Hello! Thank you for taking an interest in this project. Where do freelancers go? A short movement documentary. Documenting creative freelancers lives from Spring 2025 - 2026, posing a question where do freelancers go when there's no place to go without consuming or spending money. I want to bring in various artists from different art forms who feel this way into this project to document how we feel and how important third spaces are as there is a rise in gig workers and creative freelancers especially because there are very limited full-time jobs for artists. This is an unpaid opportunity. (see more info on this at the bottom)
THIS PROJECT IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO DANCE/MOVEMENT FREELANCERS AND LOCATION.
You could be based and document places in other countries too.
After 3 years of starting freelance, getting any kind of jobs I could get from babysitting, teaching, modelling, dancing to receptionist jobs, baristas and front of house work. Always in between jobs finding and carving space for where I could be in between work. Ever since, I've been starting to document spaces I find myself in between work. I'm always asking myself where to sit, eat, work, shit without spending money. Sometimes I find myself wandering around aimlessly holding my pee in waiting for my next job so I can finally release myself. Sometimes I've got a 2 hour break and I have no where to go. While observing and moving in these spaces that are linear, I started to document the spaces/places I was in. Documenting the anti-homeless architecture around, private land signs and/or broken/closed public areas.
This is a low-stakes project for freelance artists who want to be apart of a creative work but can’t afford the time and energy. You do not need to document yourself everyday. Just whenever you feel is appropriate.
Places
I usually find parks, train/bus stations, cafe's, gyms, churches, graveyards, community centres, benches alongside the road and libraries. Please document whatever makes sense to you.
What I am asking for?
I'm asking freelance artists to help me document these spaces. To showcase how important they are, where they are, what do they look like and how does the freelancer feel in those spaces.
You can record yourself dancing/moving, eating, walking, meeting friends/ animals or carving spaces to just be for awhile. Sometimes where I can't find any and walk around aimlessly until the next thing. Showcasing the hardships of the weather and finding where to go.
You don’t have to consistently document yourself for the whole year, you could find this project later and submit one video. Videos can be from 2 seconds up to 20 minutes. This is so its easier to go through later. You can send videos from before, you do not need to record new ones.
If you like you can express yourself by recording the sounds around you, free writing (if you don’t mind sharing) or citing a poem.
You can film in portrait or landscape. Even if something is blocking the screen a little, cropped or if its a tilted, close ups or being far away is all good too!
SUBMITTING INSTRUCTIONS
Please fill in this short form Where do freelancers go? If you like to take part in this project. Once you have registered you will be sent an upload link to add all your videos. If you can rename the videos to name_place_month. Would be great but its not required.
Upload it anytime from now - 15th November 2026, where it will be secured and kept. Data will be deleted once the film is published. This deadline is flexible and so if you would like to upload after the 15th November please do so as I will be editing the videos in December.
If you have any questions please email hello.ashleylim@proton.me
After the deadline
I will be collaborating with a filmmaker Geraldine Piong (https://www.instagram.com/gerrrrrraldine/) and a sound designer Vėja (https://soundcloud.com/vejatraxx) , we will be collecting all the videos together into a short documentary. This film will be posted on socials, YouTube and sent to a dance film festivals or any opportunity that I can find that is appropriate to this project. If you can please do not record the public’s faces as much as possible we will be blurring them out as well by doing this you are agreeing to have your videos in the film posted on socials and in film festivals.
If I am able to receive funds for the project, even after the project is made. I will contact artists and discuss on how we can spilt the funds between us but for now it is an unpaid project.
Thank you and I look forward to seeing your videos!