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IDFA on stage: Thanks for Being Here

Ontroerend Goed
Tue 19 Nov ’24 and Wed 20 Nov ’24
This innovative and exciting performance—a blend of video and theatre, with the audience playing a central role—accessibly demonstrates that a common perspective is an illusion.
Tue 19 Nov ’24
and
Wed 20 Nov ’24

In an exploration of different points of view, different backgrounds, and different lives, the Belgian theater performance group Ontroerend Goed puts the audience at the core of their new performance.

Everyone inhabits their own here and now, composed by their past, their personal experiences and their expectations. Using video, director Alexander Devriendt creates different spatial perspectives, revealing how we—often inevitably—take our individual beliefs and backgrounds as the measure of things. At the same time, the company plays with time, slowing it down, speeding it up, rewinding. The auditorium becomes an echo chamber.

The trademark of Ontroerend Goed—the winners of numerous awards at festivals in Europe, Australia and North America—is the theatrical mind game. Time and again, they break the so-called contract between performer and spectator—one on stage, the other sitting safely in the dark. The audience is put on display, manipulated and misled, often with a political slant. This is also the case in the innovative and exciting Thanks for Being Here, the most recent production by this unpredictable company.

Thanks for Being Here is a co-presentation of IDFA and Vlaams Cultuurhuis De Brakke Grond.

  • Duration: 80 min.
  • Spoken language: English

Credits

created by Ontroerend Goed director Alexander Devriendt production Ontroerend Goed co-production Perpodium, NTGent, The City of Ghent, The Flemish Community, The Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government & uFund key collaborator Charlotte De Bruyne, Karolien De Bleser, Patricia Kargbo, Leonore Spee designer Fauve Ryckebusch, Scott Jun, Maxime Lahousse, Vidiots technical artist Elias Beaudouin, Nick De Keyser, Matthias Tuinstra sound Anne Meffert, Leonore Spee, David Sanders

About IDFA

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is once again bringing an exciting selection of the world's best documentaries to Amsterdam this year, from November 14 until 24. Immerse yourself in new work from emerging talent and established filmmakers, with world premieres, festival favorites, and thematic programs.