SOLD OUT!

Wednesday 6:00 PM

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

CANADIAN PREMIERE

6:00 PM Cocktail Dinner Reception
8:00 PM Screening
10:00 PM Celebration

TIFF Bell Lightbox
Reitman Square, 350 King Street West

Single tickets: $195
Entertainment Package: $1,950
Artist Sponsorship: $1,950
Friendship Hospitality Package: $1,170

Director: Matthew Akers
Producers: Jeff Dupre, Maro Chermayeff
Distributor: Films We Like
Colour, 105 minutes, English, 2012
Introduced by Ann Webb, Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation
The artist, director and producers will be present

Testing her mental and physical limits with shocking, compelling and sometimes dangerous performances, Marina Abramović has been challenging the way people think about art for nearly 40 years. This documentary looks back on Abramović’s prolific career, and follows her as she prepares herself and a group of artists for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The centrepiece of the show is Abramović’s mesmerizing new performance, The Artist Is Present, involving her constant seated presence in the gallery space for the length of the three-month exhibition, during which she is available for one-on-one silent interaction with members of the public. Countless intimate and individual connections are made between the artist and her scores of participants; through each encounter, as Abramović says, “performance becomes life itself.”

Matthew Akers is an accomplished producer, director, photographer and cinematographer. Recently, he was the series producer and cinematographer on a National Geographic television series about the medical marijuana industry in Colorado. He has worked on several other film series and documentaries including ones for PBS and HBO.

Marina Abramović is represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.