Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi is the head of a musical dynasty revolutionizing the musical life of Estonia and beyond. His sons Paavo and Kristjan Järvi are very successful conductors in their own right while daughter Maarika is an acclaimed flautist. Neeme Järvi has nearly 500 recordings to his credit, and his last permanent position was with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Director Erik Norkroos visited the conductor at h

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) was one of the most popular and least understood American painters. Dubbed a magic realist he was for a long time overshadowed by his abstract expressionist peers. His breakthrough came with the MOMA´s acquisition of CHRISTINA’S WORLD which is now an Icon like AMERICAN GOTHIC. Filmmaker Glenn Holsten had access to Wyeth family members, archive material including home movies, the complete body of work as wel

This chamber opera is a collaboration between three New Zealand creatives: writer Georgia Jamieson Emms, composer Kenneth Young and Soprano Anna Leese. The plot is based on an episode in writer Janet Frame´s life. She was wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia and later released from the asylum where she spent years locked up. Rebecca Tansley with a stunning Semele to her credit shot the opera on location with singback technique. It leaves

Described by the Guardian as a “cultural phenomenon”, illustrator Jackie Morris´ and writer Robert Macfarlanes´s book THE LOST WORDS has become a huge bestseller, won many awards, has been published in the UK, North America, Germany, France and the Netherlands among others and taken roots in thousands of schools across Britain. The book began as a response to the removal of 50 everyday nature words, such as “kingf

Two celebrated Czech dancers, Jiří and Otto Bubeníček, create a ballet for the Royal New Zealand Ballet on Jane Campion´s famous story THE PIANIST, the film of which was a universal box office hit in 1993. Filmmaker Rebecca Tansley followed the story from the very beginning up to and including the very successful first night. Ballet lovers will enjoy the process of creation while others may take an interest in a clash of

Mario Girotti aka Terence Hill was born 1939 in Venice to a German mother and an Italian father. The war years he spent in a village near Dresden. When the teenager moved back to Italy, he was discovered by Dino Risi who hired him for VACANZE COL GANGSTER in 1951. He later remembered “they were looking for a boy gang leader and they found me”. When he took his school exams, he had already twenty film parts to his credit. While read

NZ Opera´s Thomas de Mallet Burgess staged the work under the motto “witness the Wedding of the Year” at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. The performance is full of surprises, not least a Jupiter abducting Semele on a motorbike. The NZ Opera Baroque Orchestra, the Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus and the Holy Trinity Choir are conducted by Peter Walls. Soloists include Emma Pearson, Amitai Pati, Sarah Castle, Pa

John Craxton (1922 – 2009) was one of the leading British NeoRomantic artists, preferring to be known as a “kind of Arcadian”. His paintings mirror his personal journey – essentially a sepia hue until he left London for Greece where his life, loves and art became suffused in glorious, animated and sun-drenched colour. Tony Britten´s film follows Craxton´s journey, where the artist spent most of his life and

Percival Everett is both singular and engaging. He is a major author of the contemporary literary scene as well as a brilliant academic. His work covers a large spectrum of genres and styles, from the social and political satire to more realistic texts and poetry. His latest novel THE TREE was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize in 2022 (“Eerie, provocative, blackly comic Southern noir”, say the judges). Alexandre Westphal

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 2013 its founder and choreographer Lin Hwai-min created this new ballet on a fusion of Asian and western classical music. The ballet reflects in sections titled Soil, Pollen, Sunlight, Grain, Fire and Water the life cycle of Rice, staple food in Asia. Pollen has the most sublime form of love making in which the bodies of the two dancers keep in touch all the way through

Known for his charisma and intensive performances Nikitin´s career was brutally interrupted when the Bayreuth Festival replaced him as Flying Dutchman after some of his old tattoos looking like Nazi symbols were disclosed on a video. The singer went through a deep crisis and was even considering giving up singing. Due to all the opera houses, who had contracted him for performances, none of which were cancelled, he regained confidence an

This new four-part series by Claudia Collao is her follow-up on the successful four-parter THE DARK SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD. Who would have thought that Fritz Lang´s world famous METROPOLIS was a flop at its première, that Eisenstein´s QUE VIVA MEXICO! was never seen finished by its director, that Visconti´s OSSESSIONE only survived because the director hid a dupe negative, and that Carné´s LA FLEUR DE L’A

Filmmaker Olympia Stone, whose recent ACTUALLY ICONIC, a film on hyperrealist Richard Estes we also distribute, has turned her eye and camera at Mary Aldwyth, the American queen of collages. We visit her extraordinary studio in a tree house on a South Carolina Island and watch her cutting out bits and pieces of printed material to create fascinating work entitled TWINKLE TWINKLE, SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK or CASABLANCA. True to her motto “

