“I want a definite juxtaposition on stage,” explains filmmaker Azhur Saleem. “You have the Marionette Unit: this monstrous, chaotic thing that resembles a gutted church-organ. And attached to it is the absolute antithesis to this: a style of dance that represents grace, beauty and an ethereal quality.”

That’s why it’s three enslaved ballerinas that are fused with this machine and forced to perform in his upcoming film The Marionette Unit.

Currently in pre-production in London, The Marionette Unit is a science fiction film set in an alternate Victorian England. Azhur says it draws on a wide variety of sources, including novels like G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday, the films of Ridley Scott, and comic books like the Jack the Ripper saga From Hell. The original inspiration for the story, however, came when his brother pointed him to a YouTube video.

“It was video of someone who had taken apart a grand piano and re-purposed it, attaching an LED to every piano hammer, and little motors controlling the whole thing. This whole ‘machine’ was then linked to a laptop. You’d click play and the whole thing would whirr to life. I wanted to film something around this and pretty soon it became apparent that I didn’t want to just shoot the machine – I wanted a story around this fascinating device.”

And why ballet? “The style of dance has to represent self-expression and creativity. These can be very fragile things, and ballet represents them visually. On the other side, the machine represents the state and control.” Azhur admits he’s quite new to the world of dance, but was recently “blown away” by Zero Degrees by Akram Khan. “Again, what hit me was the joining of two styles – in this case West and East. If I can get half of the energy and vitality of the performances in my film, I will be happy.”

Azhur and his co-creators are currently working on a short version of the film, and hope to move onto a full-length feature soon after. For a teaser trailer, concept art, and more, visit the official website.

Image:(C) Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe