Tea(2005)

Bessho Tea Factory(ja)

A documentary directed by Hori Teiichi who was a production assistant on the 1994 documentary Otentousama ga Hoshii and has worked in a wide variety of genres from pink films to ordinary theatrical releases. The lifestyle and scenery of Osawa, a village situated 740 meters up on the mountainous slopes of Hamamatsu city's northern region in Shizuoka Prefecture, are the focus of this first installment to the "Tenryu-ku" series. It straightforwardly captures the tea harvest in late May and the tea processing conducted in a factory while showcasing mist shrouded tea fields drummed by rain as well as the beauty of the glistening green of the tea leaf shoots.

El canto de las manos(es)

Mimi and Panda(en)

For their joint Bat Mitzvahs, cousins Panda and Mimi made short films exploring what it means to them to be both Jewish and Chinese.

Confession of the Vanished(cs)

The film follows the staging of the opera Olimpiade while at the same time exploring the dramatic life of its composer Josef Mysliveček, a friend and teacher of W. A. Mozart.

Rêve Kakudji(en)

Serge Kakudji is a twenty-year-old Congolese counter tenor who fell in love with opera as a young boy, listening to audiotapes of opera recordings in his room in Lubumbashi. Later he traveled to Europe to achieve his dream of becoming a top opera singer. Although Serge's artistic ambitions are pure and uncomplicated, the reactions among his environment and audiences are often ambiguous and divided. While some people respect and acknowledge his artistic vocation, others see him as an exotic oddity, or complain that that his African timbre jars with classical opera. Serge refuses to be discouraged by any of this. On the contrary, he wants to hold up a mirror to Western culture and confront it with its underlying beliefs. He also wants to use his story and experiences in the west to bring opera to Congo. Together with his countrymen and women, he wants to found a Congolese opera tradition based on African stories that will inspire people to follow their dreams.

Valkyrie Limited(en)

The documentary draws a portrait of an opera director who is staging Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre. He is torn between the tragicomic routine of an opera house and his own perception of Wagner and the Ring cycle. The film witnesses the director’s drama in maintaining the fragile link between a well-constructed performance and his own vision that lies within the music and the narrative, and is seen as German expressionism-like nightmares.

Einstein on the Beach: The Changing Image of Opera(en)

The creative processes of avant-garde composer Philip Glass and progressive director/designer Robert Wilson are examined in this film. It documents their collaboration on this tradition breaking opera.

The Paris Opera(fr)

A behind-the-scenes look at the of how the Paris Opera is run under the direction of Stephane Lissner.

Patrice Chéreau, Pascal Greggory, une autre solitude(fr)

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.

Arabella(en)

Arabella, Op. 79, is a lyric comedy or opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.

Diptych(fr)

A short film by Walerian Borowczyk in two parts. The first 'panel' follows the morning routine of Leon Boyer who, despite being almost 100 years old, still farms the land, drives a vintage car, and plays with his two dogs. The second panel shows shots of beautiful flowers and a cat, to a recording of Tino Rossi singing 'La romance de Nadir / Je crois encore entendre' from Bizet's opera 'Les pêcheurs de perles'.

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

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.

The Sound of Identity(en)

In the spotlight of global media coverage, the first transgender woman ever to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, makes her historic debut in one of the reddest states in the U.S.

Pavarotti, Birth of a Pop Star(fr)

Although he is unanimously credited with having democratised opera, making it accessible to the greatest number, focus is rarely put on the strategy he devised and implemented in order to carry out his actions, nor what his actions reveal of the man and artist, and of the resulting metamorphosis from opera singer to pop artist. Through this angle, this film sets out to pay tribute to the man who summed up his credo, obsession and life’s work, in the following way: “They led the public to believe that classical music belonged to a restricted elite. I was the way to prove to the world that was wrong.

In Bocca Al Lupo(en)

Otello(it)

This was Domingo's last set of performances as Otello in La Scala. In spite of his relatively advanced age, he is still in excellent form, both vocally and in terms of stage presence. Nucci is also his usual self, delivering a performance of very high standard. Barbara Frittoli is an excellent Desdemona, in good voice and gives a very moving performance. Muti conducts with great emotion and tight accuracy, conveying the full orchestral drama of the score.

Andrea Chenier(it)

Although Domingo was younger and Banackova looked more like the sweet and innocent young Madalena than the one played by Tomowa-Sintow in the ROH production, this production was not as good. It was not as tight and neat. The tempo set was far too slow for the time-period of the story. The stage setting was distracting. The lighting was too dark. Except Domingo, a natural actor who was always into his role and sings and acts with passion, none of the other performers came up with a convincing portrayal of the role he/she played.

Zaryadye Hall: A Diamond is Hatched(ru)

Concert and documentary celebrating the 1st Anniversary of Moscow’s Zaryadye Hall

Adolphe Appia Visionary of Invisible(fr)

The life and work of stage designer ADOLPHE APPIA, originator of the most profound agitations in contemporary theatre. Through the dynamic alternation of animated drawings and choreographies specially conceived for the film, we discover the steps of his artistic evolution.