Taming the Garden follows the uprooting of a mighty oak across land and sea
TAMING THE GARDEN (Salomé Jashi, 2021)
New Plaza Cinema @Macaulay Honors College
35 West Sixty-Seventh St.
Opens Friday, September 30 newplazacinema.org tamingthegarden-film.com
“I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree,” Joyce Kilmer wrote in the beloved “Trees,” concluding, “Poems are made by fools like me, / But only God can make a tree.”
Eccentric billionaire and former Georgia prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is a kind of unseen god hovering over Salomé Jashi’s profoundly poetic documentary, Taming the Garden. The gorgeously shot film, which evokes the large-scale landscape photography of Edward Burtynsky, is a cinéma verité work that follows the moving of a glorious oak from its native home in the Caucasus to Shekvetili Dendrological Park, where Ivanishvili collects and replants trees that he likes.
Jashi, a former journalist born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1981, tells us virtually none of this; she traces the journey with no commentary, no interstitial text, no detailed information about what we are watching. Instead, Jashi, serving as director, writer, producer, and cinematographer (with Goga Devdariani), has us accompany the mighty tree as it ventures across land and sea, first carefully dug up by a somewhat ragtag group of workers, then transported by flatbed and a barge to its ultimate destination.
The beautifully photographed Taming the Garden features scenes that evoke painting and still photography
But in order to arrive there, the tree leaves behind a controversial wake. It is so tall and wide that it often can’t make it through the streets of small towns without other trees that line the blocks having to be severely trimmed or cut down themselves. Ivanishvili offers those trees’ owners money in exchange for chopping down the living, breathing trees; he also improves the quality of the roads the tree travels over. The residents of these villages argue over the decisions they are faced with, mostly speaking Mingrelian.
“Why do these trees have to suffer? Just so Ivanishvili can have his tree!” one declares. “They’re forcing me to do something bad,” another says, feeling he has no choice but to take the cash and let a tree on his property be chainsawed into timber. “They say they’d rather have a tree than a road!” a man complains. “Who gives a fuck about trees!”
“What is there to cry about?” a villager says to an elderly woman who remembers having planted a sapling more than half a century before; she is now in tears as she watches it come down. Someone else shouts out in wonder, “That man really likes trees!”
Beautifully edited by Chris Wright and featuring a natural soundscape by Philippe Ciompi accompanied by music by Karlheinz Stockhausen (“Waage”), Solage, Clément Janequin, and Ute Wassermann (“Strange Songs for Voice and Bird Whistles”), Taming the Garden is a visual and aural marvel. It is filled with images you are likely not soon to forget: the oak floating on a barge in the distance on the Black Sea; rusty piping being pushed into the dirt below the tree; dripping water that evokes the shadows of roots and branches growing; men clearing a path in a lush green landscape reminiscent of a Dutch painting; and the leaves at the top of the tree blowing in the breeze as it is driven down a street, as if moving from Great Birnam Wood to Dunsinane Hill at the end of Macbeth.
At one point a woman, standing in the street as others take cellphone video of the chopping down of a tree, makes the sign of the cross. “A tree that looks at God all day, / And lifts her leafy arms to pray,” Kilmer wrote in his 1914 poem. With Taming the Garden, Jashi (The Dazzling Light of Sunset,Bakhmaro) has created a deeply sensitive and eloquent cinematic experience that deals with one man’s power as it relates to the concepts of home and displacement. “Everything we do in this life will be weighed up in the next life,” one man philosophizes. Joyce Kilmer couldn’t have said it any better.
Textplay imagines a digital conversation between Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard
TEXTPLAY: TOM STOPPARD AND SAMUEL BECKETT IN CONVERSATION
NYU Skirball digital
Through December 3, $20 nyuskirball.org
During the pandemic lockdown, when companies did not have access to theaters, I experienced numerous cutting-edge live presentations made for laptop, desktop computer, telephone, and smartphone, over Zoom, Instagram, and various new interactive digital platforms, many of which were eye-opening, ingenious ways for creators to connect with one audience member at a time. The latest attempt at this solo virtual magic is Archer Eland’s Textplay, an NYU Skirball production that takes place on your smartphone or desktop device, a real-time imagined, prerecorded texting conversation between absurd theater masters Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard. Unfortunately, it is not virtual magic, although it borders on the absurd.
