Madama Butterfly(2024)

Médée(en)

Possibly mythology’s most unfathomable character: Medea, the sorceress, betrayed by her husband Jason, takes revenge by offering the latter’s lover a poisoned dress and then killing her own children. Such a destiny, so often portrayed in the arts, could not but be embodied at the Opera. In 1693, Marc-Antoine Charpentier premiered his only “tragédie lyrique”, based on a libretto by Thomas Corneille, at the Académie royale de Musique – forerunner of the Paris Opera – in the presence of Louis XIV. Three centuries after its creation, this baroque score of great orchestral wealth returns for the first time to the stage of the Paris Opera, under the baton of William Christie. Renowned for his exceptionally articulate interpretations, director David McVicar transposes the action to the Second World War, thus reinforcing the heroine’s tragic character.

Sonic Youth: Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (April 12, 2003)(en)

Filmed April 12, 2003 at a benefit concert held at and for The Anthology Film Archives, the international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of avant-garde and independent cinema. In addition to screening films for the public, AFA houses a film museum, research library and art gallery. The event, which raised money for the Archives and celebrated the life and work of avant-garde film maker Stan Brakhage, featured Sonic Youth providing an improvised instrumental collaboration with silent Brakhage’s films. The band performed with drummer/percussionist Tim Barnes (Essex Green, Jukeboxer, Silver Jews).

Forest(en)

Short film built from photographs, sped up like a traditional stop motion and is meant to be an evocation of the English Eerie and Folk Horror.

Life of a Mutt(sr)

Through seven scenes, the film follows the life and destinies of stray dogs from the margins of our society, leading us to reconsider our attitude towards them. Through the seven “wandering” characters that we follow at different ages, from birth to old age, we witness their dignified struggle for survival. At the cemetery, in an abandoned factory, in an asylum, in a landfill, in places full of sorrow, our heroes search for love and togetherness. By combining documentary material, animation and acting interpretation of the thoughts of our heroes, we get to know lives between disappointment and hope, quite similar to ours.

Ghost Nursing(zh)

Jackie is a young woman determined to reverse her bad luck. She consults the God of Gold, who advises her to "nurse a ghost". She is given a small figure to worship, and the worship includes dripping three drops of her own blood every three days. At first, all goes well and she falls in love. But this new happiness causes Jackie to forget to worship the figure, and the spirit doesn't like it. With good intentions, her new boyfriend, Raymond, discovers Jackie's strange predicament and attempts an exorcism which goes horribly wrong. The spirit takes over Raymond, who starts doing nasty things.

Shifting Units(en)

A salesman tries to juggle the stress of his job with his increasing alcoholism, while his long hours away from home mean his family life has all but collapsed in the quest for sales.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara(hi)

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Waiting for Sunset(tl)

An old unmarried couple broke the monotony of their daily lives when the woman’s estranged husband reached out to them, seeking reconciliation and forgiveness.

Holiday(en)

The portrayal of a woman on a holiday.

The End of All Wanting(en)

Rose, a young woman suffering from a mysterious and debilitating pain, turns to an unorthodox doctor for help. However, as she delves deeper into his radical treatments, Rose must decide whether Dr. Connors’ solution to human suffering is really what she wants or even real at all.

Spoilers(en)

Short film about the budding relationship between Leon and Felix, two people who meet unexpectedly and discover they share a lot in common.

Kamiusagi Rope x Boruto: Naruto Next Generations(ja)

A 3-way collaboration between Kamiusagi Rope, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and TOHO Cinemas. The purpose is to promote a new TOHO theater opening up in Ueno on November 4, 2017. The collaboration video will also be available to view in TOHO Cinemas in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama from Ocotober 21 - December 1.

Hui's Comedy: A Look Back Featurette(cn)

Look back on 4 comedy classics with 7 top filmmakers of our time. Explore the cultural impact of The Hui Brothers – the most successful cinema trio in Hong Kong history.

Born to Lose: The Last Rock and Roll Movie(en)

Veteran documentary filmmaker and hipster Lech Kowalski creates this film about his friend and hard-partying rock god Johnny Thunders, member of legendary proto-punk band the New York Dolls. Through archive footage and interviews with such musicians as Dee Dee Ramone and Sylvain Sylvain, the film details his stint with the Dolls, the formation of his other band, the Heartbreakers; his rise to fame, particularly in Japan; his descent into heroin addiction, and the mysterious circumstances of his death.

