Paysages Mixtes / Mixed Landscapes (2019)
A woman and a man—perhaps the last on earth—move through many nuanced versions of their relationship. Full of history, longing, and fragments of stories, their journey is at times unworldly, unnerving, and gently frightening. Their interaction is emotionally charged, yet it is the absence of everything in between - things neither seen nor said - that gives the film its quiet power.
Paysages Mixtes / Mixed Landscapes is a 15 minute film co-directed and performed by Scottish director Katrina McPherson and Québec choreographer Harold Rhéaume. The work builds on McPherson’s long-standing practice of the screendance director appearing on screen and drawing structure and meaning from real-life encounters. It follows a series of improvised duets performed by McPherson and Rhéaume, filmed across evocative rural and urban landscapes in their respective home countries.
McPherson and Rhéaume first collaborated in the 1990s, making a short dance film Mur Mur (1993) and Pictureshow (1997), a live theatre work incorporating video, before life intervened and their friendship and creative partnership was paused for nearly two decades. They reunited through the making of Paysages Mixtes / Mixed Landscapes, allowing past connection, distance and time itself to become a central theme of the work.
The original soundtrack was created by McPherson’s long-term collaborator, Glasgow-based dubbing mixer and sound designer John Cobban, who has contributed sonically to all of Katrina’s dance and documentary films since 1992.
Screenings →
World Premiere: RISE Festival, Findhorn, Scotland 5 May 2019
Screendance.Scotland, Perth, Scotland, May 2019
Canadian Premiere: Festival de Cinéma de la Ville de Québec, 15- 16 September 2019
IMZ Dance Screen Festival Library Selection, Germany, November 2019
Dance Camera West Festival, Opening Night Screening, REDCAT Theatre, Los Angeles, January 2020
McPherson presented the film alongside There Is a Place (2010) and received a Career Achievement Award, shared with choreographer Édouard Lock
Movies by Movers Screendance Festival, American Dance Festival, Durham, USA, April 2020
Light Moves Festival, Limerick, Ireland, November 2020
Jumping Frames Festival, Hong Kong, Artists Spotlight on Katrina McPherson’s work, November 2025
Paysages Mixtes/Mixed Landscapes was funded by the British Council (UK), the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications (MCC) du Québec, and the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF) du Québec. Created with the support of Dance North and The Work Room, Scotland and La Maison Pour la Danse, Québec.
