Julia Heijligers (UK)
Dear Shannon, 2021

Paired artist → Laura Murphy & Black Bark Film with A Spectacle of Herself (NL)

Read their conversation here

Dear Shannon shares the story of three people whose lives become inextricably linked as their relationships with one another strengthen, and they retreat into a world of their own. It portrays the need we have for one another to feel safe and connected. Together we created our safe space and lived by each other's dreams. The film shows the impact of illness and the loss of bodily functions on a person whose body was known, understood and recognised as outlandish, grand, sensational; an expression of wild thoughts. What does it mean to be 'the queen of the scene' when this is only recognised through a costumed body, a symbol of beauty, vitality and expressiveness? This film shows what hides behind that costume; vulnerability, a new kind of beauty and a body in distress.

n Artist's Bio h

Julia currently lives and works in Amsterdam, her work arises from a feeling of alienation, it mainly focuses on character studies. Those who live at the margins of society represent and inspire the characters in her work. She expresses this through film, wigs, paintings, drawings and actually anything that happens to feel like the right way. As long as the medium helps her to tell the stories as she wants to tell them.

t Credits o


Key Cast
Shannon Pat, Eleanor Ling, Julia Heijligers
Director, Writer, and Producer
t  Julia Heijligers
Artwork by Daeun Lim
Curated by The New Flesh & First Cut