Masterclass with Milo Rau

Born in 1977, Swiss director, filmmaker and essayist Milo Rau is one of the most sought-after and controversial artistic figures of his generation.

For Milo Rau, art is above all a "combat sport" and a confrontation with the political violence that has plagued recent history. Together with members of the NTGent, which he heads, and the International Institute of Political Murder, which he founded in 2007, he conducts meticulous historical research before tackling his subject. By blending history, art and politics, Milo Rau uses a unique creative process that interweaves levels of reading to bring about intimacy, compassion, solidarity and political awakening. This is how he recalls The Last Days of the Ceausescu (2009), gives voice to La Déclaration de Breivik (2012), summons the Rwandan genocial perpetrators in Hate Radio (2012) or provokes reality in The Tribunal sur le Congo (2015, adapted for cinema in 2018). Rau has recently directed Mozart's The Clemency of Titus at the Geneva Opera. His latest film Le Nouvel Evangile is presented in official selection at the FIFDH and will be distributed in Switzerland as of March 2021. This exceptional Masterclass is given at the ECAL as part of a documentary workshop for students in their second year of cinema studies.

The masterclass will be held in French.

The New Gospel

by Milo Rau

What would Jesus preach today? Who would his apostles be? Moved by the fate of migrants, Swiss director Milo Rau sets off for Matera in southern Italy to follow in the footsteps of Pasolini's Passion. The bubbling Cameroonian activist Yvan Sagnet takes on the role of Christ. His apostles? Migrants, peasants and sex workers. An implacable political film, somewhere between documentary and fiction forms, noticed at the Venice Film Festival.

Available online and on demand between the 5 and 14 March 2021
 

WATCH THE FILM

Our selection of articles to delve deeper into the subject:

• Milo Rau: «Il faut raconter nos tragédies pour espérer les abolir»  - Le Temps, 12 February 2021