When artist and filmmaker Gordon Halloran had to make an emergency visit to hospital a few years ago, the experience sparked a new creative interest for one of the oldest of the arts, healing. Halloran had worked frequently with his unique art form, creating ice sculptures for the 2006 Olympics in Italy and again in 2010 for Vancouver’s winter games. He worked in minus zero weather for long hours, often becoming dehydrated from the cold, which eventually brought him to the brink of kidney failure. It was time to move away from working with ice.
Yet, ice is the perfect metaphor for his latest film, Body of Light.
“Ice holds its form as long as it’s supported,” said Halloran. That’s like our lives – we can hold on as long as we get support from our family, friends and community.
In Body of Light, previewed at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt on Feb. 27, he explored the concept of support for healing by interviewing many practitioners, patients and caregivers on the Sunshine Coast. The theme of healing blossomed into many themes: release of illness, preparation for dying, the importance of fitness, the concept of wellness. In fact, there are as many themes as there are people interviewed for this film.
Treat your body well, said Pilates instructor Katherine Denham. Terry Aleck told how he had processed the baggage from his residential school experience and has kept healthy and sober. Laughter works for fun facilitator Jill Shatford and for story-teller David Roche. Elija Waxman, a vigorous golfer, gives a stellar demonstration of just what a healthy body can do by holding his body in the air horizontally, using his core strength. Dr. Berenstein talks about living in the moment and reducing stress.
Body of Light is a production of Fat Salmon Cinema presented by executive producer Lolly de Jonge and directed by Halloran with a narrative voice-over performed by Caitlin Hicks. De Jonge and Halloran were on hand to answer questions about the film in which Halloran acted as the writer, cinematographer and sound designer. The film is the culmination of work begun for the Sechelt Arts Festival in 2014 and presented there as a combination theatrical/filmic exploration. This preview was strictly for the home crowd and the film will premiere at the Calgary Film Festival in October.
Was making the film healing for you? a member of the audience asked Halloran. There’s a message inherent in the film that answers that question – that it indeed takes the entire community, particularly Halloran’s home community of Roberts Creek, to give the energy flow that the body of light needs.
