RAPTURE

RAPTURE tells the story of Marko, an exiled Ukrainian vogue dancer, and his abandoned apartment in war-torn Donbas, Ukraine. In a VR experiment, Marko visits his inaccessible home.
The two-channel installation unfolds as a diptych in two parts. In RAPTURE I – VISIT (an 18min video projection), Marko confronts his abandoned apartment, recreated through 3D scans and original photographs from the occupied area. This digital reconquest offers a powerful reflection on displacement, raising questions about recovery and loss in the face of war, as well as the possibilities and limitations of technology and its ultimate emotional impact. RAPTURE II – PORTAL (a 19min VR piece) shifts the viewer into Marko’s place and explores the body as an eternal home. Guided by Marko in a hypnotic session, the viewer moves through a virtual reconstruction of his apartment. Vogue dance elements juxtapose the strength of the human body in dance with its vulnerability in the face of war technology.

Alisa Berger was born in Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan, Russia, and raised in Lviv, Ukraine, and Essen, Germany. She studied film and fine arts at the Academy of Media Art Cologne (KHM) and at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Bogotá. Her 2017 graduation film The Astronauts’ Bodies received nominations including the Max Ophüls Prize and the First Steps Award of the Deutsche Filmakademie. She was also the recipient of the Best Film Award for New Directors at International Film Festival Uruguay and the Screenplay Award of H.W. Geißendörfer. From 2018 to 2022, she lived in Tokyo and studied butoh.

Director Alisa Berger. Screenplay Alisa Berger, Marko Kolomytskyi. Cinematography Alan Guichaoua. Editing Alisa Berger. Music Heinali. Sound Design Gerald Schauder. Sound Lila Lemoine. Animation Ludovic de Oliveira. Producers Luc-Jérôme Bailleul, Pauline Thyss. Co-Producer Alisa Berger. Production company Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains (Tourcoing, France). With Marko Kolomytskyi.

Films: 2013: Sleep (11 min). 2014: Island Story (6 min). 2017: Three Borders (51 min), Die Körper der Astronauten / The Astronauts’ Bodies (74 min). 2021: K-Saram I: Tale of the Pig Head (27 min). 2022: RETRODREAMING (17 min). 2024: Invisible People (71 min). 2025: RAPTURE.