In a 2019 article in the Guardian about Beckett, Robert McCrum writes of a late-1960s gathering at which Stoppard, a young journalist, encounters the Irish playwright for the first time. Stoppard confides, “I was at that time in a strange state of [Beckett] worship, and it hadn’t occurred to me that you could actually meet him. To me, he was a kind of spiritual presence. So I was incapacitated. I was at this party, feeling like a yokel from Bristol. . . . Someone said ‘Would you like to meet Sam?’ ‘Sam?’ ‘Samuel Beckett.’ Apparently, ‘Sam’ was in the kitchen. So I was led off and introduced to ‘Sam.’ Of course I hadn’t the faintest equipment to exploit this meeting. I have no idea what I should have said, and what he might have said in reply, and after a few minutes I backed away.”
While Beckett was a major influence on Stoppard, I can’t find evidence that they were close friends, close enough to, were Beckett still alive (he died in 1989 at the age of eighty-three), be chatting buddies. I also don’t know if the eighty-five-year-old Stoppard is a digital gossiper. But in Textplay, which in the Urban Dictionary is defined as “simulated foreplay,” Beckett and Stoppard engage in a thirty-five-minute nonsexual chat about art and theater (and hair), goading and chiding each other, complete with emojis and typos.
“We made great discoveries, landed on the moon, cured disease, defeated injutice [sic],” Stoppard claims. Beckett rebuffs, “NO! No we didn’t . . . nice try. We wrote nothing and tricked people into thinkng [sic] it meant everything. All we did was tart up a hole and claim it was an abyss . . .”
Upset that Harold Pinter gets Pinteresque but they get Beckettian and Stoppardian, Tom writes, “Stoppardian sounds like a train station in Wales,” while Sam complains, “Beckettian sounds like a disease.”
Alas, those are among the only memorable exchanges in the play, which, once it begins, can’t be paused or rewound without starting again from the very beginning. The viewer watches the conversation from the point of view of Stoppard; we see his posts as he types them, including much rewriting as his thought process is revealed. That is interesting at first but quickly becomes tedious, especially one long message about the meaning of art in which Stoppard types several responses but deletes them (argh, letter by letter) before deciding on what to send to Beckett. The pacing is also off in Beckett’s replies, which are instantaneous and appear to know exactly when Stoppard’s are done; there is just no way he could have physically written many of them in the time it takes for him to post them.
When I sit in the theater, I never check the time, but I found myself doing so on my smartphone over and over to see how close to the end we were. The idea of making the phone the primary vehicle that delivers this story is a good one, since the object itself is anathema in theaters, where people are told over and over to power their phones down — yet invariably someone’s phone goes off at just the wrong dramatic moment. In addition, the phone constantly begs for our attention no matter what else we are doing; it seems like some people just can’t sit in a theater for two hours without obsessively checking it. But with Textplay, that pull is even stronger, since you won’t be bothering anyone around you if you sneak a peek at social media or your email while Beckett and Stoppard chatter on. And you won’t miss a thing.
Lundahl & Seitl, Symphony — Tunnel Vision, performed in 2015 at Momentum 8 (photo courtesy of the artists)
Who:Lundahl & Seitl,Barbara London What:Performance and discussion Where:Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave. at 38th St. When: Sunday, October 2, free with advance RSVP, performances 11:30 am – 1:30 pm and 4:00 – 5:30, discussion at 1:30 Why: “In times of challenge, how to find a good balance between resilience and resistance when adapting to a changing environment? How can we stay sensible for subtle yet powerful shifts in our being together? What is an acceptable level of reality, and for who/what do we make the sacrifice?” So ask immersive art duo Lundahl & Seitl in regard to their 2009 piece, Symphony of a Missing Room, which they reimagined as an app during the pandemic. On Sunday, October 2, Christer Lundahl and Martina Seitl will be at Scandinavia House to perform the work, in half-hour increments between 11:30 and 1:30 and 4:00 to 5:30; in addition, there will be a discussion at 1:30 moderated by curator and writer Barbara London, host of the Barbara London Calling podcast.
