The Threepenny Opera proclaims itself "an opera for beggars," and it was in fact an attempt both to satirize traditional opera and operetta and to create a new kind of musical theater based on the theories of two young German artists, composer Kurt Weill and poet-playwright Bert Brecht. The show opens with a mock-Baroque overture, a nod to Threepenny's source, The Beggar's Opera, a brilliantly successful parody of Handel's operas written by John Gay in 1728. In a brief prologue following the overture, a shabby figure comes onstage with a barrel organ and launches into a song chronicling the crimes of the notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath, "Mack the Knife." The setting is a fair in Soho (London), just before Queen Victoria's coronation. In this production, Weill champion HK Gruber led the Ensemble Modern in a performance of Weill's complete original score, the first time it had been heard in Germany in many years. This production was broadcast on German television (3sat).
Udo Jürgens Forever
Illuminating the challenges often unseen beyond the toys, trees and tinsel, people in a small Irish village reflect on their difficult relationships with Christmas. "So This Is Christmas" is a heartwarming and charming portrait from award-winning director Ken Wardrop, which perfectly exemplies his innate ability to tell the stories of ordinary people, depicting their thoughts, feelings and experiences in an empathetic way. Beautifully rendered in 35mm, the film is authentic and compassionate, and a valuable addition to the Irish documentary canon.
The Song of Haenyeo
Merci Udo Jürgens
Through four nights of musical magic at Ullevi, Gothenburg, Håkan Hellström cemented himself as one of Sweden's greats last year. Edited together, this is a concert film of epic proportions and a musical euphoria.
The K.I.Z concert at Splash! 2014.
Providencia March of the Crabs
Aus dem Takt
Urvertrauen - das Band zwischen Mensch und Hund
Carl. Der Live Musikfilm
The Listener
Ottobiography
SENIORS ROCKING explores the artistic process of Anna Halprin, a pioneer of American dance, through the prism of a single performance piece. The film retraces not only the development of a unique performance with residents of two nursing homes in California, but also the growth of a sense of community when fifty people from various walks of life, age 65 to 100, join forces to perform together. Underpinned by Halprin’s conviction that dance and movement embolden people to express themselves and, in so doing, change their lives, the film shows how the participants give physical shape to their personal messages for posterity through a dance performance.
Embark on a mesmerizing musical journey through the multi-faceted history of Korean American immigrants in Hawaiʻi with SONGS OF LOVE, a captivating reverie of song and history.
From a repressive childhood to artistic revolution, Ney Matogrosso transforms Brazil's stages — and himself — through music, creativity and inner fire. The movie displays briefly one of the greatest controversies surrounding Ney Matogrosso, accused of copying the rock band Kiss. It's actually the other way around. Secos & Molhados was officially formed in 1971, though the band was performing together since the late 60s and was already known for their make-up. KISS came around years later, in 1973.
Charlélie - Les Statuts de sa Liberté
Grzegorz Rosiński, one of the world's most famous Polish comic book creators, author of drawings for the "Thorgal" series, is retiring. But what does it actually mean for an artist to end his career?
A couple of grocers originally from Sri Lanka, who have been living in Paris for thirty years, are unjustly evicted from their home. This contemporary tale with Bollywood overtones follows the daily life of Dayana, a sixteen-year-old girl who works in the grocery store and dreams of a princess-like life, far from the back room where her family has settled.