Educational Media Reviews Online

On its surface, Necessary Games is a beautifully photographed trio of edited dance films that features intellectually disabled performers. These performers are both members of the Australia's Restless Dance Theatre, and co-creators of the film, along with the production team Closer Productions.

Moths takes place in a barely lit, empty room. In one sequence, the two men in the piece circle around each other like dogs, crawling and leaping together, while the tempo of the electronic music picks up. In another sequence, the young man with Down Syndrome takes off his glasses, and then moves with refined quickness. The combination of these sequences with the film’s clean editing and minimal soundscape results in an exciting piece.

Sixteen clearly depicts the emotions of being a teenager through a young woman’s anxious feet movement, and playful couple-dancing with male partners.

I found Necessity to be the most challenging piece to view, because it involves a level of touching and intimacy uncommonly seen in mainstream U.S. media. Two young women whisper conversations as they touch each other, and one woman occasionally draws on a wall until the other woman pushes her away. Production design here, as in the other films, is stark.

The surface beauty of Necessary Games is a recommendation for its purchase, but questions that arose while watching the film might also serve as a recommendation. How do we depict those who are intellectually disabled, and what is the responsibility of the media makers depicting them? Sixteen and Necessity bring the question of how young women are depicted.

I highly recommend this DVD to all collections interested in thought provoking creativity.

Awards

• South Australian Screen Awards (2009): Best Short Film, Best Non-narrative Film, Best Editing, Best Production Design
• Melbourne International Film Festival: Best Experimental Short Film