The free event is being held in partnership with the Consulate General of Sweden in New York; Lundahl & Seitl have previously performed Symphony of a Missing Room at the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm, the Akropolis Museum in Greece, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, and the Temple of Alternative Histories at Staatstheater Kassel in Germany, among other venues. The ever-evolving work involves white goggles as participants must reconsider their inner and outer relationships with the environment and the space they are in. Admission is free with advance RSVP.
Mark Morris Dance Group will perform Water and more at Brooklyn Bridge Park on October 1 (photo by John Eng)
Who:Mark Morris Dance Group What:Free outdoor performances Where:Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1, Harbor View Lawn When: Saturday, October 1, free, 2:00 & 4:00, workshop at 3:00 {ed. note: This event is now canceled because of the weather] Why: Brooklyn-based favorites Mark Morris Dance Group will be in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday, October 1, to present a pair of free programs on the Harbor View Lawn at Pier 1, at 2:00 and 4:00, with an all-ages workshop at 3:00. The troupe, founded in 1980 by Morris, will perform Water, a nine-minute 2021 piece for fourteen dancers set to music by George Frideric Handel; Greek to Me, a five-minute solo from 1998 set to Harry Partch’s “Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales” from “Eleven Intrusions”; the twenty-two-minute 2007 Suite from Orfeo ed Euridice set to the score by Christoph Willibald Gluck; and the eighteen-minute 1998 work Dancing Honeymoon, featuring seven dancers in yellow and music by Ethan Iverson.
Paul Schrader will discuss his latest film, Master Gardener, in free talk at NYFF60
NYFF60: FREE TALKS
New York Film Festival 60
Elinor Bunin Munroe Amphitheater, 144 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
October 1-15, free tickets available one hour before showtime
212-875-5601 www.filmlinc.org/nyff2022
If you don’t act immediately, it is often difficult to get tickets to the New York Film Festival’s most hotly anticipated events, appearances by superstars and internationally renowned directors at New York, US, North American, and world premieres. But there are more than a dozen free talks, lectures, panel discussions, and game-playing events that are first-come, first-served, at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Amphitheater at Lincoln Center; free tickets are distributed an hour prior to the talk, one per person. This year’s lineup includes Noah Baumbach, Nan Goldin, Paul Schrader, Cauleen Smith, Alice Diop, Frederick Wiseman, Nancy Savoca, Laura Poitras, Elvis Mitchell, Mia Hansen-Løve, Kelly Reichardt, and Molly Haskell, which is not too shabby. Below is the full schedule; you can also catch these events on YouTube later.
