Asherah - film-ballet

Israeli premiere of the film-ballet by Anna Ozerskaya, which is based on the album of the same name by the leader of the group “Auktsyon” Leonid Fedorov and Igor Krutogolov, inspired in turn by the poem “Songs of the Felled Asherah” by the Israeli poet, local historian and cultural historian Mikhail Korol.

After the screening of the film, there will be a discussion with all the co-authors of the film: Leonid Fedorov, Igor Krutogolov, Mikhail Korol.

Asherah, also known in various sources as Ishtar and Astarte, aka Esther, is a Middle Eastern pagan goddess of mercy, prosperity and fertility. Michael the King’s poem “Songs of the Felled Asherah” is a phantasmagoric understanding of the development of monotheism in Canaan. Asherah renounces the great and terrible gods, giving her love to the only God with an unpronounceable four-letter name.

“And I love God Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey! That's when my trachea trembles..."

Asherah's tragedy is that monotheism excludes the recognition of divine pairs, and her choice means inevitable destruction and oblivion.

Based on the poem “Songs of the Felled Asherah,” Leonid Fedorov and Igor Krutogolov recorded the album “Asherah,” which became the soundtrack to the film.

Initially, it was about a choreographic performance that would be presented on stage. But since the idea was realized during the quarantine year of 2020, it was transformed into a ballet film. It was shot by Anna Ozerskaya herself among the landscapes of northern Sweden, indistinguishable on film from the Canaanite deserts. In it, over the course of an hour, the only heroine, Ashera (Sabine Groenendijk), uses expressive modern dance to “sort things out” with 11 partners depicting pagan gods. All the dancers are of different origins - from Slavic to Japanese, but all work or have worked with Anna in Gothenburg.

Music: Leonid Fedorov and Igor Krutogolov

Text: Mikhail Korol

Choreography: Anna Ozerskaya and artists

Director: Anna Ozerskaya

Cinematographer: Alana da Silva

Costume Designer: Zach Enquist

Editor: Alana da Silva and Anna Ozerskaya

Artists:

Ashera – Sabine Groenendijk

Baal – Joseba Hierro Izaguirre

Dagon – Takuya Fujisawa

Shamshu – Christoph von Reidemann

Mutu – Endre Szumicki

Yammu – Jesse Bechard

Jarihu – Jan Szpotak

Brass – Duncan S. Schultz

Tammuz – Zander Constant

Shalimu – Zach Enquist

Shaharu – Tsung-Hsien Chen

Yud Hey Vav Hey – Leonardo Martin Marquez