Adam's Passion

Richard Strauss's opera, from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

This seminal work of avant-garde opera from composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson arrives full-circle, coming to France, the site of its 1976 Avignon Festival world premiere, at the tail end of this 2014 revival tour for a landmark Theâtre du Châtelet production and a first ever filming by award-winning arts filmmaker Don Kent. Eschewing conventional narrative, the opera revolves loosely around pacifist Einstein’s relationship to the creation of the atomic bomb.

Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, "the man who refuses to die" dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the commander who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues.

In a world where no one speaks, a devout female hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil deep within the surrounding wilderness.

The inspiring journey of Estonian track bicycle racer Erika Salumäe, as she navigates the pressures of fame, personal sacrifice, and national pride, redefining resilience in the pursuit of her Olympic dreams.

Therapist Leena and her soon-to-be ex-husband Pekka run a relationship camp in the midst of their own painful break-up. The participants are all very different: an actor who has lost himself and his memory, his spouse, a police officer who cannot let go of his loved one, and a couple whose open relationship is not quite as open as they think. Through surprising twists, painful encounters, and humor, the campers discover new perspectives on each other—and themselves. Perhaps not everything can be fixed, but there is still much to learn.

A piece that tries to keep the imagination in the highest possible state of alert using a minimum of materials, all found to hand inside the creator's workshop space. An adventure of the body and mind in more raw and stripped-back form.

An immigrant Indian mother fights the Norwegian foster care system and legal machinery to win back custody of her children.

A historical spy-thriller set in 1939 about an Estonian intelligence agent tasked with uncovering the Soviet double agent in their ranks.

Also known as “Letter from Venice,” Susan Sontag’s fourth and final film tells of a relationship that is fragmenting as the partners tour the decaying ruins of a hallucinatory Venice.

The films were made between 1964 and 1966 at Warhol's Factory studio in New York City. Subjects were captured in stark relief by a strong key light, and filmed by Warhol with his stationary 16mm Bolex camera on silent, black and white, 100-foot rolls of film at 24 frames per second. The resulting two-and-a-half-minute film reels were then screened in 'slow motion' at 16 frames per second.

Set in a dystopian future. When an extremely dangerous Twin Turbo engine is stolen from the harbour twins, sister cops Nana and Lulu enter the world of illegal street racing in hopes of turning their lives around.

In the snowy and secluded Estonian forest, Marti lives his life through routine. Haunted by his past bad judgement, he has become distant and lifeless. Kalev, an old local shopkeeper and a friend to Marti, tries convincing Marti to let go of the past and move on. Due to an unexpected event and Kalev's persuasiveness Marti finds himself on the verge of a new beginning. After his routine trip to the shop, Marti finds a young woman Irene at his doorstep. Marti, although hesitant, invites her inside for a tea. It doesn't take Marti long to realize Irene is not who she says she is. Torn between the past and present, Marti finds himself in a cul-de-sac. Meanwhile, Kalev is alarmed by two men parked outside his shop and is certain of their bad intentions. Marti knowing of the sinister plot in motion, has to finally come to terms with himself or suffer the consequences.

The creative processes of avant-garde composer Philip Glass and progressive director/designer Robert Wilson are examined in this film. It documents their collaboration on this tradition breaking opera.

In 1919 Estonia, as Bolsheviks' riots sweep through the country, a Baltic German father goes to no end to ensure his daughter's safety.

An intimate study of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century tracking feminist icon Susan Sontag’s seminal, life-changing moments through archival materials, accounts from friends, family, colleagues, and lovers, as well as her own words, as read by Patricia Clarkson.

On the shimmering shores of Europe’s otherworldly edge, two teenage girls, Hanake and her best friend are discussing their first love interest while gazing out at yachts sailing to Kyoto. They whisper prayers and poems, the language of their longings. But the magic is fading in their isolated fishing village as they’re dealing with a recent disaster, with some indulging in erotic art, some in spiritual spells. It becomes clear that intimacy alone won’t help them process their loss.

Produced in an era before 24-hour programming cycles, Video 50 was initially used as a late night filler on TV stations in Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Random, surreal, and unexpected, Video 50 resembles the dream cycle of a dormant TV station after it conscious programming has ceased. Its structure and form anticipate the dissociated sequence of moving images we are now accustomed to encountering on YouTube and social media.

Eva Stefani follows the rehearsals at Onassis Stegi and the international tour of Dimitris Papaioannou’s legendary stage work, Transverse Orientation. Her film is also a portrait of the artist in his effort to give shape and breathe life into his work.

In the midst of the political upheaval of the early 1990s in Soviet Union, an Estonian girl and a Russian boy reach across cultural lines to unite over a shared bottle of American soda.