Saturday, October 1
Deep Focus: Noah Baumbach, White Noise, 6:00
Special Events — Cinephile Game Night: NYFF60 Edition, 8:00
Sunday, October 2
Deep Focus: Paul Schrader, Master Gardener, 2:00
The 2022 Amos Vogel Lecture, with Cauleen Smith, followed by a Q&A with Jacqueline Stewart, 6:00
Monday, October 3
Roundtables: “Politics of Desire,” with Joao Pedro Rodrigues (Will-o’-the-Wisp), Ruth Beckermann (Mutzenbacher), Elisabeth Subrin, and Isabel Sandoval (Maria Schneider, 1983), 4:00
Crosscuts: Alice Diop & Frederick Wiseman, 6:00
Special Events — IndieWire Presents: Screen Talk Live, with Eric Kohn and special guests, 6:30
Special Events — Cinephile Game Night: NYFF60 Edition, 8:00
Cauleen Smith, whose Drylongso (above) screened an the 1998 New York Film Festival, will deliver the 2022 Amos Vogel Lecture
Thursday, October 6
Roundtables: “Missing Movies,” presentation and workshop with Amy Heller, Dennis Doros, Nancy Savoca, Rich Guay, Ira Deutchman, and Maya Cade, 6:00
Saturday, October 8
Roundtables — “Film Comment Live: On the Critical Attitude,” with hosts Devika Girish and Clinton Krute and guest Laura Poitras (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed), Elvis Mitchell (Is That Black Enough for You?!?), Tiffany Sia (What Rules the Invisible), and Alain Gomis (Rewind & Play), 1:00
Crosscuts: Mia Hansen-Løve (One Fine Morning) & Charlotte Wells (Aftersun), 4:00
Deep Focus: Nan Goldin, 7:00
Sunday, October 9
Crosscuts: Joanna Hogg (The Eternal Daughter) & Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up), 6:00
Special Events — Cinephile Game Night: NYFF60 Edition, 8:00
Tuesday, October 11
Deep Focus: Annie Ernaux, 6:00
Thursday, October 13
Special Events: “Inclusive Visions,” with a wine-tasting presentation by Dr. Hoby Wedler, hosted by Michele Spitz, 6:00
Saturday, October 15
Roundtables — “Film Comment Live“: Festival Report, with Devika Girish, Clinton Krute, Kelli Weston, Phoebe Chen, Molly Haskell, and others, 6:00
Noah Baumbach’s White Noise opens NYFF60 on September 30
NYFF60
Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway at 65th St.
Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center: Francesca Beale Theater, Howard Gilman Theater, Amphitheater, 144 West 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.
September 30 – October 16
212-875-5601 www.filmlinc.org/nyff2022
Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton, Noah Baumbach, Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Paul Schrader, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Frederick Wiseman, Whoopi Goldberg, John Douglas Thompson, Claire Denis, Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Kelly Reichardt, Luca Guadagnino, Chloë Sevigny, Mia Hansen-Løve, Léa Seydoux, Laura Poitras, James Ivory, Park Chan-wook, Jerzy Skolimowski, Elvis Mitchell, Gabrielle Union, Robert Downey Jr., Sarah Polley, Jeremy Pope, Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Judith Ivey, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway — those are only some of the directors and actors who will be participating in Q&As and introductions at the sixtieth New York Film Festival, taking place at Lincoln Center from September 30 through October 16. Below is the full list of special guests, which feature award winners from around the world as well as up-and-coming filmmakers.
Friday, September 30
Main Slate Opening Night North American Premiere: White Noise (Noah Baumbach, 2022), Q&A with Noah Baumbach & cast, Alice Tully Hall, 6:00
Main Slate Opening Night North American Premiere: White Noise (Noah Baumbach, 2022), introduced by Noah Baumbach, Walter Reade Theater, 6:15
Main Slate Opening Night North American Premiere: White Noise (Noah Baumbach, 2022), introduced by Noah Baumbach, Alice Tully Hall, 9:30
Main Slate Opening Night North American Premiere: White Noise (Noah Baumbach, 2022), introduced by Noah Baumbach, Walter Reade Theater, 9:45
Saturday, October 1
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, 2022), Q&A with Marie Kreutzer and Vicky Krieps, 12:00
Currents U.S. Premiere: The Unstable Object II (Daniel Eisenberg, 2022), Q&A with Daniel Eisenberg, 12:15
