Juliette Binoche opens 2009 Next Wave Festival

Details: Parent Category: Other Festivals; Category: Theater; Published on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 13:24; Written by FFTraveler Staff

BAM’s 2009 Next Wave Festival opens with the U.S. premiere of In-I, an evening length dance collaboration conceived, directed, and performed by Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche and world renowned British choreographer Akram Khan. A meditation on love, this work of text and movement includes a set designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor with an original score from composer Philip Sheppard. The BAM engagement marks the last performances of this work which premiered at the National Theatre in London in September 2008.

Performing a series of vignettes before a free-standing high wall of shifting colors, Khan and Binoche explore the intricacies of a love affair in all its glory and pain. In-I takes both artists in new directions: for Binoche, dancing on stage; and for Khan, acting for the first time since his childhood role in Peter Brook’s Mahabharata (1987 BAM Next Wave Festival). Time Out (Sydney) said of the work, “In-I offers the excitement of contemporary dance’s cutting edge…”

Oscar-winning actress Binoche is one of France’s most celebrated actresses. Born in Paris to a sculptor/theater director and an actress, Binoche studied acting at the National School of Dramatic Art of Paris. She first gained recognition in 1985 with her acclaimed performances in Jean-Luc Godard’s controversial film Hail Mary (Je vous salue, Marie) and André Téchiné’s Rendez-vous. Her international breakthrough came in 1988 when she played Tereza in Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Shortly thereafter, Binoche starred in other widely acclaimed films such as Leos Carax’s The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont Neuf ;1991); Louis Malle’s Damage (1992), starring with Jeremy Irons; and Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue (1993) (she also appeared briefly in the trilogy’s other installments, Red and White). Binoche returned to the screen in 1995 with The Horseman on the Roof (Le Hussard sur le toit).

In 1996, Binoche won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient. In 2000 she starred in Lasse Hallström's art-house hit Chocolat, followed by Code Unknown (Code Inconnu), and Hidden (Caché) in 2005. Other films credits include Abel Ferrara’s Mary opposite Matthew Modine and Forest Whitaker (2005); Minghella’s Breaking and Entering (2006) opposite Jude Law, and Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du ballon rouge; 2007).

Her most recent films include Oliver Assayas’ Summer Hours (L’Heure d’été; 2008), and Cédric Klapsich’s Paris, which opened September 18, 2009.

Binoche also has her paintings and poetry on view in NYC in her exhibition, In-Eyes--at the art gallery of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy (972 Fifth Avenue; corner of 79th Street) from September 10–October 9. A unique spin on the self-portrait, it features 29 triptychs, each including a character that Binoche has portrayed, a portrait of the related movie’s director, and a poem inspired by her subjects. Binoche signs copies of Portraits In-Eyes, her book of paintings and poetry, on September 11, at Barnes & Noble (Broadway at 65th Street, New York City) from 6–8pm. Portraits In-Eyes is available for sale at BAM. For more information please visit www.frenchculture.org

Khan is one of the most acclaimed choreographers of his generation working in Britain today. Born in London to a Bangladeshi family in 1974, he began dancing at seven. He studied with the great Kathak dancer/teacher Sri Pratap Pawar, later becoming his disciple. Khan made his stage debut—and BAM debut—at 14 in Brook’s Mahabharata, which toured the world from 1987–89. Following studies in contemporary dance and a period working with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Brussels-based X-Group project, Khan began presenting solo performances of his work in the '90s, maintaining his commitment to the classical Kathak repertoire as well as to modern work. Among his best-known solo pieces are Polaroid Feet (2001), Ronin (2003), and Third Catalogue (2005).

In August 2000, Khan launched his own company, which has provided him with a platform for innovation and for an increasingly diverse range of work that has evolved in collaboration with artists from other disciplines—ranging across theater, film, visual arts, music, and literature. Among his most notable company works are Kaash (2002), a collaboration with artist Kapoor and composer Nitin Sawhney; ma (2004), accompanied by a text by writer Hanif Kureishi, for which he received a South Bank Show Award in 2005; and Zero Degrees (2005), a collaboration with dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, sculptor Antony Gormley, and composer Sawhney. Khan was choreographer-in-residence and also Associate Artist at the South Bank Centre (the first non-musician to be afforded this status). He is an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells.
In addition to work with his company, the choreographer’s other projects include Sacred Monsters, performed by world renowned French ballerina Sylvie Guillem and Khan, and Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings, a collaboration with London Sinfonietta to celebrate the 70th birthday of Steve Reich, which premiered in Cologne in March 2006 and was performed at BAM’s 2006 Next Wave Festival. Khan was also invited by Kylie Minogue to choreograph a section of her new Showgirl concert which opened in Australia in November 2006, and toured to the UK in January 2007. bahok, a unique collaboration with the National Ballet of China choreographed by Khan, had its world premiere in Beijing in January 2008 and its UK premiere in March at the Liverpool Playhouse, and is currently touring worldwide.

Khan has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Newcomer to Dance Award from the Dance Critics’ Circle (2000) and from Time Out Live (2000), Best Modern Choreographer from the Dance Critics’ Circle (2002), a South Bank Show Award (2005), and was nominated for a Nijinsky Award for Best Newcomer (2002). Most recently, he was awarded the 2005 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for Outstanding Male or Female Artist (modern), and Zero Degrees was nominated for a 2006 Laurence Olivier Award (Best New Dance Production).

