Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories is a labyrinthine narrative in which notables such as Peter Sellars, Emio Greco, Simon Halsey and painter Rinke Nijburg explain their special relationship with Bach’s St Matthew Passion to Ramón Gieling (Johan Cruijff: en un momento dado). They speak against the backdrop of a church which has fallen into disrepair, while a choir of homeless people and Pieter Jan Leusink’s Bach Choir & Orchestra rehearse the Passion.  Leusink isn't just the conductor, he is one of the main characters himself, with a painful past in which this musical piece has played a dominant role. Stories from the others alternate seamlessly with this. We learn how the St Matthew Passion played a decisive role in the relations between men and women, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and their unborn children, and finally that in spite of our differences we all find a common denominator in the secret of Bach's music.

Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

On a Sunday afternoon, a man is asked to come to the police station to see if he can be of any help in the investigation of the rape and murder of two women.

Fatum: Room 216

Twenty homeless people, one opera. An Amsterdam based homeless choir is rehearsing an opera written for them. Who is setting the rules?

The Disciples: A Street Opera

On All Saints’ Day, the Spanish pay tribute to their dead: a day of reverence and remembrance. Nevertheless, beneath the serene surface lie unhealed grief, thundering silence and ever-burning political conflicts. In the southern Spanish village of Frigiliana, time has not healed the wounds from the Franco era. Even now the murder of a villager in 1952 divides the community.

The Death of Antonio Sanchez Lomas

Chueca in central Madrid has been an oasis of freedom for the LGTBQIA+ community since the 1990s. But recently, due to the changing political climate of hate speech by politicians, the neighborhood has been under a magnifying glass.