Currents U.S. Premiere: Queens of the Qing Dynasty (Ashley McKenzie, 2022), Q&A with Ashley McKenzie, 12:30
Main Slate: Descendant (Margaret Brown, 2022), Q&A with Margaret Brown, 1:30
Main Slate North American Premiere: Master Gardener (Paul Schrader, 2022), Q&A with Paul Schrader, Sigourney Weaver, and Joel Edgerton, 3:00
Currents North American Premiere: The Dam (Ali Cherri, 2022), Q&A with Ali Cherri, 3:30
Main Slate North American Premiere: A Couple (Frederick Wiseman, 2022), Q&A with Frederick Wiseman, 4:30
Spotlight World Premiere: Till (Chinonye Chukwu, 2022), Q&A with Chinonye Chukwu, Danielle Deadwyler, and Whoopi Goldberg, 5:45
Revivals: Le Damier (Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, 1996), new restoration, Q&A with Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, 6:00
Revivals: Black God, White Devil (Glauber Rocha, 1964), new 4K restoration, introduced by Luiz Oliveira, 7:30
Main Slate: Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund, 2022), Q&A with Ruben Östlund and Dolly de Leon, 9:00
Currents Opening Night U.S. Premiere: Will-o’-the-Wisp (João Pedro Rodrigues, 2022), Q&A with João Pedro Rodrigues, 9:15
Sunday, October 2
Spotlight World Premiere: Till (Chinonye Chukwu, 2022), Q&A with Chinonye Chukwu, Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, John Douglas Thompson, Jayme Lawson, Tosin Cole, Keith Beauchamp, and Deborah Watts, 11:00 am
Revivals World Premiere: Drylongso (Cauleen Smith, 1998), 4K restoration, Q&A with Cauleen Smith, 12:45
Main Slate North American Premiere: A Couple (Frederick Wiseman, 2022), Q&A with Frederick Wiseman, 1:00
Main Slate: Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund, 2022), Q&A with Ruben Östlund and Dolly de Leon, 2:15
Currents North American Premiere: Mutzenbacher (Ruth Beckermann, 2022), Q&A with Ruth Beckermann, 3:00
Main Slate North American Premiere: Stars at Noon (Claire Denis, 2022), Q&A with Claire Denis and Joe Alwyn, 5:45
Currents Opening Night U.S. Premiere: Will-o’-the-Wisp (João Pedro Rodrigues, 2022), Q&A with João Pedro Rodrigues, 5:45
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, 2022), Q&A with Marie Kreutzer and Vicky Krieps, 6:00
Currents U.S. Premiere: Queens of the Qing Dynasty (Ashley McKenzie, 2022), Q&A with Ashley McKenzie, 6:15
Main Slate: Descendant (Margaret Brown, 2022), Q&A with Margaret Brown, 8:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2022), Q&A with Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 9:00
Currents North American Premiere: The Dam (Ali Cherri, 2022), Q&A with Ali Cherri, 9:15
Monday, October 3
Main Slate: TÁR (Todd Field, 2022), Q&A with Todd Field, Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Mark Strong, Sophie Kauer, and Hildur Guonadóttir, 5:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2022), Q&A with Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 6:15
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Saint Omer (Alice Diop, 2022), Q&A with Alice Diop, 8:30
Main Slate North American Premiere: Stars at Noon (Claire Denis, 2022), Q&A with Claire Denis and Joe Alwyn, 9:00
Tuesday, October 4
Main Slate North American Premiere: Scarlet (Pietro Marcello, 2022), Q&A with Pietro Marcello, 5:45
Main Slate North American Premiere: Stars at Noon (Claire Denis, 2022), introduced by Claire Denis, 6:00
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Saint Omer (Alice Diop, 2022), Q&A with Alice Diop, 6:15
Main Slate: TÁR (Todd Field, 2022), introduced by Todd Field, 8:30
Currents North American Premiere: Mutzenbacher (Ruth Beckermann, 2022), Q&A with Ruth Beckermann, 9:00
Revivals: No Fear No Die (Claire Denis, 1990), world premiere of 4K restoration, introduced by Claire Denis and Isaach De Bankole, 9:15
Wednesday, October 5
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Pacifiction (Albert Serra, 2022), Q&A with Albert Serra, 5:30
Spotlight U.S. Premiere: Exterior Night (Marco Bellocchio, 2022), introduced by Fabrizio Gifuni and Fausto Russo Alesi, 5:45
Revivals North American Premiere: The Mother and the Whore (Jean Eustache, 1973), new 4K restoration, Q&A with Françoise Lebrun and Charles Gillibert, 6:15