The Red Shadow(en)

In this musical short, General Bierbeau sends his weakling son, Pierre, to French Morocco to fight Arab insurgents, the Riffs, in the hopes that this will toughen him up. Pierre soon becomes the Riffs' leader and assumes a secret identity: The Red Shadow.

My Avatar and Me(da)

is a creative documentary-fiction film and a film that might expand your sense of reality. It is the story about a man who enters the virtual world Second Life to pursue his personal dreams and ambitions. His journey into cyberspace becomes a magic learning experience, which gradually opens the gates to a much larger reality.

The Phantom of the Opera(en)

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

La Clemenza di Tito(it)

This is an effective staging, though the set looks medieval and the costumes are modern. It’s well paced, well played, well sung. Jonas Kaufmann is an ideal Tito. His voice is not only beautiful and flexible, it’s also ample, retaining warmth and sweetness when he sings out. The character of Tito is too good to be true, but Kaufmann makes him intense, noble, and beliveable. Vesselina Kasarova is riviting as Sesto. Her voice is gorgeous and multi-colored, her technique exquisite, her immersion in the role complete.

The Ghosts of Versailles(en)

What happened to Figaro and his friends after the events told in Rossini’s and Mozart’s operas? One possible sequel is told in John Corigliano’s “grand opera buffa” The Ghosts of Versailles—an uproariously funny and deeply moving work inspired by Beaumarchais’s third Figaro play, La Mère Coupable, and commissioned by the Met to celebrate its 100th anniversary. This telecast captures its world premiere run, conducted by James Levine. Håkan Hagegård is Beaumarchais, Figaro’s creator, who is deeply in love with Marie Antoinette (Teresa Stratas in a heart-searing performance) and determined to rewrite history and save her from the guillotine. A young Renée Fleming, at the beginning of her international career, sings the unfaithful Rosina. Gino Quilico is the wily Figaro who tries to take matters in his own hands, and Marilyn Horne stops the show as the exotic entertainer Samira.

Rita(it)

a film opera; music by: Gaetano Donizetti (Philharmonic Orchestra of Rome) Directed by Giuseppe Zedda.

Aria(en)

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

1984(en)

Inspired by one of the twentieth century's greatest novels, composer Lorin Maazel evokes Orwell's totalitarian nightmare, where "Big Brother" is always watching, and those guilty of "thoughtcrime" are condemned to face their worst fears in the infamous "Room 101". Filmed during world premiere performances of Robert Lepage's spectacular and psychologically gripping Royal Opera production and conducted by the composer, an international cast brings George Orwell's dark vision to shattering operatic life.

L'Enfant et les Sortilèges(fr)

The 1987 Glyndebourne production of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, designed by Maurice Sendak and directed by Frank Corsaro.

Macbeth(it)

This hard-edged postmodern production of Giuseppe Verdi's haunting masterpiece brings the story of Shakespeare's bloody tragedy to vivid life, characterized by spine-tingling atmospherics and a triumphant debut by American baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role. This Zurich Opera House production also features a mesmerizing turn by Paoletta Marrocu as the beautiful, power-hungry Lady Macbeth, while striking sets and costumes further enhance the duality of the main character whose rise and fall mirror the darkest impulses of man. Replete with supernatural mystery, sexual tension, and violent power plays, this timeless story remains gripping and chilling for today's audiences and boasts some of the most astonishing music of Verdi's legendary body of work.

Verdi: La Traviata(ru)

Giuseppe Verdi based his famous opera on the novel “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas. Robert Wilson’s production of Violetta Valéry’s tragic fate is his first work at the State Theater of Linz, Austria, one of the most modern operatic stages in Europe by architect Terry Pawson. After the run in Linz, the production was transferred to the Opera House in Perm, Russia, where the production was conducted by Teodor Currentzis. In 2017, the work received a “Golden Mask”, the most prestigious Russian theater award, in three categories (Teodor Currentzis, Best Conductor; Nadezhda Pavlova, Best Female Singer; Robert Wilson, Best Lighting Design).

