For the 15th year, the Arts Arena presents L’Europe autour de l’Europe for a screening and discussion. Founded in 2006 by Irena Bilic, who will be with us, the festival presents art films produced by the countries of Greater Europe with special attention to connections between classic European filmmakers and new talents of contemporary cinema.
Director, choreographer, performer, and visual artist Dimitris Papaioannou blends experimental dance, physical theater, visual and performance arts in surreal, dreamlike, and immersive environments. Born in Athens in 1964 and rooted deeply in the fine arts, Dimitris Papaioannou gained early recognition as a painter and comics artist before his focus shifted to the performing arts, as director, choreographer, performer, and designer of sets, costumes, and lighting. He formed Edafos Dance Theatre, in 1986 as an initial vehicle for his original stage productions, hybrids of physical theatre, experimental dance, and performance art. The Edafos company spanned 17 years, to 2002, and set its indelible stamp on the arts scene in Greece. Papaioannou became widely known in 2004, as creator of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games.
His productions cover the range from intimate pieces to mass spectacles involving thousands of performers, and have appeared in a broad variety of venues, from the famous underground squat theater he created in Athens to the ancient theatre in Epidaurus, and from Olympic stadiums to the Théâtre de la Ville – Paris and the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. He has toured Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia and was the first artist to create a new, full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. He has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award and twice for an Olivier Award, and is the first Greek artist to receive the European Theater Prize.
Filmmaker Eva Stefani follows the preparations behind Papaioannou’s Transverse Orientation creation and its tour across theatrical stages in Europe, observing from a close distance Papaioannou and his collaborators in their effort to give shape and breathe life into the work. For two years, her camera captured scenes from the rehearsals at the Onassis Stegi during the pandemic, as well as performances in Paris, London, Vilnius, and other international destinations, leading to the last show in San Francisco. The central question that runs through the documentary is “Why do we do what we do?” elevating art as a means of resisting the futility of things and a way to reapply meaning to our own lives.