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IDFA on stage: Finding Willard

Het Zuidelijk Toneel & Tom Struyf (BE)
Tue 15 Nov ’22 and Wed 16 Nov ’22
What place do we give people who deviate from the norm in our society?  What does it mean to care for each other in changing times? 
Tue 15 Nov ’22
and
Wed 16 Nov ’22

Theatre-maker Tom Struyf arrives by chance in a village near the border with Canada. Willard lies on the shores of a vast lake, in the shadow of the ruins of a former psychiatric institution. A chance encounter with a special place culminates in a riveting trip. 


Winter 2018. Travelling in the US, theatre-maker Tom Struyf arrives by chance in a small village near the border with Canada. Willard lies on the shores of a vast lake, in the shadow of the ruins of a former psychiatric institution. Driven by a personal issue, a chance encounter with an extraordinary landscape and a tiny church community culminates in a riveting trip, where Tom's personal life becomes intimately intertwined with Willard. 
 
Finding Willard is a travelogue, a personal quest about construction and decay, care and 
community. It is a multimedia, cinematic performance in the vein of previous performances such as Forgetting and The Tatiana Aarons Experience - in which Tom relates his fascination with a place and a number of people in connection with a personal event, thus constructing a new story constructs.

  • Language: Dutch
  • English surtitles
  • 105 mins.
© Fien Leysen
© Geert de Vleesschauwer
© Tom Struyf

concept & acting Tom Struyf co-creation Fien Leysen & Willem De Maeseneer camera & editing Geert De Vleesschauwer & Fien Leysen music Bert Hornikx design Ina Peeters & Jolan Moonen technical supervision Geert De Vleesschauwer technique Geert De Vleesschauwer / Bregt Janssens production Tatiana Aarons vzw co-production Het Zuidelijk Toneel, NTGent, C-TAKT, NEXT Festival, Productiehuis TR, detheatermaker, kc deSingel, cc de Werft Geel and cc De Grote Post Oostende in collaboration with De Nieuwe Vorst, corso and Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond with the support of the Flemish government, Gemeente Rotterdam, Stuifzand and deAuteurs 

wie zich kan openstellen voor de schoonheid van landelijk Amerika en menselijke verhalen over een gebrekkig zorgstelsel, zal zich vergapen aan Struyfs opmerkelijke trip

★★★ de Volkskrant