Merope – EPK
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Duration
8:04 min
Director
Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Producers
- Winifred Muench
- Christel Veraart
- Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Soundtrack & Narration by Christel Veraart
Hailed by Cannes’ World Film Festival as “Best Composer of the Future” and awarded “Best Film Soundtrack,” Christel Veraart composed the music for “Merope”. This music first appeared on the composer’s album “Pleiades” that ZMR in 2020 awarded with “Best Ambient Album of the Year”. With a unique ability to infuse the magic of music into the very soul of film, Christel brings stories to life, immersing audiences in a world of emotion and imagination, leaving an indelible mark on the storytelling experience.
Still Photography by James Peterson
Credits & General Information
Running Time: 08:04 min
Directed By: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Producers: Winifred Muench, Christel Veraart, Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Associate Producer: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Production Company: Sedona Chamber Ballet
Edited By: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Director of Photography: Levi Holiman
Music/Narration: Christel Veraart
Dance Director: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Performance/Choreography: Jordan Pelliteri
Still Photography: James Peterson
Featured Visual Artist: Amy Ernst
Photography: Glenn Grayson
Poetry: Nikita Gill, Hermann Hesse, Christel Veraart
Producers
- Winifred Muench
- Christel Veraart
- Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Production Team & Artists
Production Team
Director: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Producers: Winifred Muench, Juan Carlos Zaldivar, Christel Veraart
Associate Producer: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Director of Photography: Levi Holiman
Dance Director: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Planetory Geologist: Steven Williams
Visual Arts Advisor: Mary Byrd
Sound Engineer: Peter Ratner
Wardrobe: Rosemary Mays
Advisor: Achmed Valk
Advisor: Russell Fox
Technician: Jon Capozzoli
Production Assistant: Zoe Kalmus
Artists
Featured Visual Artist: Amy Ernst
Dancer/Choreographer: Jordan Pelliteri
Composer/Narrator: Christel Veraart
Still Photography: James Peterson
Photographer: Glenn Grayson
Poets: Nikita Gill, Hermann Hesse
Team Photos
- Winifred Muench
- Christel Veraart
- Juan Carlos Zaldivar
- Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
- Jordan Pelliteri
- Levi Holiman
- James Peterson
- Glenn Grayson
- Amy Ernst
- Mary Byrd
- Steven Williams
- Achmed Valk
- Rosemary Mays
- Zoe Kalmus
- Geert Boonk
Still Photography by James Peterson
Poetry
Thus the Stars Draw Their Path
Thus the stars draw their path
Immutable and misconceived.
We entangle ourselves in a hundred bonds
You rise from brilliance to brilliance.
Your life is nothing but light!
I must from my darknesses
Unfold my longing wings
You smile, I fly and am.
— Hermann Hesse
(translation & adaptation by Christel Veraart)
WE ARE ALL STARS
We have calcium in our bones
iron in our veins
carbon in our souls
and nitrogen in our brains
93% stardust
with souls made of flames
we are all just stars
that have peoples names
— Nikita Gill
Poster
Logos
Please feel free to use any of the logos provided.
Contact Information
Please contact director/producer Juan Carlos Zaldivar and/or producers Winifred Muench and Christel Veraart for any questions you might have.
Logline
The short film, Merope, follows a personification of the hidden star on a journey towards emancipation from the ties that historically have bound her and her six sisters, the Pleiades constellation, in a narrative about captivity and victimization, towards a new story where she claims visibility and a more authentic place in the universe for her and her sisters.
Synopsis
Merope and her sisters, the Pleiades constellation, live in space, void of time and idiom, yet —for centuries— they have inspired artists to create myths, music and performances, which have infused in us a search for universality among our often divided world.
In this original anthropomorphization of Merope, the producers use the film medium itself to create the first iteration of Sedona Ballet’s Reflections Festival, inviting many artists across several arts disciplines —Photography, Music, Spoken Word and Visual Arts—to donate or create works inspired by Merope in one of the most beautiful places – Sedona. All works were then orchestrated under the direction of filmmaker and visual artist, Juan Carlos Zaldivar, underscored by Christel Veraart’s mesmerizing musical composition from a longer musical composition entitled “The Pleiades”.
In an eternal search for universality, Merope presents herself simultaneously as film and festival. Combining all the arts, she transports us to a universal place, to provide the perfect fertile ground for the authentic YOU.
— Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Credits & General Information
Running Time: 08:04 min
Directed By: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Producers: Winifred Muench, Christel Veraart, Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Associate Producer: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Production Company: Sedona Chamber Ballet
Edited By: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Director of Photography: Levi Holiman
Music/Narration: Christel Veraart
Dance Director: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Performance/Choreography: Jordan Pelliteri
Still Photography: James Peterson
Featured Visual Artist: Amy Ernst
Photography: Glenn Grayson
Poetry: Nikita Gill, Hermann Hesse, Christel Veraart
Producers
- Winifred Muench
- Christel Veraart
- Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Production Team & Artists
Production Team
Director: Juan Carlos Zaldivar
Producers: Winifred Muench, Juan Carlos Zaldivar, Christel Veraart
Associate Producer: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Director of Photography: Levi Holiman
Dance Director: Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
Planetory Geologist: Steven Williams
Visual Arts Advisor: Mary Byrd
Sound Engineer: Peter Ratner
Wardrobe: Rosemary Mays
Advisor: Achmed Valk
Advisor: Russell Fox
Technician: Jon Capozzoli
Production Assistant: Zoe Kalmus
Artists
Featured Visual Artist: Amy Ernst
Dancer/Choreographer: Jordan Pelliteri
Composer/Narrator: Christel Veraart
Still Photography: James Peterson
Photographer: Glenn Grayson
Poets: Nikita Gill, Hermann Hesse
Team Photos
- Winifred Muench
- Christel Veraart
- Juan Carlos Zaldivar
- Rachel Cahayla-Wynne
- Jordan Pelliteri
- Levi Holiman
- James Peterson
- Glenn Grayson
- Amy Ernst
- Mary Byrd
- Steven Williams
- Achmed Valk
- Rosemary Mays
- Zoe Kalmus
- Geert Boonk
Still Photography by James Peterson
Poetry
Thus the Stars Draw Their Path
Thus the stars draw their path
Immutable and misconceived.
We entangle ourselves in a hundred bonds
You rise from brilliance to brilliance.
Your life is nothing but light!
I must from my darknesses
Unfold my longing wings
You smile, I fly and am.
— Hermann Hesse
(translation & adaptation by Christel Veraart)
WE ARE ALL STARS
We have calcium in our bones
iron in our veins
carbon in our souls
and nitrogen in our brains
93% stardust
with souls made of flames
we are all just stars
that have peoples names
— Nikita Gill
Poster
Logos
Please feel free to use any of the logos provided.
Contact Information
Please contact director/producer Juan Carlos Zaldivar and/or producers Winifred Muench and Christel Veraart for any questions you might have.