Australian Premiere: Reimagining ‘Carmen’ Through the Lens of Cinema
Posted on: Mon 24 Oct 2022
From Mérimée’s novella, famous poems and Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera, Carmen, one of history’s most famous love stories and operas, encapsulates the dramatic tensions of possession and jealousy.
A newly contemporised version, adapting Carmen to cinema is now set for its Australian premiere screening as part of the Adelaide Film Festival, directed by renowned choreographer and former New York City Ballet principal soloist, Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan).
The work, which marks Benjamin’s feature film directorial debut, completely reimagines the traditional, reframing the lens on tragic love, passion, freedom and fragments of dreamscape through music, movement and dance.
Along with directing, Benjamin both choreographed and co-wrote the script which saw the setting transposed to the Mexican border and Los Angeles, filmed in various locations across Australia in late 2020.
Benjamin spoke with Festival City’s Emma Wotzke to share more on navigating and directing his first feature film, some of the creative focal points and what it is about Carmen that has continued to resonate.
Produced by Emma Wotzke
Image by Goalpost Pictures, supplied by Against the Grain