Main Slate North American Premiere: Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt, 2022), Q&A with Kelly Reichardt and Hong Chau, 9:15
Thursday, October 6
Main Slate North American Premiere: Alcarràs (Carla Simón, 2022), Q&A with Carla Simón, 6:00
Main Slate North American Premiere: Scarlet (Pietro Marcello, 2022), Q&A with Pietro Marcello, 6:15
Main Slate North American Premiere: Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt, 2022), Q&A with Kelly Reichardt and Hong Chau, 6:15
Revivals North American Premiere: The Mother and the Whore (Jean Eustache, 1973), new 4K restoration, introduced by Françoise Lebrun and Charles Gillibert, 6:30
Spotlight: Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino, 2022), Q&A with Luca Guadagnino, Taylor Russell, and Chloë Sevigny, 9:00
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Pacifiction (Albert Serra, 2022), Q&A with Albert Serra, 9:00
Friday, October 7
Currents Program 1: Field Trips, Q&As with Nicolás Pereda, Natalia Escobar, Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau, and Simon Velez, 1:15
Currents Program 2: Fault Lines, Q&As with Ellie Ga, 1:30
Currents Program 3: Action Figures, Q&As with Sara Cwynar, Diane Severin Nguyen, Fox Maxy, and Riccardo Giacconi, 3:45
Currents Program 4: Vital Signs, Q&As with Mary Helena Clark, Joshua Solondz, and Jordan Strafer, 4:00
Main Slate Centerpiece Selection: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras, 2022), Q&A with Laura Poitras, 6:00 & 9:15
Currents Program 5: After Utopia, Q&As with Meriem Bennani and Josh Kline, 6:15
Spotlight World Premiere: A Cooler Climate (James Ivory & Giles Gardner, 2022), Q&A with James Ivory and Giles Gardner, 6:30
Main Slate North American Premiere: Alcarràs (Carla Simón, 2022), Q&A with Carla Simón, 8:45
Léa Seydoux stars in Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning
Saturday, October 8
Main Slate: Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022), Q&A with Charlotte Wells, Paul Mescal, and Frankio Corio, 12:00
Currents Program 6: Inside Voices, Q&As with Kim Salac, Mackie Mallison, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi, Courtney Stephens, Sheilah ReStack, and Angelo Madsen Minax, 12:00
Currents Program 1: Field Trips, Q&As with Nicolás Pereda, Natalia Escobar, Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau, and Simon Velez, 2:15
Currents Program 7: Ordinary Devotion, Q&As with Simon Liu, Alexandra Cuesta, and Pablo Mazzolo, 2:45
Currents Program 2: Fault Lines, Q&As with Ellie Ga, 4:30
Main Slate: One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2022), Q&A with Mia Hansen-Løve and Léa Seydoux, 6:15
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Enys Men (Mark Jenkin, 2022), Q&A with Mark Jenkin and Mary Woodvine, 6:30
Currents Program 8: Time Out of Mind, Q&A with Tiffany Sia, 7:00
Currents World Premiere: Slaughterhouses of Modernity (Heinz Emigholz, 2022), Q&A with Heinz Emigholz, 8:15
Currents: Rewind & Play (Alain Gomis, 2022), Q&A with Elisabeth Subrin and Alain Gomis, 9:00
Main Slate: Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook, 2022), Q&A with Park Chan-wook and Park Hae-il, 9:00
Sunday, October 9
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: No Bears (Jafar Panahi, 2022), introduced by by Mina Kavani, 12:00
Main Slate: One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Løve, 2022), Q&A with Mia Hansen-Løve and Léa Seydoux, 12:00
Currents Program 7: Ordinary Devotion, Q&As with Simon Liu, Alexandra Cuesta, and Pablo Mazzolo, 1:00
Currents Program 5: After Utopia, Q&A with Josh Kline, 1:30
Main Slate: Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook, 2022), Q&A with Park Chan-wook and Park Hae-il, 2:45
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Unrest (Cyril Schäublin, 2022), Q&A with Cyril Schäublin, 3:00
Currents World Premiere: Slaughterhouses of Modernity (Heinz Emigholz, 2022), Q&A with Heinz Emigholz, 3:15
Currents Program 4: Vital Signs, Q&As with Mary Helena Clark, Joshua Solondz, and Jordan Strafer, 3:45
