Portal Film Productions
A blindfolded dancer alone in the white, arm extended, both feet off the floor.
A dancer's hands and forearm in close-up, blurred mid-movement against white.
The same four dancers, now in smoke and low light, the white void gone dark.
A blindfolded dancer close up in the dark, lit hard from the side, hands low.

Twist Again was a film based around the song “Twist”, and it was a commentary on hauntology, which is the idea that people cannot, in this age, create anything new without looking to the past.

It did this by shooting a 60s-style dance video where four actors did the twist in a liminal space. However, as the song progressed, it transitioned from the traditional “Twist Again” song that we know to something much more uncanny, much more strangely lit. The audio became warped in a very unsettling and uneasy way, and then the video would repeat.

The figures are blindfolded, I think, as a visual metaphor for not being aware that they are in this repeating churn of repetitive art.

One action, many setups

The challenge was that, because of the specificity of the song, continuity was really important, and so we had a long shot list.

It was all shot in one location, and effectively there was one action being performed, but there were many, many different setups and shots that we needed both lighting and blocking for. If we didn’t have them, then it would be kind of all for nothing as a project, because we wouldn’t have enough to fill out the length of the song.

Keeping the schedule rolling and making sure we had good coverage was essential.

One day, no retakes

We only had the location for one day, so there was no ability to go back and retake.

I worked closely with the director, Kelia Ideishi, on it. Shot in November 2025.

It is in the Screen Dance competition at Leeds International Film Festival 2026.