&Fest – Focus Gent: Antigone in the Amazon

“Much is monstrous, yet nothing is more monstrous than man.” – Antigone by Sophocles

Antigone in the Amazon is a profound documentary about modern colonialism and a local community's battle for their land and rights in the Amazon. In Brazil's Pará state rainforest burns to make way for soya plantations; nature and the local community alike are subject to capitalism’s overpowering forces. Created by director Milo Rau, NTGent Theatre's actors, Pará state's indigenous population, and MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra), the world's largest landless workers' movement, Antigone in the Amazon is an allegoric play about land and its people.

The multimedia work lays bare the violent destruction and economic transfers that privilege private property over traditional land rights. In the work, Rau weaves together narration, music, cinema, and theatre in unexpected and creative ways. Recordings made in Brazil seamlessly fit in with the stage performance and tell a story about political protest and collective heroism.

Internationally acclaimed Milo Rau is a Swiss theatre director, journalist, lecturer, writer, and filmmaker. He is one of the most significant artists of his generation, whose works often explore societal and politically sensitive topics. Currently, he is serving as the director Wiener Westwochen.