Feature Documentary, 70 mins, in post production
Currently in Post Production
The Dance of Language is a documentary directed by Rhys Graham that explores the provocative creative collaboration between powerhouse Australian playwright Andrew Bovell and Madrid theatre collective Numero0 during a time of political upheaval in Spain.
At the end of 2017, during the Spanish winter, Andrew Bovell arrives in a rehearsal space of Madrid’s Matadero (abattoir) precinct to meet with a group of Madrid’s finest theatrical talents. At the peak of his writing powers with his plays and films showing around the world, Bovell has chosen to retreat to the spaces that shaped him – theatre workshops – where ideas are tested and improvisation is used to fuel his creative process.
Through intimate observations and revelations of Bovell and his collaborators, The Dance of Language provides an insight into the urgency and importance of creation in times of social change. More than this, the film shows how intuition, imagination and improvisation – the very dance of language that is the beginning of the writers path – takes a final human form - actors on the stage or words on the page – through a process of collision, argument and profound collaboration. The film also allows Bovell, one of Australia’s most vital and important voices, a space of reflection – while in a city far from home, working in a foreign language – to explore what it means to write, to tell stories and to create in these uncertain times.
Directed and Produced by Rhys Graham
A Daybreak Films Production
In collaboration with Film Camp