Rembetika music or Greek blues is a music born of exile and the streets. Developing its roots from the mass migration of people in the early 20th century, filmmaker M. Zournazi traces the journey of her forbearers from Smyrna in Turkey to Sidney in Australia, but discovering more than a family story, she finds out how music connects people during times of struggle and crisis. By weaving together different stories of music and migration, she do

Melbourne opera singer Tiriki Onus sets out to uncover the mystery surrounding the life of his grandfather, William Bill Onus, a charismatic Aboriginal cultural leader, entrepreneur, theatre impresario, television host and, possibly, the first indigenous filmmaker, who played a decisive part in his people´s fight for recognition. The chance discovery of an untitled 75-year-old silent film that could have been made by his grandfather sets

A new documentary, voted one of the best ten US art films in 2020, explores the complicated and uncompromising life and work of one of the great American abstract expressionists. Using home movies and more than thirty hours of recently discovered audio tape with Still reflecting on his art, the art industry, critics and contemporaries, director and art collector Dennis Scholl retraces the life of the enigmatic painter. To round off the documen

One of the best loved conductors, Bernard Haitink passed away on October 21st, 2021 at the age of 92. John Bridcut's 2020 documentary observes him at work as he prepares his final concerts. Some of the musicians he has worked with try to explain the secrets of his conducting technique, while Haitink himself talks about how his approach has changed during his 68 years in front of orchestras and gives advice to young musicians hoping to follow i

An unmissable, riveting documentary that follows superstar violinist Janine Jansen as she embarks on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play twelve of the greatest ever “Strads”. Directed by documentary maker Gerald Fox and accompanied in her quest by Sir Antonio Pappano, the documentary begins in Janine´s home town of Stockholm, where she is rehearsing Mendelssohn´s Violin Concerto, before moving for a hectic ten- day

Poorhouse International: Highlight Programmes

In February 2023 Franco Zeffirelli would have been 100 years old. 

Chris Hunt´s biography explores how Zeffirelli´s sense of drama was born out of his own experience and how his life inspired his productions. His mother was rejected by his father and young Zeffirelli witnessed huge and violent rows between them including her stabbing him. This is reflected in his legendary stagings of “La Traviata”, “

Claudia Cardinale velebrates her 85th birthday in April 2023. In the world of movie stars, she is an exception. Not only did she last longer than most of her peers with nearly 150 films to her credit but she also appeared in iconic movies such as “The Leopard”, “8 ½” and “Once upon a time in the West”. In life however, the actress was restrained by an event that took year

In Search for the Lost Words

Described by the Guardian as a “cultural phenomenon”, illustrator Jackie Morris´ and writer Robert Macfarlanes´s book THE LOST WORDS has become a huge bestseller, won many awards, has been published in the UK, North America, Germany, France and the Netherlands among others and taken roots in thousands of schools across Britain. The book began as a response to the removal of 50 everyday nature words, such as “kingf

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Senar - Rachmaninoff's Summer Paradise

In time for Rachmaninoff's 150th birthday filmmaker Roberta Pedrini provides a biography based on the composer's wonderfully situated Bauhaus Villa on Lake Lucerne. Senar is an acronym of Sergej and Natalja R. Here he created the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and his Symphony No. 3. of which we hear excerpts. Francesco Piemontesi plays part of piano sonata No.2 and a transcript of Vocalise. Contributors include conductors Gianandrea

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Poorhouse International: New Releases

Now in the Cinemas: Anton Bruckner - The Making of a Giant

On the 23rd of July 2020 Arsenal Filmverleih releases Reiner E. Moritz' documentary on Anton Bruckner in cinemas Germany wide. The documentary draws on the recordings of all Bruckner symphonies by Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic at Sankt Florian. It is the first proper portrait of Bruckner in many years and features Valery Gergiev, Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Jordan and Kent Nagano. 

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Out now: Barbe-bleue by Jacques Offenbach

Opus Arte released the Opera de Lyon production of Jacques Offenbach's Bluebeard on DVD and Bluray together with Reiner Moritz' portrait of the composer "Tales of Offenbach", 58', which is also available from Poorhouse. 

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Out now: Janine Jansen - Falling for Stradivari

"This absorbing documentary follows the brilliant Dutch violinist as she attempts to record an album with 12 of the most exquisite Stradivarius violins in existence." The Guardian

Arthaus Musik released Janine Jansen - Falling for Stradivari on DVD and Bluray. 

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Out on DVD: Semele from NZ Opera

Released in January 2023: Semele from NZ Opera

NZ Opera's Thomas de Mallet Burgess staged the work under the motto “witness the Wedding of the Year” at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. The performance is full of surprises, not least a Jupiter abducting Semele on a motorbike. The NZ Opera Baroque Orchestra, the Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus and the Holy Trinity Choir are conducted by Peter Walls. Soloists in

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