BFI London Film Festival: Mr. Gaga

BFI London Film Festival: 238 films. From 71 countries. 16 cinemas. 12 days. One Festival.

Prolific award-winning documentarian Tomer Heymann (Paper Dolls) spent eight years painstakingly filming prominent Israeli dancer and choreographer Ohad Naharin. Swirling between Naharin’s early memories of dancing, his first steps on the international dancing scene with Martha Graham and Maurice Béjart, and his move towards choreography culminating in his appointment as the artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Batcheva dance company, Heymann crafts a visceral portrait of the man who moves like a cat.

Illustrated by moving archive footage of a young Naharin dancing with his family, breathtaking excerpts of him on stage and offbeat moments with his dancers during rehearsals, Naharin’s physicality and charisma are visually addictive. Meeting him at a critical turning point in his personal life, this spirited and insightful documentary will introduce you to a man with great artistic integrity and an extraordinary vision. And you’re guaranteed to leave the cinema skipping.

(Notes by Laure Bonville)

Mr. Gaga, dir. Tomer Heymann, Israel, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands 2015, 90 mins.