MFA Showcase Series: DUST

DUST is a short film that explores the experience of the goal-seeking process and the quiet transformation that happens along the way. What begins as a simple desire to reach something gradually unfolds into a fantastic and shifting journey, where the path is never stable and the environment constantly resists certainty.

Through choreography, constructed spaces, and subtle moments of animation, the film follows a character navigating obstacles that feel, at times, playful and, at times, overwhelming. Dust speaks metaphorically about something fragile and unstable, yet persistent.

Rather than presenting obstacles as enemies to defeat, DUST treats them as necessary companions in the process of becoming. The film reflects on how frustration, repetition, and even failure shape us more deeply than achievement itself. Acceptance does not mean giving up; it means understanding that resistance is part of movement.

At its core, DUST portrays persistence and effort. A realization that the journey toward a goal is not separate from the obstacles we encounter, but built from them. The film invites viewers into a world where instability becomes structure, and where continuing forward, even imperfectly, is its own quiet victory.

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CREDITS:

A film by Maria Paula Perdomo

Written, Performed, Directed, Edited, and Designed byMaria Paula Perdomo

Choreography, Spatial Design, Lighting, Costume, Props,Stop-Motion Animation & Sound DesignMaria Paula Perdomo

CinematographyMarshell Chen

Original ScoreJean Manuel De Solages

Original Song “Stardust” byMarshell Chen

2D Animated Opening SequenceCarolina Hernández Franco

Ladder Sketch IllustrationMariana Perdomo

FeaturingSeonghyun Lee Berker Ozogul

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