Sydney Opera House Puts passive kneeling's ECHO SLEEP Online [Watch]
The Shortwave commission, scored by *ssx with Ninajirachi, follows rendered hands through server rooms and bedrooms in the grammar of a game camera.
The Sydney Opera House has put ECHO SLEEP, a short animated film by the Australian-Vietnamese VJ, animator and director passive kneeling, on its YouTube channel. The film was commissioned for Shortwave, the Opera House's annual program inviting Australian artists to make work for the screen, and developed with support from Soft Centre, an artist-led platform for experimental sound and digital work. The release went up Oct. 14.
An excerpt from ECHO SLEEP (2026) by passive kneeling, score by *ssx. Full film on the Sydney Opera House channel.
ECHO SLEEP premiered in May at the Opera House's Playhouse as part of Shortwave x Soft Centre, a Vivid LIVE screening that paired the new commission with a program of short films curated by Soft Centre.
The film is written and animated by passive kneeling. The score and sound design are by *ssx, with additional sound production from the producer Ninajirachi and something.maker. A 3D monster was made by Maya and additional VFX by Aakarsh. The full film is on the Sydney Opera House channel.
For more reading see Alice Wang aims a first-person camera at cosmic architecture and A free Los Angeles screening was a history of machinima.
Stills from ECHO SLEEP by passive kneeling
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