BoCA Biennale presents ‘The New Gospel’, by Milo Rau, on display tomorrow and after tomorrow.
BoCA Biennale is sponsored by the Institut Français Portugal’s Mais França Program, with WAAU as a partner.
Milo Rau, born in 1977, is a renowned director, writer, and filmmaker who has been the artistic director of NTGent since 2018. He studied sociology, German and Romance languages, and literature in Paris, Berlin, and Zurich. Rau has published over 50 plays, films, books, and actions since 2002 and has performed at major international festivals.
In 2019, Milo Rau directed a documentary film, “The New Gospel,” which focuses on the crucifixion of Jesus in Matera, Italy. The film, which was crowned Best Documentary at the Swiss Film Festival, follows Cameroonian political activist Yvan Sagnet as Jesus, a champion for workers trapped in a mafia-controlled agricultural network. The film encapsulates Sagnet’s evolution into the first black Jesus in European cinematic history, rallying workers around Matera in a protest called the “Revolt of Dignity.” The film aims to depict the realities of the world and instigate change through the portrayals of activists and performers.
BoCA, a Lisbon-based non-profit organization, promotes contemporary creation through a transdisciplinary approach. It develops a diverse cultural ecosystem through commissioning and producing artistic projects, programming biennials, long-term projects, education programs, and national and international diffusion.
Sources: Boca Bienal and Wiener Festwochen.