Ryhmäteatteri

Who Will Burry The Dead?

May 2016 •English

This documentary offers a deep, candid, and historical look at the Christian experience of America's largest and best-known tribes: the Dakota and Lakota. Its exploration into Native American history also takes a hard and detailed look at President Ulysses S. Grant's Peace Policy of 1873, which was, in effect, a "convert to Episcopalianism or starve" edict put forth by the American government in direct violation of its Constitution. The devastation it had on the values of the people affected were dramatic and extremely long-lasting. Grant's policy was finally ended over 100 years later by the Freedom of American Indian Religions Act in 1978. Interlaced with extraordinarily candid interviews, this documentary presents an insider's perspective of how the Dakota and Lakota were estranged from their religious beliefs and their long-standing traditions.

Stage Changers

October 2021 •English

A group of young, passionate theatre makers have just been presented with an opportunity that could change their lives forever. A huge company in the UK have invited them to pitch a large-scale work that would see them go from making theatre for audiences of 100 people, to making a show that plays to more than 1,000 people a night. This group of aspirational artists have always been driven by hopes and dreams, but their dreams have never been this big.

Malditos

November 2020 •Spanish

A group of actors in Madrid are cast in a theatre show conceived as a dance marathon and as an unscripted competition. ‘Malditos’ follows their drifting between success, failure, fame and self-realization, interweaving non-fiction interventions and staged representations, constantly blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality.

Cela s'appelle l'amour

October 1989 •French

The theme of Romeo and Juliet is the starting point from which the film spins a web of several stories. A love story between a boy and a girl whose families are Algerian: they are young, beautiful and they are trying to build a family and a social life in France. They love each other, and yet conflicts, family pressure and contradicting desires alternately tear them apart and unite them. The story of Romeo and Juliet, minus death.

Seems Like Only Yesterday

January 1971 •English

Interviews with a dozen California centenarians against a montage of present day media reportage.

How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy

August 2014 •English

In the year 2000, Les Blank, along with co-filmmaker Gina Leibrecht, visited Richard Leacock (1921-2011) at his farm in Normandy, France and recorded conversations with him about his life, his work, and his other passion: cooking! With the flair of a seasoned raconteur, Leacock recounts key moments in his seventy years as a filmmaker and the innovations that he, D.A. Pennebaker, Albert Maysles and others invented that revolutionized documentary filmmaking, and explores the mystery of creativity. With the passing of both Blank and Leacock, the documentary is a moving insight into the lives of two seminal figures in the history of film.

Je me soulève

March 2022 •French

Der gordische Knoten

November 1991 •German

The Hamlet Syndrome

August 2022 •German

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Slowdive: Souvlaki

June 2015 •English

The film follows the band Slowdive as they come up in the flourishing Thames Valley shoegaze scene and chronicles the making of their classic album Souvlaki. It features interviews with all of the band members as well as Creation Records' Alan McGee, producer Chris Hufford, and engineer Ed Buller.

The Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus

August 1980 •

The protagonists of this docudrama are old farmers who migrated to Banat after the First World War, in 1922. The film is focused on a couple of important events in their impressive lives, which are woven into lively scenes and stories full of wise instances. Their statements become spontaneous recounts of the lives of people in this region.

Terwijl het liefde was

August 2021 •Dutch

Artistic director of the National Theater Eric de Vroedt writes and directs a performance about his own mother Winnie, who passed away in 2020. This piece, titled The Century of My Mother, is a family story about the migration from the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands. It is De Vroedt's way of examining the relationship with his mother and not having to say goodbye to her yet: 'I can let her live on stage, but when the curtain falls, when the play is completely finished, then she is really dead'.

The Water Is Finally Blue: The Untold Story of Robert Altman's O.C. and Stiggs

July 2023 •English

An in-depth oral history of the production and development history of Robert Altman's "O.C. and Stiggs," featuring commentaries from the film's cast and crew.

Idoler mot alla odds

January 2007 •Swedish

Documentary about the theatre group Glada Hudik as they bring their musical about Elvis Presley to Stockholm for the first time.

Grandmother Told Grandmother

October 2018 •English

The little-known story of Ukrainian children torn from their homes in the crush between the Nazi and Soviet fronts in World War II. Spending their childhood as refugees in Europe, these inspiring individuals later immigrated to the United States, creating new homes and communities through their grit, faith and deep belief in the importance of preserving culture.

Cloud Making Machine

September 2017 •English

Firas, Jallow and Batoul just arrived in Berlin. They meet one another in a theatre group. They are searching for the good life in Germany - yet things don’t turn out the way they hoped. Through video letters, they reveal their deepest emotions to their families and friends back in their war-torn or poverty-stricken home countries.

Martin Army Theater

January 1954 •Slovak

Hello Campers!

September 2023 •English

Oral history project exploring the history of London's holiday campers. From the 1930s to the 1980s London’s workers increasingly visited holiday camps such as Pontins and Butlins, or run by trade unions and other social groups. It became a tradition for generations of families - a highlight of the year for all ages.

Hysteria

December 2015 •Portuguese

A documentary following five actresses through Santa Catarina roads as they perform the play of the title.

Theatre 1

November 2012 •Japanese

Theatre 1 (Observational Film Series #3) is a feature length documentary, which closely depicts the world of Oriza Hirata, Japan's leading playwright and director, and his theatrical company, Seinendan. By depicting them, the film leads the audience to revisit fundamental but timely questions: What is theatre? Why do human beings act?