Rat King (or a Rodent’s Funeral)

Rat King (or a Rodent’s Funeral) is an absurdist short film and installation. It is written and will be directed by Nina Lucia Rodriguez. The film is composed of six vignettes that converge in the theme of death. Five of the sections follow bereaved loved ones carrying out funeral rituals. The sixth section is laced in between these five, depicting five dancers embodying the dead, weaving a “rat king”. This project is currently in pre-production and will begin shooting in 2025.

In January 2025, director Nina Rodriguez, composer Eliza Gelinas, choreographer Alex Rix, cinematographer Darcy Lally, ropes coordinator Sandile Mhlaba and 5 dancers met for a 4 day residency at MOtiVE Brooklyn to create a proof of concept for the interwoven dance elements of the film.

The music is composed of multiple layers of distorted electric bass guitar, synthesizer, vocals (performed by Eliza, Nina, Alex and Hannah), ambient recording of the ropes being handled, the dancers’ breath.