Directed with the students of the Master cinema ECAL x HEAD, Backstage Romeo and Juliet is an immersion in the backstage of a ballet at the Grand Theater of Geneva during a performance.
Documentary
Synopsis
The show behind the show: Backstage Romeo and Juliet is an immersion in the backstage of a ballet at the Grand Theater of Geneva for the duration of a performance. A space where dancers, technicians and musicians evolve, where the extreme tension of the performance and the relaxed expectation, the physical excellence and the daily work are mixed.
The interest is not to film the artistic process and the elaboration of a show, but rather the functioning of the "machinery" behind the stage, before, during and after the performance. To capture the gestures and actions of the actors, dancers and technicians, make-up artists, props makers, set designers, lighting directors... everything that is organized around the stage. The interest of the proposed exercise is to capture the interactions between people, the expectation, the tension, the signs of coordination.
BA PHOTOGRAPHY
with Rineke Dijkstra
What is good portrait? What technique do you choose? What kind of light do you use? Daylight or flash? What location or backdrop do you choose for? How do you choose your subject? How do you approach someone you don’t know? In this workshop, the students have explored what makes a good portrait and which tools you can use to create one.
BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Arnaud Wenger
Our perception of climate change depends on what we read. How You Read, How You Know is an investigation into the invisible architecture of information. When a wildfire burns, the facts are the same: the hectares, the wind, the displaced lives. But the story told about it never quite is. It shifts depending on who writes, from where, and for whom. This project analyzes the media coverage of two wildfires in 2025: the Los Angeles wildfires in January, and the Corbières wildfires, in the south of France, in August.
BA FILM STUDIES
with Marie-Eve Hildbrand
The 2026 documentary film workshop for 1st year students was lead by swiss director Marie-Eve Hildbrand.
BA GRAPHIC DESIGN
by Joanna Metz
Galerie Nationale offers a glimpse of the young photographic scene in Dakar. In collaboration with a team of Senegalese photographers, the artist organised the exhibition Li Nu Boole, What connects us, which culminated in an opening in May, 2026 at the National Gallery in Dakar. This book documents the preparation of the event, the environment, the artists and their artworks, as well as the spectators taking part as actors during the opening. Through conversations and texts, the artists share their journeys, their visions of what connects us, as well as their reactions to the project. Throughout this project, the artist took on the roles of artistic director, curator, and graphic designer, while living an artistic and human experience in the country of her childhood.
BA FILM STUDIES
with Verena Paravel
The 2026 documentary film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by french director and visual anthropologist Verena Paravel.