Bard College at Simon's Rock: the Early College

Reza Abdoh: Theatre Visionary

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Daniel Arts Center - McConnell Theater


REZA ABDOH: Theatre Visionary 
A new documentary film about the life and work of maverick, avant-garde theatre director Reza Abdoh. 
 

The screening will be hosted by Sandy Cleary, Director of the Daniel Arts center and the film's co-producer who was one of Reza Abdoh's long-time stage managers and friends. 

About the Film:

The impact of wunderkind theatre director Reza Abdoh's explosive work is finally brought to light twenty years after his death of AIDS, with live performance footage and interviews with those closest to him.

Abdoh (1963-1995) was an Iranian-born American theatre director and playwright known for his groundbreaking, experimental productions. Abdoh died of AIDS in 1995 at the age of 32 having created an impressive body of stage spectacles known for their sensory overload, ferocious energy, and hallucinatory dreamscapes. Abdoh was an enigmatic and prolific creative force and with his company, Dar A Luz, formed in 1991, he created productions that have made a major impact on experimental theatre worldwide and whose influences are still being felt and talked of to this day.

The Los Angeles Times called his work “Puzzling, fragmented, hard-edged and brilliant as a diamond.” the Village Voice called it “Astonishing.” Prominent theatre artists were also fervent admirers; Richard Foreman said, "The aesthetic shock of encountering Abdoh’s turbulent work sent me reeling."

Abdoh's productions were rule-breaking, game-changing, irreverent, explosive and razor sharp expression full of raw and nightmarish imagery hell-bent on exposing hypocrisy and injustice in a frenetic, disarming collaging of sound, video, dance, and words. At breakneck speed and maximum volume, he created extreme theatrical visions yielding ultimate impact. His company was made up of fierce and fearless performers and his productions were the most confronting and perception-altering of their generation.
Reza Abdoh; Theatre Visionary, directed by Adam Soch, Abdoh's long-time collaborator and video archivist, is an intimate portrait of the world and work of Abdoh and his company. It features live footage from Abdoh’s most important productions alongside interviews with Abdoh, his collaborators, critics, friends, and family. These elements combine to illuminate his legacy; his groundbreaking work and his visionary, theatrical genius.

Prizes: 

   •  Third Prize "The Iron Hare Award" For a film that reflects the importance of arts in human society in the most original way. Festival Internacional Filmes Sobre Arte, Lisbon, Portugal

   •  Award of Merit, Impact Docs (2016)

Official Selections: 

   •  Milan International Film Festival (2016)

   •  Blow-up Chicago International Art House Film Festival (2016)

   •  SESC Film Festival Sao Paulo, Brazil (2016)

   •  Sanctuary Cove International Film Festival, Australia (2016)

   •  The Segal Center Festival on Theatre and Performance, New York (2015)

   •  EPOS  International Art Film Festival,  Tel Aviv (2017) 

   •  Movement Research Spring Festival (2017)

   •  Dirty Looks Festival  (2017)

   •  Visual AIDS (2017)


Mature content, free and open to the public. 
For more information, please call 413-591-8008.
Ace Credit

Cost: Free

Contact:
Website: Click to Visit

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