A screening of performances by the Teatr ZAR

Presentation of the documentary directed by Nathalie Rossetti and Turi Finocchiaro, 72’

International coproduction: Borak Films, CBA (Belgium), Les Productions du Lagon, PACA, Procirep and Angoa (France), touchFILMS, Odra Films, Teatr ZAR, Instytut im. Jerzego Grotowskiego, Polish Film Institute (Poland).
Associated producers: Andon Akayyan, Béatrice and Louise Mast.
With the support of Anadolu Kültür and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

In order to pass on an their ancestral and endangered heritage, Aram and Virginia Kerovpyan, an Armenian couple from the diaspora with Jarosław Fret and international troupe of actors from Teatr ZAR based Wrocław travel on a journey to the places where this art was born, to Anatolia. On the way, their questions revive the wealth of a wiped-out culture, and singing becomes a language of creation and sharing, a breath of life.

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Premiered on 7 September 2019 in Toga, Japan and on 8 November 2019 in Wrocław (Polish premiere)

Running time 60 min

Anhelli: The Howl is a musical performance piece composed of Armenian songs, Greek hymns and Orthodox irmoses.

The unique collection of songs performed by the actors was formed in the process of at least ten years of searching. Teatr ZAR’s method of work is based on long-term work with singers from various traditions until the actors are able to sing each song together and participate in a common liturgy or funeral ritual. Only then can the song become a part of the performance.

Parallels with noh theatre can be found in the piece. Both ZAR’s approach and traditional Japanese theatre focus on making present what is absent. Through the power of including the audience, ZAR creates a theatre that makes present. In Anhelli, they use staging and funeral songs to make present the moment of death and mourning.

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