Genesis is a contemporary, kabbalistic re-imagining of the creation story - if Eve was made out of Adam's rib, would that make her a transgender clone?
Genesis was my first foray into film and special effects. From concept to completion, I saw the film through every stage of production.
It won at 2 film festivals including Philadelphia Youth Film Festival, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival and been selected at five including Five Continents International Film Festival, BLOW UP International Arthouse Film Festival, the INDIS Festival, The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards and Future Femme Fest.
Act 1: God's Calculation Room
The world has not been created yet. All that exists so far is a room where God lays out all his calculations for how to create the universe.
We are in the abstract world of elements that Plato speaks of: lava monoliths, sundials and the table of elements all point to the tools of a creator undertaking the creation of a cosmos.
There is a nod to state of innocence and playfulness as Adam plays hopscotch on the table of elements. The theme of innocence is an important in the film and the original myth itself.
Act 2: Corridor of Forms
We are now slightly further down the world creation pipeline. We are somewhere between the platonic and physical realm
God has created the male and female ideal form, which exist on either side of the space, hidden in between the columns.
There are only the male and female cookie cutter prototypes, they haven’t yet been ‘filled’ by future generations of humans.
Adam gets tired and takes a nap and God takes his rib to create Eve. Adam freaks out and escapes.
Act 3: Eve
From Adam’s point of view, Eve initially appears as prey on the horizon. The distorted piano punctures the white noise as the black dot pierces the white space.
As she gets closer the roles are reversed as she takes control of the scene: she becomes predator and he becomes prey. Since she was made out of Adam’s body she is the inverse, the ‘negative space.’ Adam and Eve’s contrasting presentation hints at the anatomical differences between man and woman. He initially objectifies her through a hard Apollonian eye, however once he realises her humanity the tone changes.
Sporadic woody drum hits come in representing their bodies recalibrating to ancient, primordial rhythms.This is the most physical and ‘in the body’ scene compared to the previous which were more spacey. There is no environment to influence their behaviour. They are acting out an instinctual exchange, propelled by feelings below the level of consciousness.
This is the penultimate scene before the test in the ‘garden’. In the original Genesis story it wasn’t their fault they ate the apple because they had no sense of right and wrong. In my version, subtle contrasts are introduced before: man and woman, positive and negative, black and white, predator and prey. Eve embodies the snake, shedding her skin which colours the space from white to black.
Act 4: Snakes & Ladders
The game of snakes and ladders is an allegory for the trial of Adam and Eve. In the original myth, Adam and Eve bore moral culpability for eating the apple of temptation, however it could be argued that they had no real choice as they did not yet have knowledge of right or wrong. It is like a game of snake and ladders: the players have no agency, there is no choice or skill involved, all you can do is roll the dice and embrace your fate.
Adam and Eve play the game with an apple dreidel, instead of a regular dice. The apple dreidel represents God’s will as only he knows the number it will land on. The snakes represent falling to temptation, and the ladders represent ascension towards enlightenment.
Eventually, Adam and Eve end up in a situation which requires them to split, Adam is on the path to enlightenment whereas Eve is supposed to go down the snake.
The board is seemingly endless, they could keep playing ad infinitum, but Adam chooses to be with Eve. So he forgoes God’s will and follows her down the path of temptation, landing on the unlucky number. Realising they no longer need the apple, they suddenly ‘get hungry’ for their own free will and authority so they eat the apple as a sacrament.