Author: Olesia Vitiuk

Ran Chai Bar-zvi receives the Kurt Hübner Directing Prize for his production of “Blutbuch”, based on the novel by Kim de l’Horizon, at the Staatstheater Hannover. The decision was made by Almut Wagner, head dramaturge at the Residenztheater and sole juror for the Kurt Hübner Directing Prize. “Ran Chai Bar-zvi always handles even large, existential material with lightness and an incredible instinct for entertainment, […] yet he never runs the risk of trivializing the serious core of the plays,” emphasizes Almut Wagner – as in ‘Blutbuch’, the work for which Ran Chai Bar-zvi receives the prize.

The award has been presented to young directors by the German Academy of Performing Arts since 1991 as part of the Eysoldt Prize ceremony in Bensheim. The prize is endowed with 5000 euros.

BLUTBUCH by Kim de l’Horizon
stage adaptation by Ran Chai Bar-zvi and Michael Letmathe
Premiere was in December 2023 at the Staatstheater Hannover.
Dates & tickets

THE WHALE
by Samuel Hunter
Translated & directed by: Stephan Hoffmann

December 6, 2024 – Start of the tour of the Konzertdirektion Landgraf at Theater Nienburg.

Charlie is in his mid-40s and teaches college students English literature. Exclusively online, with the camera switched off. Because Charlie is extremely overweight. He lives in isolation and has long since lost touch with his ex-wife and his 17-year-old daughter Ellie, who is difficult to raise.
Charlie’s interaction with the outside world is limited to home visits from his nurse friend Liz, who finds Charlie’s physical decline difficult to bear, and from the young missionary Elder Thomas.
When the consequences of the illness become life-threatening, Charlie finally makes contact with Ellie.

The film adaptation of “The Whale” (D: Darron Aronofsky) won Brandon Fraser the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2023.

 

On November 15-22, 2024, the Black Nights Film Festival took place in Tallinn for the 28th time. The film THE WORKER by Eliza Petkova (in development)  was presented as part of the Baltic Event Co-Production Market and won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award for Best Project.
Jury’s statement: “With the experience of immigration within Europe as a starting point, this project takes us, and the protagonist, on an unexpected journey. A journey during which the director invites us to rethink the meaning of community and masculinity.”

THE WORKER (dt. “Der Arbeiter”)
Director & screenplay: Eliza Petkova
Producer: Nicolas Kronauer
Produced by: ROW Pictures GmbH, Fourmat Film GmbH
Germany, Bulgaria

After a mine collapse, Georgi – a Roma man and a father in his late twenties – leaves his family in Bulgaria for Germany. He switches jobs, facing exploitation as an undocumented worker. His desire to maintain the image of a luxurious life in rich Germany leads him to construct a facade far from his truth.

THE ARSONISTS
(dt. BIEDERMANN UND DIE BRANDSTIFTER)
by Max Frisch

Director: Fritzi Wartenberg
at Berliner Ensemble

Premiere is on November 29, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Further dates & tickets

PLANET B
by Yael Ronen & Itai Reicher

Premiere on November 23, 2024 at Theater Magdeburg
Director: Nick Hartnagel

In the not-so-distant future, climate change has continued unabated, many species are already extinct, vast areas are barely habitable… A race begins to see who deserves to survive. Welcome to the alien entertainment reality show in which humans compete with chickens, pandas, ants, crocodiles and foxes to recolonize the earth as the only surviving species.
Dates & tickets

GRAND HORIZONS (Dt. ROSIGE AUSSICHTEN)
by Bess Wohl
German translation by lynn t musiol & Christian Tschirner

Premiere at Theater Bielefeld
Director: Dariusch Yazdkhasti

After fifty years of marriage, Nancy says out of the blue at the dinner table: “I think I want a divorce.” Her husband agrees and continues eating undisturbed. Her two sons, on the other hand, don’t like the decision at all. They try to change their parents’ minds – and in doing so, they are fighting for themselves: one wants to save his image of family, the other fears cracks in his traditional role as a man and soon-to-be father. In the end, despite the divorce, everyone starts talking and listening to each other. And suddenly there it is: the possibility of loving each other!

Steffen Link is nominated for Best Play – Nestroy Author Award with his debut DER VEREIN.
The award ceremony will take place on November 24, 2024 at the Volkstheater Vienna.
Click here for the jury’s statement

DER VEREIN (en. The Club) by Steffen Link
Free for a German premiere
The world premiere was in March 2024 at Schauspielhaus Wien (director: Theresa Thomasberger)

A housing estate on the edge of a small town – Stefan grows up in this idyllic terraced house. Between family strife and everyday school life, a third factor determines the teenager’s life: his parents have joined a free Christian church. The sheltered community has grown over the years. Who wouldn’t want to have the Savior himself as their best friend? But this friendship is not a gift. The members have to bear witness to each other about their lifestyle, their dreams and their desires. Those who disappoint Jesus are in danger of falling deeply. And Stefan must fear that this is exactly what will happen to him. Because he dreams of theater, and he desires men, which pleases neither the Messiah nor his club.

On November 16, 2024, Eliza Petkova’s SILENT OBSERVERS will celebrate its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The 37th edition of IDFA will take place from November 14 to 24, 2024.

SILENT OBSERVERS
DE/BG, 96 min, 2024
Director, screenplay, editor: Eliza Petkova
Director of photography: Constanze Schmitt
Production: Red Carpet, Wood Water Films, rbb

As the population declines in a remote, run-down Bulgarian village, a traditional way of life comes to an end: the camera follows the last remaining inhabitants from the perspective of domesticated animals. Did the neighbor punish her violent son and turn him into a donkey? Is the cat possessed by a vampire? The villagers’ superstitions are fascinating and mysterious, and their affection for the animals contrasts with the raw way of treating them. With great attention to detail and passion for her four-legged protagonists, Eliza Petkova concentrates on portraying the animals without attributing thoughts or feelings to them.
Trailer

The 76th edition of PRIX ITALIA took place in Turin from October 1 to 4, 2024 under the title “Loud and Clear”. The production “EXZESS: A Techno Opera” by Noam Brusilovsky and Tobias Purfürst won in the “Radio & Podcast Music” category.

EXZESS: Eine Techno-Oper
Libretto: Noam Brusilovsky
Composition: Tobias Purfürst
Production: rbb

Jessica and Brian, a tourist couple, visit Berlin’s most famous techno club. They are happy to have made it inside this huge industrial hall shrouded in legend. Their plan: dance, take drugs, indulge in the sound. A few hours later, Jessica is found by the club staff, collapsing on the floor. The diagnosis: intoxication with high doses of ecstasy. She is dead within a few hours.
The radiophonic techno opera EXZESS tells the story of dying in a club. In an uninterrupted techno set, the protagonist Jessica (Susanna Hurrell) sings her dying aria. The tragedy is that Jessica is fully aware that her organs are gradually failing and that time cannot be turned back. As in classical opera, dying becomes spectacular in this technoid epic.

MONOPOLY – Eine Besteigung des deutschen Schuldenberges
from & by Calle Fuhr
at Theater Magdeburg
Co-produced by Festival OSTEN

The recession is in full swing, there is a lack of money in the next federal budget and Calle Fuhr wants to make his contribution to stabilizing the German economy. Because – if every citizen donates something to the state, he thinks – the debt hole can close quickly! But it’s not that simple.

The premiere takes place on September 21, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. at Theater Magdeburg.
Information & tickets