We Met Before | Short Film

In a letter reflecting on a dear friend’s illness, the words of our director explore her own struggles with mental health, a journey through therapy, and the consequent beautifully stronger, more honest friendship that came from that process. The resonance of those words with our choreographer paired with the duo’s mutual adoration for community led to an expression of the difficult through mediums that went beyond naturalistic story telling. From a very informal want to create, collaborate, stretch different muscles and use making as a form of personal therapy ‘We Met Before’ was born. We made this film because it is so important to us that the discussion of Mental Health is brought forward. In the UK alone, 1 in every 4 people will experience a mental health problem each year. 1 in every 6 report experiencing a mental health problem each week. People suffer in silence, and the aim of this project is to engage the audience and tear down those barriers of shame and communication through image, and ultimately open up a collective sense of healing. The inside-out nature of the poem, that was written in an urban London mindset of cramped up kitchens and little space to move, contrasts with the dancers in an exploration of the dream space, a sanctuary, open, spiritual and healing. And so, with a cast of some of London’s top dancers (coming from Rambert and Sadlers wells) and actors (Thalissa Teixeira, lead in the BBC / HBO Max’s production ‘Trigonometry’; Francesca Knight, seen in Their Finest, League of Gentlemen and the RTS nominated short ‘Nurse’), a group of people who had found a common ground in performing and an openness to emoting gathered to create this piece. When making this film, we could never have imagined the elevated potential for this project’s impact. In a time where the elevation of Black work is a clear priority, we proudly present to you a piece directed, choreographed and produced by three Black women who can assuredly say they have created something which includes, strengthens and empowers everyone. When the entire world is experiencing lock-down, a physical distancing that has caused aches and pains in our hearts and minds, what we give in this film is hope. A reminder that we are not alone. This film reaches out and becomes a letter to us all. This true collaboration told through many genders, races, beliefs and cultures, reminds us that we are united.