To coincide with Juliette Binoche’s performance in In-I during the Next Wave Festival, BAMcinématek presents a retrospective of her film career. All films in French with English subtitles unless noted.

BAMcinématek: Rendez-vous with Juliette Binoche

Paris (2008) 130min
Fri, Sept 11 at 7pm*
*Q&A with Cédric Klapisch and Juliette Binoche
Directed by Cédric Klapisch
With Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris
In this spin on Rear Window, a dancer with a terminal heart condition confined to his apartment is forced to reexamine Paris as he watches it come alive from his window. His sister (Binoche) and her children care for him in his convalescence as they join the cast of Parisians who dance before his eyes.
Sneak preview from IFC Films.
Q&A with Cédric Klapisch and Juliette Binoche.

Rendez-vous (1985) 82min
Fri, Sept 18 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by André Techiné
With Juliette Binoche, Lambert Wilson, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Rendez-vous announced Binoche as an actress of intense emotional depth, while also starting her habit of working with winners of directing prizes at Cannes, as André Techiné did with this film. Binoche carries the film as she navigates love and death, presaging her later work with Kieślowski and Malle.

Damage (1992) 111min
Sat, Sept 19 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Louis Malle
With Juliette Binoche, Jeremy Irons
Binoche teamed with acclaimed director Louis Malle and the inimitable Jeremy Irons in this film of love, sex, and obsession. In English.

Flight of the Red Balloon (2007) 115min
Sun, Sept 20 at 2:30, 5:30, 8:30pm
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien
With Juliette Binoche
Hou Hsiao-hsien’s homage to The Red Balloon takes the film’s key elements—a lonesome boy, a shiny balloon, and the meandering streets of Paris—and creates a rich, complex work flush with reflections on the loneliness of daily urban existence and the power of imagination. Binoche plays a harried single mother and puppeteer.

Blue (1993) 98min
Mon, Sept 21 at 4:30, 6:50pm*
*Q&A with Juliette Binoche
Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski
With Juliette Binoche, Benoît Régent
The first of Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy is considered by many to be his best film. Binoche plays a composer‘s widow, struggling to deal with the death of her husband and daughter. Post-screening book signing and Q&A with Juliette Binoche.

Family Life (1985) 95 min
Wed, Sept 22 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Jacques Doillon
With Juliette Binoche, Juliet Berto, Sami Frey
This early Binoche work strikingly predicts themes of loneliness and familial disconnection that she would explore later in her career. A father attempts to bridge the gap between himself and his ten- year-old daughter to prevent the disconnection he already has with his elder daughter (Binoche).

Mauvais Sang (1988) 105min
Thu, Sept 24 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Leos Carax
With Juliette Binoche, Michel Piccoli, Julie Delpy
Leos Carax’s second film put him on the map and won the Prix Louis Delluc. Set in the near future, this tale of two aging thieves and their young recruit borrows New Wave themes while incorporating a fresh visual style. The thieves’ new cohort can’t help but be attracted to Binoche, playing a young lover of one of the thieves.

Lovers on the Bridge (1991) 125min
Fri, Sept 25 at 3, 6, 9pm
Directed by Leos Carax
With Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant
Leos Carax followed Mauvais Sang with this film about two vagabonds who connect on a bridge, the Pont-Neuf, still under construction.

Caché (2005) 117min
Sat, Sept 26 at 2, 6:50pm
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil
In his second collaboration with Binoche, Haneke uses his trademark pacing and carefully revealed exposition to create a masterpiece of unexpected horror.

Code Unknown (2000) 118min
Sat, Sept 26 at 4:30, 9:30pm
Directed by Michael Haneke
With Juliette Binoche, Thierry Neuvic, Josef Bierbichler
Michael Haneke tackles many of his familiar themes—emigration and national dislocation, power structures and racism in contemporary France. Code Unknown follows the lives of numerous characters leading up to and following an incident in which innocent bystanders are wrongly penalized. Binoche portrays a struggling actress at the center of this intersection.

Summer Hours (2008) 103min
Sun, Sep 27 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Olivier Assayas
With Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling
Three siblings reunite after their mother dies and leaves behind a country house overflowing with valuable art objects and antiques. With its richly-detailed script and nuanced performances by Binoche and Berling, Summer Hours illuminates the private experience of loss, as well as the practical concerns of settling an estate.

The English Patient (1996) 162min
Mon, Sep 28 at 7pm
Directed by Anthony Minghella
With Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth Binoche was honored with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a nurse tending to the doomed titular character in this WWII drama. A year before Titanic, this adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel defined the grandiosity of the 90s epic. In English.

Mary (2005) 83min
Tue, Sep 29 at 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Abel Ferrara
With Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Modine, Marion Cotillard
Ever game for a challenge, Binoche plays an actress who becomes obsessed with Mary Magdalene after having portrayed her in a controversial film. Once again confounding expectations, director Abel Ferrara layers character upon character in this exploration of faith in the modern world. In English.

Disengagement (2007) 115min
Wed, Sep 30 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
Directed by Amos Gitai
With Juliette Binoche, Jeanne Moreau
Acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai brings together two generations of French leading-lady royalty, as Binoche is joined by the New Wave star Jeanne Moreau in this political drama. The film centers on an Israeli-born French woman, played by Binoche, struggling to find her daughter when she returns to Israel as it pulls out of the occupied territories.

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Tickets: $11 per screening for adults; $8 for seniors 65 and over, children under twelve, and $8 for students 25 and under with valid I.D. Monday–Thursday, except holidays; $7 BAM Cinema Club members.

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call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org