Penelope

Overview

Abed’s lens is empowering and unwavering in Penelope (2014), whose title evokes the maritally loyal character of Homer’s Odyssey, who waits 20 years for her husband to return home from war, weaving and undoing a shroud daily to retain independence from would-be suitors. In Abed’s film, a woman methodically labours over the making of a garment using the bodies of hundreds of fish – creating a new and obscure reality, which is adorned and animated in something between dance and struggle, against a silent setting sun.