BECOMING TRAVIATA

"Riveting ... A treat for fans of opera, the performing arts, and documentaries about process." - Variety

A film for anyone interested in the creative process and the collaborative nature of theatre, Becoming Traviata is as much an engrossing behind-the-curtains look at the contemporary staging of an opera classic - even for those who aren't normally fans of the art form - as it is a rare insight into the lives of true artists.

Classical music documentarian Philippe Béziat's spotlight is firmly focused on the working relationship between theatre/opera director Jean-François Sivadier and distinguished soprano Natalie Dessay in the lead-up to a revitalised production of Verdi's La Traviata at France's prestigious Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. Accessible and operatic in itself, the film captures a cocktail of thundering music, detailed close-ups and electric performances that heighten emotion and tension as opening night draws closer.

Winner of the COLCOA Film Festival Documentary Award.

"The working relationship between Sivadier and Dessay plays like a duet as they pick up on each other's ideas, bounce them back and forth in sometimes differing directions, and build to an epiphany before moving on." - Variety