Yesterday I watched In-I in Motion at the Rio Film Festival. Directed by and starring Juliette Binoche, the film begins with a courageous gesture: making oneself vulnerable in the face of art and one’s own limitations.
In 2007, Binoche decided to step away from filmmaking to create a dance performance with choreographer Akram Khan. The agreement between the two was simple and symbolic—she would help him become a better actor, and he would teach her to dance. From this exchange was born the show In-I, and now the film, which blends backstage, rehearsals, and performance in a single movement.
It’s intriguing to watch an actress of Binoche’s stature shed the security of acting to explore a new body. The documentary captures the raw process: long rehearsals, stumbles, exhaustion, frustrations, and moments of discovery. There’s something deeply human in watching her learn to breathe differently, fall and get up, find rhythm with her whole body. The dance born from error is, perhaps, the truest.
At many moments, In-I in Motion becomes a mirror of the relationship between Binoche and Khan—two artists trying to access what’s most authentic in each other. Between friction and partnership, the film finds its pulse. It’s art refining art.
During the festival, Binoche commented that she wasn’t completely satisfied with the final result and that the complete show at the end was a decision made by the distributor. She’s working on a new cut, thirty minutes shorter. And it makes sense: there’s a breath of fresh air the film still seeks, a lightness that better fits its purpose.
But what touched me most was what she said after the screening: that we all have an artist within us, and that the challenge is to overcome the fear of accessing it. In In-I in Motion, she does exactly that—she faces fear with her body, without masks, without control, without hiding.
As a spectator, I admired her courage. As an artist, I felt the urge to move too—to make more mistakes, try more, exist more. In-I in Motion isn’t just a film about dance; it’s about freeing the body from the demands of perfection.
In the end, the essential remains: the moment when fear transforms into movement.
You’ll find In I In Motion at Festival do Rio.Did you like the content? Then leave a comment to let me know!
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