Spotlight World Premiere: Is That Black Enough for You?!? (Elvis Mitchell, 2022), Q&A with Elvis Mitchell, 5:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: R.M.N. (Cristian Mungiu, 2022), Q&A with Cristian Mungiu, 6:00
Currents Program 6: Inside Voices, Q&As with Kim Salac, Mackie Mallison, Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi, Courtney Stephens, Sheilah ReStack, and Angelo Madsen Minax, 6:00
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Enys Men (Mark Jenkin, 2022), Q&A with Mark Jenkin and Mary Woodvine, 8:30
Currents U.S. Premiere: Dry Ground Burning (Joana Pimenta & Adirley Queirós, 2022), Q&A with Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós, 8:45
Main Slate: Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022), Q&A with Charlotte Wells and Paul Mescal, 9:00
Monday, October 10
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: R.M.N. (Cristian Mungiu, 2022), Q&A with Cristian Mungiu, 12:00
Spotlight North American Premiere: The Super 8 Years (Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot, 2022), Q&A with Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot, 12:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Unrest (Cyril Schäublin, 2022), Q&A with Cyril Schäublin, 1:00
Currents North American Premiere: Human Flowers of Flesh (Helena Wittmann, 2022), Q&A with Helena Wittmann, 2:45
Spotlight: “Sr.” (Chris Smith, 2022), Q&A with Chris Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, and Kevin Ford, 3:00
Currents Program 9: New York Shorts, Q&As with Jamil McGinnis, Sarah Friedland, Charlotte Ercoli, Alex Ashe, and Lloyd Lee Choi, 3:15
Spotlight: Women Talking (Sarah Polley, 2022), Q&A with Sarah Polley, Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Judith Ivey, and Sheila McCarthy, 6:15
Currents Program 3: Action Figures, Q&As with Sara Cwynar, Diane Severin Nguyen, Fox Maxy, and Riccardo Giacconi, 6:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Stonewalling (Huang Ji, Ryuji Otsuka, 2022), Q&A with Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka, 8:15
Currents U.S. Premiere: Dry Ground Burning (Joana Pimenta & Adirley Queirós, 2022), Q&A with Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós, 8:30
Currents: Rewind & Play (Alain Gomis, 2022), Q&A with Elisabeth Subrin and Alain Gomis, 8:45
Main Slate: The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg, 2022), Q&A with Joanna Hogg and Tilda Swinton, 9:00
Chris Smith’s “Sr.” explores the life and times of Robert Downey Sr.
Tuesday, October 11
Spotlight: “Sr.” (Chris Smith, 2022), Q&A with Chris Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, and Kevin Ford, 3:00
Currents North American Premiere: Tales of the Purple House (Abbas Fahdel, 2022), Q&A with Abbas Fahdel, 5:15
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Stonewalling (Huang Ji, Ryuji Otsuka, 2022), Q&A with Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka, 5:30
Main Slate: The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg, 2022), Q&A with Joanna Hogg and Tilda Swinton, 6:15
Main Slate: All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen, 2022), Q&A with Shaunak Sen, 6:30
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: EO (Jerzy Skolimowski, 2022), Q&A with Jerzy Skolimowski, 9:00
Spotlight North American Premiere: The Super 8 Years (Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot, 2022), Q&A with Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot, 9:00
Main Slate North American Premiere: Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella, 2022), Q&A with Laura Citarella, 9:00
Currents North American Premiere: Human Flowers of Flesh (Helena Wittmann, 2022), Q&A with Helena Wittmann, 9:15
Wednesday, October 12
Main Slate NYFF 60th Anniversary Celebration: Armageddon Time (James Gray, 2022), Q&A with James Gray, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway, Banks Repeta, and Jaylin Webb, 6:00
Currents: Remote (Mika Rottenberg & Mahyad Tousi, 2022), Q&A with Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi, 6:15
Currents Program 9: New York Shorts, Q&As with Jamil McGinnis, Sarah Friedland, Charlotte Ercoli, Alex Ashe, and Lloyd Lee Choi, 6:30
