The Match Factory nabs Cate Blanchett’s Sundance Film “Manifesto”

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Match Factory has picked up international rights to Julian Rosefeldt’s “Manifesto”, which features Cate Blanchett, and screens in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival.

“Manifesto” is the first feature-length film by the artist and filmmaker Rosefeldt, who is known for his elaborate film installations. He has adapted his multi-screen artwork of 13 films into one feature film.

The film combines artist manifestos from the early 20th to the start of the 21st century, including texts from Futurists and Dadaists to Pop Art and Fluxus, and from filmmakers like Lars von Trier and Jim Jarmusch. They are re-interpreted as “performative monologues” by Blanchett, who embodies 13 different roles, among them a choreographer, an elementary school teacher, a funeral speaker, a factory worker, a stockbroker, and a homeless person.

“The film reveals both the performative component and the political significance of these declarations, often written in youthful rage as a living call to action,” according to a statement. “[It asks whether] those passionate statements can actually be universally applicable in our contemporary society, and questions the role of the artist today.”

“I was blown away by the richness of images that Julian found for the different radical manifestos and the passionate performance of Cate Blanchett,” said Michael Weber, managing director of The Match Factory.

“Manifesto” is written, directed and produced by Rosefeldt, whose short films include “Lonely Planet” (2006) and “Asylum” (2001/2002).

As previously announced, The Match Factory has also acquired Tarik Saleh’s political thriller “The Nile Hilton Incident,” which will compete in the World Cinema Dramatic Section at Sundance.