November

November 2003

7.10

Impelled by a spirit which still preserves a patina of idealism, Alfredo arrives to Madrid with the intention to create "a performance that is free, straight from the heart, capable of making people feel alive". His concept of what acting should be begins beyond the stage, out in the streets face to face with the public. Outdoors, in any town square, in a park or in the city's most commercial street, Alfredo and his troupe November start the show; demons to provoke passers-by, displays of social conscience, actions taken to the extreme to put the forces of law and order on full alert. There are no limits, no censorship; only ideas which are always valid so long as the public ceases to be the public and becomes part of the show swept by surprise, fear, tears or laughter. Theater as life, life as theater… there is no longer any difference.

2003

Right On!

Right On! 1970

6.00

Filmed on the rooftops of lower Manhattan, this performance film features the original Last Poets performing 28 numbers adapted from their legendary Concept-East Poetry appearance at New York's Paperback Theater in 1969. Described as “a conspiracy of ritual, street theater, soul music and cinema."

1970

Signals Through the Flames

Signals Through the Flames 1983

1

Signals Through the Flames is at once a history and a celebration of the Living Theatre. Founded in the late 1940s by husband-and-wife performers Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the Living Theatre was for many years the predominent American outlet for the avant-garde movement. There were occasional self-imposed exiles to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, but the group returned full-force during the Aquarius Age to entertain a new generation of theatregoers.

1983

State of Exception

State of Exception 2007

10.00

Estado de Excepção is a documentary about CITAC (Coimbra Theater Initiation Circle), a university theater group, revealing history since it was constituted in 1956 until the aftermath of the 1974 revolution. It is the history of the theater group university and, through it, the history of theater in Portugal, revealing two remarkable decades of the History of Portugal. Through the Academy of Coimbra, the documentary reproduces student life, the position of women in society, and the change in mentalities of being and being in the world. It reproduces the existing censorship and the fight against the dictatorship, the resistance to an exhausted regime, as well as the emerging contradictions of the democratic revolution. CITAC has a heritage of 50 years of experience in Coimbra. It carries with it the possibility of the theatrical and civic formation of thinking bodies, constituting a proper ball of a possible model, generation by generation, between studies, theater, and social drama.

2007

The Dwarf in China

The Dwarf in China 2014

10.00

A dwarf, a dragon, and a golden egg. Yet the real fairy-tale of this film is the journey of Jeanmarie, the Dutch street performer. In an adventurous project, Jeanmarie teams up with youth worker Frank to travel through the last remaining untouched regions of China, performing his new show to local children. As they transport their wondrous music machine from village to village, they bring laughter and intrigue to all who witness their magical performance, reuniting reality with fantasy, Europe and Asia. In a film as imaginative and whimsical as Jeanmarie's play itself, this is a poignant tale of passion and conviction to follow and fulfil your dreams.

2014

We are a conversation

We are a conversation 1970

9.00

We are a conversation is a 2014 documentary directed by Alexis karpouzos and Spyros rasidakis and written by Alexis karpouzos exploring the unity of humanity, featuring poets from around the world, whose lives have been dedicated to explore the mysteries of life and existence.

1970

The Pitch

The Pitch 2017

1

"The Pitch" takes a look at the world of international street performing buskers to find out why these men and women have chosen to "pass the hat" to make a living, along with the challenges they face.

2017