Turning, is a documentary musical art film made by video artist Charles Atlas in collaboration with British-American artist Anohni and her band Antony and the Johnsons.
The film focuses on 13 New York City-based women who appeared with Antony and the Johnsons in the band's European tour in the Autumn of 2006. During the concert, each subject rotated slowly on a turntable platform on stage, her features blown up and transfigured on a screen behind Anohni and her band, then known as Antony and the Johnsons. Atlas incorporated the 13 personalities in the film and music through candid shots and playful banter to define his picturesque subjects on screen. The concert climaxed with projections of a video of late trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, the band's namesake.
The film pairs a band performance with a video backdrop of superimpositions and time-delay effects. The video uses "13 remarkable women" in the songwriter's words who stand on a revolving platform to the side of the band each with a static pose for the length of a song, staring down the camera in close-up as Charles Atlas superimposes shots from different angles and applies various camera effects.
The soundtrack was recorded at the Barbican Centre, London, on 4âÂÂ5 November 2006, with all music composed and arranged by Anohni and performed by Antony and the Johnsons. It was officially released on 11 November 2014 by the record label Secretly Canadian.
+ Digital booklet