Patrice Chéreau, Pascal Greggory, une autre solitude

A look at the entire process of creating and developing Patrice Chéreau’s third staging of "In the Solitude of Cotton Fields" by Bernard Marie Koltès with Pascal Greggory and Chéreau himself. From the first reading around the table through the first contact with the performance space, rehearsals and lighting to opening night, the entire creative process unfurls in front of our eyes. The film shows us the evolving and ongoing dialogue between Greggory and Chéreau, a dialogue full of crises and magical moments of harmony and insight via which the truth, intensity, complexity, mystery and depth of Koltès’ text gradually emerge to form an implicit bond between these two men. The film also shows Chéreau directing rehearsals for Mozart’s "Don Giovanni" in Salzburg, revealing both the unity of and profound differences between his opera and theater work.

Bathtubs Over Broadway

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Serbia, Year Zero

Documentary that follows events after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, while looking back on the previous fifteen years, tracing his rise to power. Personal testimony alternates with analysis of a disintegrating society.

An American Named Kazan

Elia Kazan represented the American dream. An immigrant who came without anything and who became the Prince of Hollywood and Broadway after World War II. Actor, theater director, filmmaker, writer, he is the founder of Actor’s Studio, a collaborator of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and a director who discovered Marlon Brando and James Dean.

An Anatomy Lesson

In 1972, Carlos Mathus's provocative play 'La lección de anatomía' opened in Buenos Aires. He thus became a renowned author and director, and the play had an international uninterrupted run of thirty years. More than forty years later the author asks himself about the current relevance of the play and embarks on the adventure of a revival, an odyssey that will take a definite toll on his spirit, his health, and the work itself.

Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres

Terwijl het liefde was

Artistic director of the National Theater Eric de Vroedt writes and directs a performance about his own mother Winnie, who passed away in 2020. This piece, titled The Century of My Mother, is a family story about the migration from the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands. It is De Vroedt's way of examining the relationship with his mother and not having to say goodbye to her yet: 'I can let her live on stage, but when the curtain falls, when the play is completely finished, then she is really dead'.

The Den

A struggling actress becomes entangled in an abusive relationship with her idol at a cult-like New York theatre company.

Rushmore

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Por Trás do Pano

A famous actor believes he has totally mastered his craft. A young and talented actress is open to new challenges. They meet, and confront each other; on, and off the stage. From his personal and artistic lethargy, he sees the possibilities of a new beginning, new opportunities, after starting to see her. The story unravels, as the title states, "behind the curtain."

Cookie's Fortune

Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.

Daddy's Son

The Odyssey of director Radomir Belacevic who leaves his native village on his faithful horse named Knight and sets out to the capital trying to put his drama on the National Theatre's program, allegedly backed by foreign investors, too. Seduced by flashy lights of the city and beauty of metropolitan women, his Don Quixotean mission takes a different route and he becomes a modern Ulysses who forgets his roots and assimilates with the urban jungle.

The Country Girl

An actor on the skids is given one more chance to regain his stardom, as well as his self-respect, yet his alcoholism may prevent that from happening.

Synecdoche, New York

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

Actresses

Marcelline is an actress. Forty, single and childless, she begins rehearsals for Turgenev’s A Month in the Country. Denis, the director, admires her greatly and promises he’ll make her happy on stage — she will shine. But things don’t go to plan.

Erbsen auf halb 6

It all starts with a bang. The car breaks through the crash barrier and falls off the bridge. The lights go out. After that, he is not able to see anymore. His optic nerve is severed, from now on the young stage-director Jakob is blind. His life will change and nothing will ever be the same. Jakob cannot handle the idea of never being able to see again and screams at the only woman who is able and willing to help him, Lily. A rehabilitation teacher, she helps the blind deal with the darkness. Lily has been living with it since birth, she too is blind.

Marriage Story

A stage director and an actress struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal extremes.

The Girl from the Third Row

A ring passes between a lot of different people, giving the bearer or someone close a new meaning to life. Actors, embezzlers, old ladies and cheated husbands all seem to gain temporary hope from misery and disillusionment.

One-way to Moscow

30 years ago, Switzerland was shaken by a scandal that seems to have already been forgotten: more than 900,000 people were surveilled because of their political convictions. Against the backdrop of this "secret files scandal," Micha Lewinsky sets his film. Conscientious policeman Viktor Schuler is tasked by his superior to infiltrate the Schauspielhaus, a renowned Zurich theatre, in order to keep an eye on its leftist scene. However, Viktor finds himself quite taken with the artist's life and falls in love with the subversive actress Odile Lehmann.

Dancing Lady

Janie lives to dance and will dance anywhere, even stripping in a burlesque house. Tod Newton, the rich playboy, discovers her there and helps her get a job in a real Broadway musical being directed by Patch. Tod thinks he can get what he wants from Janie, Patch thinks Janie is using her charms rather than talent to get to the top, and Janie thinks Patch is the greatest. Steve, the stage manager, has the Three Stooges helping him manage all the show girls. Fred Astaire and Nelson Eddy make appearances as famous Broadway personalities.