AI WEIWEI'S TURANDOT

Italy, USA 2025 - Director: Maxim Derevianko - Original language: English, Italian - Subtitles: English - Length: 78 min.

In his early 20s, Ai Weiwei was once an extra in Turandot in New York - 35 years later, he was invited by the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma to direct the play himself. Puccini's opera serves the artist as a mirror of his own background and history. Known for his politically charged installations and his tireless criticism of authorities, Ai Weiwei brings his perspective to the world of opera. Corona crisis, war in Ukraine, protests in Hong Kong - in his radical production, he deconstructs the narrative, breaks with conventions and uses the stage as a platform for social discourse. Derevianko accompanies Ai Weiwei and the ensemble in the creation of a bombastic reinterpretation of a classic. Helga-Mari Steininger