double-bass, promising to transfix audiences far and wide with their captivating new sound-world.

A stunning mix of dreamlike atmospheres and mesmerising energy, a bridge between different genres and one of the most adventurous albums in recent years.’ (Nominated - Album of the Year 2020) Bright Young Folk 

‘Wonderfully gentle...really beautiful’ - BBC Radio 3 ‘

Really interesting and lovely’ - BBC 6 Music  

Emmy the harp & boci

boci uses violin and guitar loops to create dreamy rhythmic grooves. With ethereal melodies and lyrics, she transmits messages of oneness and connection.

Emmy fuses many different styles of music, having first of all been classically trained, but then being heavily influenced by 13 years of living in bristol. Most of all she enjoys live improvisation, recently fortified by a workshop with Jon Clark, Bristol-based drummer and cellist.

She has also collaborated with Moussa Kouyate, for the past two years. Moussa is known as the Bristol Griot, sharing with Emmy his west-African kora playing. French Impressionism also strongly infuses her composition, as well as juicy jazz chords, and of course, reggae and dub which are a glorious foundation of many Bristol communities.

Tikoda

Experimenting with improvised live electronics to create simultaneously intimate and vast soundscapes, shaking the room and encasing listeners in mesmerising noise. Tikoda is the experimental and loud outlet of Bristol-based musician/producer Theo Passingham.