The film XENON is a political allegory based on a performance opera by the artist Mikhail Karikis.
Using the original score and performers, Karikis and the artist/filmmaker David Bickerstaff,
come together in a collaboration to produce a unique cinematic experience.

The unusual absence of a colleague triggers reactions in seven characters working in an austere
office. Yearning to overcome the oppressive routine and an omnipresent authority, each character
enters a psychic dream space to battle with frustration, self-censorship, high aspirations and failure.
The bleak and banal routine of the office is contrasted with sequences of reverie and surreal
imaginings where each character searches for their voice, dignity and human rights.

XENON brings together experimental cinema, performance art and opera to the screen and features
performances by dancer/choreographer Maurice Causey, vocalists Amy Cunningham and E.laine,
viola player Conall Gleeson, juice ensemble, Jade Pybus, artists Monica Ross and Mikhail Karikis.
Based on a performance art opera by artist Mikhail Karikis, the film XENON is a poignant political
allegory while being an audiovisual feast constructed around Karikis’s menacing sound, under David
Bickerstaff’s direction and arresting cinematography.

Duraton: 23 minutes
Written & composed by: Mikhail Karikis
Directed & edited by: David Bickerstaff & Mikhail Karikis
Costume and sets by: Mikhail Karikis
Year of production: 2011
Produced by: Mikhail Karikis & David Bickerstaff
Second Camera: Uriel Orlow
Cast: Maurice Causey, Amy Cunningham, E.laine, Conall Gleeson, juice, Mikhail Karikis, Jade Pybus, Monica Ross
Funded by: Art Council England
Support in kind by: University of Brighton