Directors’ Statement

Trained as a dancer, Tamar has always been in love with the body. Its intelligence, an endless inspiration; its imperfections, as compelling as its ultimate perfection. As a choreographer, she has been interested in working with non-dancers as well as dancers. So while meeting Gregg Mozgala, a young actor with cerebral palsy, and inviting him to dance the lead in her newest piece might strike others as strange, even a bit crazy, it was for her an irresistible step. When it became startlingly apparent that Gregg’s prognosis, to be in a wheelchair at age 40, was morphing into a far different reality, she began filming. Gregg’s transformation was so radical that even before Tamar could understand its ramifications, she knew she needed to capture it and that the story needed to reach a larger audience.

An editor and filmmaker, Daisy has worked with Tamar before and understands her approach and her dedication to transformation through performance. They first collaborated in 2001 on the film “Summer in Ivye,” the remarkable story of an international cast of actors and dancers who join with Rogoff and a group of villagers in rural eastern Europe to create a dance/theater performance. When Tamar approached her to join “Enter The Faun,” Daisy didn’t know she was embarking on a five-year journey but their partnership was invaluable in shaping the film’s many layers of complexity. Together they would discover what this singular, engaging story could yield.

“Enter The Faun” and the work with Gregg is instigating dialogue across communities, in part because it cracks open stagnant images of disability. The key to change in any area is to ignite the idea that change is even possible. At the heart of our film we see the path and the proof of Gregg’s transformation. “Enter The Faun” documents the unexpected, yet as documentary filmmakers the unexpected is what we expect. We hope our film will go out in the world and empower people with disabilities, connect the disparate communities of dance and medicine, and make change not just a possibility but something that can be counted on, in every field and with every person everywhere.

Tamar Rogoff & Daisy Wright