Verdi Macbeth Chailly(it)

Claude D'Anna's film of Verdi's Macbeth is a gloomy affair, stressing the descent into madness of the principal villains. It's acted by the singers of the Decca recording of the opera (with two substitutions of actors standing in for singers) and the lip-synching is generally unobtrusive. The musical performance is superb, conducted by Riccardo Chailly with admirable fire, and sung by some of the leading lights of the opera stages of the 1980s. Shirley Verrett virtually owned the role of Lady Macbeth at the time, and she delivers a terrific performance, the voice equal to the role's wide register leaps and it's suffused with emotion, whether urging her husband on to murder or maddened by guilt in the Sleepwalking Scene. Leo Nucci's resonant Macbeth may lack the ultimate in vocal color and steadiness (his last notes of the great aria Pietà, rispetto, amore are wobbly) but he compensates with intensity in both singing and acting.

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini(fr)

As part of the 2019 Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival, filmmaker Christophe Honoré delivers an innovative staging of Giacomo Puccini's famous drama. His cleverly staged "opera within the opera" is a melancholy homage to the fascinating figure of the diva, who thrives on art and love and upsets the laws of time and death.

Tchaikovsky: The Enchantress(en)

Originally set in the 15th c century, Tchaikovsky's "The Enchantress" is updated to the present day in this innovative production. The charismatic, emancipated Nastasya, who rejects the advances of the devious Mamïrov, duly faces the implacable forces of traditional values in a society riven by divisions between liberal freedoms and religious orthodoxies. The tragic outcome engulfs everyone...

Swan Lake(en)

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a ballet in three acts, is present by the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine, with music provided by the Orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine, conducted by Mykola Dyadura

Amahl and the Night Visitors(en)

One night in Judea, a disabled shepherd boy-turned-beggar and his mother are visited by three strangers. They are the Three Kings, and they are on their way to Bethlehem to visit the Christ Child, who has just been born.

Looking for Don Giovanni(en)

In Baden-Baden, Nayo Titzin follows the producers of the opera Don Giovanni, created for the Innsbruck Festival of 2006. He is looking for a musical truth... What if Mozart's masterwork Don Giovanni had been interpreted in a wrong way for more than two centuries? Conductor René Jacobs, famous for his performance of Così fan tutte and laureate of a Grammy Award for his innovative recording of The Marriage of Figaro, comes back with new ideas on the comprehension of one of the greatest operas of all times. In this relevant documentary, Nayo Titzin clarifies and highlights all the brightness of those melodies and recitatives. Rewarded with many praises in the international press, this production shows the dramaturgical perfection of the "opera of the operas," the absolute of the genre, as Wagner once said. Once more, the Bulgarian director offers a fun and subtle report, and makes sure that everyone will understand this myth.

Anna Netrebko und Rolando Villazón singen "La Traviata"(de)

Car Men(xx)

Car Men is a collaboration between the renowned choreographer Jíri Kylían and filmmaker Boris Paval Conen. Based on the opera 'CARMEN' by Georges Bizet they shot a hilarious and poetic short film in the destroyed landscape of a Czech brown coal mine. The actors in this film are older dancers from Kylían's troupe (around 50 years old) and the main prop is a 'TATRA 87', a famous car from 1937.

Puccini: Manon Lescaut(it)

All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by James Levine and his top-flight cast. Plácido Domingo is Des Grieux, the handsome, headstrong young aristocrat who falls head over heels for the enticing, impetuous Manon Lescaut (Renata Scotto). Manon returns his love, but her obsession with luxury ruins them both. Gian Carlo Menotti’s opulent production, with sets and costumes by Desmond Heeley, superbly captures the colorful world of 18th century France.

Dvořák: Rusalka(cs)

Praised by critics as “magnificent”, “breathtakingly theatrical” and full of “zestful imagination”, Melly Still’s “spine-tingling” Rusalka is a Glyndebourne classic – a magical contemporary reimagining of a much-loved fairy tale. Light and darkness, beauty and danger come together in this passionate tale of love against the odds. At once evocative and unsettling, this production collides two contrasting worlds in Rae Smith’s elegant designs made of “brilliant stage-pictures”. Rusalka’s forest home is a dappled space of sunshine and shadows, full of strange woodland creatures, while the Prince’s court is a world of sleek modernity and sophistication – a world of man.

Operette(de)

A musician is offered a job in Vienna as stage director, but his disagreements with the aristocratic opera manager end in abrupt firing in spite of a mutual attraction. He's quickly engaged by another theatre and becomes famous for his lavish stage productions and fine acting, which begins their golden age with Suppé and Strauss.