Obsessed with Light

ZEVA OELBAUM, SABINE KRAYENBÜHL | 90'

From the team who brought us Letters From Baghdad in 2022, Obsessed with Light is a mesmerising rumination on the qualities of light and the enduring obsession to create. It pulls back the curtain on Loïe Fuller, who was a midwestern vaudeville performer (working with Buffalo Bill) before becoming an international star in Belle Époque Paris, and the very embodiment of Art Nouveau – the “Fairy of Light”.

Wildly original, Fuller revolutionised early twentieth-century visual culture by inventing a new kind of spectacle – utilising dance, light and fabric in ephemeral, shape-shifting abstractions, and pioneering ingenious use of electricity for the stage. Recall any rock concert, and you’ll have seen a modern version of the lighting designs that Fuller patented more than a century ago. Accordingly, the film explores not only her life and art, but also her potent influence on contemporary artists, including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift and William Kentridge.

“Fuller became the most famous dancer of her day, influencing artists and filmmakers such as Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, the Lumière Brothers, and George Méliès. She also launched Isadora Duncan’s career.”

The Lincoln Centre

Credits

Directors: Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl
Producers: Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl
Co-Producer: Christian Popp
Presented by: Monash School of Media, Film & Journalism