Director: R.E. Wolfe

Synopsis: ‘Align’ is a conceptual dance film that presents two radically different dance forms: ballet and pole dance. Starring Californian born professional ballet dancer Casey Nokomis Pereira and British actress and dancer Holly Weston, our black and white film is set in a North London studio and cuts back and forth between the two dancers whilst they rehearse their sequences. The juxtaposition between the two crafts is demonstrated throughout, but our cinematographic choices also allow the audience to see the parallels between the two crafts and between these two women who are united in numerous ways, including rhythm, gracefulness and athleticism.

Bio: R.E. Wolfe is a British film maker based in London. At an early age she found joy in creativity, beginning ballet at age two and landing a professional singing role in a West End production of Peter Pan at the age of nine. She continued to pursue an interest in the performing arts throughout her teenage years, participating in dance societies, theatre and creative writing workshops before her eventual transition into the world of film and to life behind the camera. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature in 2007, she went on to do a Master’s Degree in applied Psychology ‘Psychoanalytic Studies’ under course director and Jungian analyst, writer and filmmaker Christopher Hauke (‘Jung and Film-2001’). His avid interest in the unconscious processes involved in film making and his academic contribution to this subject area inspired her greatly, and ignited an interest in filmmaking. Wolfe later went on to do a Soho based course in Cinematography and shortly after landed a co-producer role in short action thriller ‘Eden Grey’ which screened at the Artemis Women in Action festival in Los Angeles in 2018. In 2019 she completed the Producer’s Foundation Certificate at Raindance in London in preparation for her involvement as a producer in an upcoming action feature film to be shot in 2020 starring Braveheart actress Mhairi Calvey. Align is R.E. Wolfe’s directorial debut and is a film that was born from her lifelong love of dance in all its forms; a project that is deeply personal. But she also hopes that audiences comprising of dancers and non dancers alike will be able to relate to the underlying metaphors in this film. 

Program: Beauty, Sex & Shame – VAEFF 2020