Signals Through the Flames

The Pitch

October 2017 •English

"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.

The Dwarf in China

January 2014 •English

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.

Discovering Hamlet

November 2011 •English

Journey into "Hamlet"-the play and the man-through the experiences of some of the major actors and directors who have brought Shakespeare's great tragedy to life. Christopher Plummer, David Tennant, John Nettles, John Simm, Sir Trevor Nunn, Franco Zeffirelli, Philip Saville, and others explore the enduring appeal of the Prince of Denmark more than 400 years after his stage debut.

The Living Theatre - a video retrospective

March 2013 •English

The Living Theatre is an experimental company founded in New York in 1947 by Julian Beck (New York 1925-1985), painter and poet, and the actress and stage director Judith Malina (Kiel 1926), a student of Erwin Piscator. From the very beginning the group’s activities bore the stamp of social and political commitment, imbued with a strong libertarian matrix. A video montage of films and videos from The Living Theatre Archives.

We are a conversation

Invalid date •English

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.

State of Exception

May 2007 •Portuguese

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.

Right On!

October 1970 •English

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."

Merci Zaza - La folle histoire de la Cage aux Folles

May 2023 •French

A look back at "La Cage aux Folles", which ran non-stop for five years, from February 1973, on the stage of the Théâtre du Palais Royal in Paris. At a time when homosexuality was considered a crime by the law, Poiret and Serrault achieved great success in boulevard theater. Their success continued on the silver screen, with three Oscar nominations and a Broadway musical. Combining never-before-seen archives from the play, extracts from the film, confessions by Poiret and Serrault, and interviews with witnesses, this is the story of a wild epic.

Inside/Outside

October 2012 •English

Truth becomes the source of creativity; actions are a result of being, not thinking. This film, INSIDE/OUTSIDE is based upon Monika’s processes over many years. Robert Golden has had the privilege of meeting and photographing some of Monika’s late work. Although her teaching is for performers, Robert has said that her gift of understanding humanity has been gifted in some small ways to him. Monika’s inspirational way of working, helps actors to find a unity between their inner psyche and its outer expression. The 46-minute film shows a precise description of her work. Monika explains it in detail along with thoughts about movement, performance and theatre. The insightful and entertaining book and film are relevant to actors, dancers, Laban yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates and other sports and movement systems and to people working with children.

Ústřední loutkové divadlo

January 1954 •Czech

Cimrmani

December 1997 •Czech

Army Art Theater

January 1954 •Czech

Performing the Goddess

July 1999 •Bengali

"Chapal Bhaduri, a leading lady of Bengal’s traditional folk traveling theatre-in-the-round, the Jatra, spent his life playing women. This film is an intimate biography that brings you face to face with this unique individual, sharing what it means to him to become a woman night after night, talking of the woman inside his body, of troubled sexuality, of a long partnership with his older lover, of the loneliness of living on the edges of conventional society–and showing how he metamorphoses into the goddess to perform her story." - The Bangalore International Centre

November

September 2003 •Spanish

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.

The King of Laughter

September 2021 •Italian

In early 20th-century Naples, a theatrical parody lands beloved thespian and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta in court, facing a malicious lawsuit that could compromise his freedom of expression and the economic security of his extended family—including his son's, young Eduardo De Filippo.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde

May 1960 •English

England, 1890s. The brutal and embittered Marquis of Queensberry, who believes that his youngest son, Bosie, has an inappropriate relationship with the famous Irish writer Oscar Wilde, maintains an ongoing feud with the latter in order to ruin his reputation and cause his fall from grace.

Sado

October 2024 •Japanese

Since the seventh century AD, Sado has been called the "island of exile". Unwelcomed people by the shogunate such as homeless, artists and politicians were exiled, some of them even put to forced labour in the mines. Their spirits, trapped in the depths of the earth, will never see the sky again.

Stolen Gold

September 2024 •English

The incredible true story of Ramón Torres and the Spanish intellectually disabled basketball team’s dramatic journey to the gold medal at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. The documentary exposes the shocking aftermath of their victory, where Ramón discovers that some of his teammates are not what they seem. Among them is an undercover journalist intent on revealing an outrageous scandal that will rock the world of Paralympic sport. As the scandal unravels, Ramón realizes that everything he believed in was a lie and is forced to confront not only the fraudulent conspiracy, but also a childhood scarred by bullying and trauma to find out who he really is.

Fight Like Hell

September 2024 •English

As the nation grapples with the echoes of January 6, this documentary provides a crucial, unvarnished perspective on that pivotal day. This narration-less documentary shows events leading up to and including January 6, challenging viewers to confront the fragility of democracy and reflect on our collective responsibility to protect it.

Tour Baby Deux

May 2009 •English

Scott does it again! Join him on another amazing adventure deep inside the 2005 Tour de France in this long awaited sequel to The Tour Baby! Scott lives every cycling fan's dream by following the entire Tour de France from start to finish filming all the craziness that makes the Tour the world's greatest sporting event. From mountain-top madness in the Pyrenees to partying with Podium Girls in Paris, Scott does it all. The film includes amazing behind-the-scenes footage with Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Channel team as he conquers the Tour for the seventh time, Cadel Evans, Robbie McEwen, Freddie Rodriguez and their Davitamon-Lotto Team and Carlos Da Cruz, Sandy Casar, and Bradley McGee and their Francaise des Jeux team.