He is the most performed contemporary composer in the world. And yet he rarely ventures out in public, prefers to keep quiet about his music, feels at home in the forests of Estonia and generates therewith - perhaps involuntarily - the impression of a recluse, which is attributed to him again and again: Arvo Part. In The Lost Paradise, we follow him over a period of one year in his native Estonia, to Japan and the Vatican. The documentary is framed by the stage production of Adam's Passion, a music theater piece based on the Biblical story of the fall of Adam featuring three key works by Arvo Part. The world-renowned director Robert Wilson has brought this work to the stage in a former submarine factory in Tallinn. Tracing their creative process, the film offers rare and personal insights into the worlds of two of the most fascinating personalities in the international arts and music scene.

The Lost Paradise

Being a female conductor means being an exception, even today. When a woman stands on the podium she is, in most cases, somehow "the first": the first to lead a world-class orchestra, the first to conduct the "Last Night of the Proms" in London, the first to win the German Conductor Prize. For decades, this sensational character has been tradition. At the same time it seems that the world of the maestro is now in a state of upheaval. The film MAESTRAS follows several female conductors like Marin Alsop, Anu Tali, Joana Mallwitz and Barbara Hannigan in order to take a closer look at this phenomenon. At the same time, the life of the former conductor Sylvia Caduff is followed. The Swiss woman was the first female assistant to Leonard Bernstein and directed the Berlin Philharmonic in 1978 when she filled in for Herbert von Karajan. From today's point of view, she made incredible strides in history - not only as a female conductor, but as a conductor at all. How did this relatively new profession develop itself into such a notorious 'mythos'? What roles do 'power' and 'masculinity' play? And do they only have to do with traditional societal norms?

Maestras: The Long Journey of Women to the Podium

Follows Joana Mallwitz during two pivotal years – when she gives birth to her son and her career accelerates significantly. But whether she’s at home, at rehearsals, or in the spotlight, the German conductor strives to prove that perfection at work is just as important as finding the right rhythm in life.