Phil Collins
they shoot horses
Phil Collins, 2004 | Courtesy Shady Lane Productions, Berlin
1:30pm-9:30pm at Belltable, Fundraiser Event
Light Moves returns to Belltable with a screening of the critically acclaimed they shoot horses (2004) by Turner Prize nominated artist Phil Collins, a video installation which traverses the turbulent territory between performance and moving image.
they shoot horses depicts a disco dance marathon Collins organised more than two decades ago with a group of young people from Ramallah in Palestine. Filmed continuously over the course of eight hours, the dancers move through unfolding emotional and physical states – elation, joy, fatigue, exhaustion, and endurance – set to a soundtrack of pop, rock and dance hits from the 1960s onwards. Speaking to both the hardships and the resilience of living under the decades-long illegal occupation by the state of Israel, they shoot horses centres dancing as an act of resistance in the face of daily atrocities, and as a fragile yet inextinguishable anticipation of liberation to come.
Donations:
This presentation of they shoot horses is held in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We invite you to support this cause by donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity that work towards a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity.
Contributions on a sliding scale of €10–20 are encouraged, and any further support deeply appreciated. Everyone is welcome. No one will be turned away if they are unable to donate.
Credits
Duration: 463 minutes
Featuring: Amal, Hussein, Maher, Mohammad, Noora, Sarah, Tamer, Yasmin, Ziad
Filmed, produced and directed by Phil Collins
Remastered in Berlin, 2024
Producer: Siniša Mitrović
Sound mix: Jochen Jezussek
Restoration and re-edit: Stefan Gohlke, Karla Maria Davis
Colour grading: Stefan Engelkamp
Postproduction facility: Concept AV
Remastering of they shoot horses has been made possible through support from BAK basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht.
Special thanks: Jack Persekian, Issa Freij, Iman Hammouri, David Codling, Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art (East Jerusalem), Popular Art Centre (Ramallah), Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg, Maria Hlavajova, and Ringo.
About the work
More than two decades after its original creation, Short Theatre presents the recently restored and remastered video installation they shoot horses, one of Phil Collins’ most widely acclaimed and politically resonant works.
Referencing the 1935 novel They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which tells the story of gruelling dance competitions as a form of entertainment in the Great Depression, they shoot horses was a disco dance marathon Collins organised in 2004 with a group of young people in Ramallah, Palestine, during the Second Intifada. Filmed continuously over the course of eight hours, the dancers move through unfolding emotional and physical states – elation, joy, fatigue, exhaustion, and endurance – set to a soundtrack of pop, rock and dance hits from the 1960s onwards.
Today, as genocide is live-streamed before the world’s eyes, the trajectory between the pain of others and its instant global consumption has collapsed – from the utter annihilation of entire lifeworlds in Gaza direct to our smartphones in a matter of seconds. In the militarised capitalist imagination Palestinians are cast as predestined for violence, suffering and obliteration, treated not as lives to be saved but as losses already calculated. They, in the words of poet Hala Alyan, ‘disappear into “hordes”, “masses”, numbers so high it becomes impossible to imagine their nicknames or favourite songs.’ Against such dehumanisation of Palestinian life, the dancers in they shoot horses assert their presence with visceral immediacy. They appear at once as any group of young people on a night out and as distinct individuals, demanding that we see them as fully human in a moment when so much else is being stripped away.
Speaking to both the hardships and the resilience of living under the decades-long illegal occupation by the state of Israel, they shoot horses centres dancing as an act of resistance in the face of daily atrocities, and as a fragile yet inextinguishable anticipation of liberation to come.