Spotlight World Premiere: Personality Crisis: One Night Only (Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, 2022), Q&A with David Tedeschi and Martin Scorsese, 9:00
Main Slate: All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen, 2022), Q&A with Shaunak Sen, 9:00
Currents North American Premiere: The Adventures of Gigi the Law (Alessandro Comodin, 2022), Q&A with Alessandro Comodin, 9:15
Thursday, October 13
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: No Bears (Jafar Panahi, 2022), introduced by by Mina Kavani, 3:15
Spotlight World Premiere: She Said (Maria Schrader, 2022), Q&A with Maria Schrader, Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Jodi Kantor, and Megan Twohey, 6:00
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: Return to Seoul (Davy Chou, 2022), Q&A with Davy Chou and Park Ji-Min, 6:15
Currents North American Premiere: The Adventures of Gigi the Law (Alessandro Comodin, 2022), Q&A with Alessandro Comodin, 6:15
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: EO (Jerzy Skolimowski, 2022), Q&A with Jerzy Skolimowski, 6:45
Currents: Remote (Mika Rottenberg & Mahyad Tousi, 2022), Q&A with Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi, 9:00
Main Slate NYFF 60th Anniversary Celebration: Armageddon Time (James Gray, 2022), Q&A with James Gray and Jeremy Strong, 9:00
Currents: Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter (Gustavo Vinagre, 2022), Q&A with Gustavo Vinagre, 9:15
Friday, October 14
Currents: Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter (Gustavo Vinagre, 2022), Q&A with Gustavo Vinagre, 3:45
Main Slate NYFF 60th Anniversary Celebration: Armageddon Time (James Gray, 2022), introduced by James Gray, 6:00
Spotlight World Premiere: Personality Crisis: One Night Only (Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, 2022), Q&A with David Tedeschi, 9:00
Main Slate Closing Night Selection U.S. Premiere: The Inspection (Elegance Bratton, 2022), Q&A with Elegance Bratton, Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, and Raúl Castillo, 6:00 & 9:00
Main Slate U.S. Premiere: No Bears (Jafar Panahi, 2022), introduced by Mina Kavani, 8:45
300 EL x 50 EL x 30 EL
Harvey Theater at the BAM Strong
651 Fulton St.
September 28 — October 1, $44-$120, 7:30 www.bam.org www.fcbergman.be/en
Belgian theater collective FC Bergman is making its US debut at BAM with its imaginative 2011 work, 300 el x 50 el x 30 el, which opens BAM’s 2022 Next Wave festival. Running September 28 to October 1, the seventy-five-minute wordless multimedia piece transforms the Harvey stage into a village with six shacks in the woods to bring to life a biblical-inspired anarchic tale of animals, nature, humanity, and technology as a flood approaches. Created by Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans, Bart Hollanders, Matteo Simoni, Thomas Verstraeten, and Marie Vinck, the widely hailed 2011 work, which has toured the world, features sets by FC Bergman and Matthijs Kuyer, camera direction by Thomas Verstraeten, and costumes by Judith Van Herck and is performed by Aerts, Agemans, Simoni, Verstraeten, and Vinck along with Gert Portael, Herwig Ilegems, Shana Van Looveren, Evelien Bosmans, Ramona Verkerk, Arne Focketeyn, Oscar Van Rompay, Ruud Gielens, Gregory Frateur, Mattis Devoldere Contesse, Karen Vanparys, Yorrith de Bakker, and Jeroen Perceval.
Founded in 2008, the Antwerp-based company, which has been associate artists with the Toneelhuis in Antwerp since 2013, has a repertoire that includes the modern parable The Sheep Song; an adaptation of William Gaddis’s National Book Award–winning 1975 novel JR; the wordless monologue Terminator Trilogy; and the descriptively titled Walking down the Champs-Elysées with a tortoise to get a better view of the world, but it is hard to drink tea on an ice floe when everyone is drunk. The troupe is known for its unique approach to storytelling and its immersive environments that should feel right at home at the Harvey, where there will be a celebration with members of the cast and crew following the opening-night performance.
