Shadow

BACK TO BACK PICTURES

- A film

Screenplay by Michael Chan, Mark Deans, Bruce Gladwin, Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Sonia Teuben
Directed by Bruce Gladwin
Based on the Back to Back Theatre stage production The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunter Becomes

Activists Simon, Scott and Sarah hold a public meeting to discuss the future impacts of artificial intelligence. The plan is to get organized and save the world. But things get complicated when fears and desires step in.

Shadow is the debut film by the internationally acclaimed Back to Back Theatre. Based on the Australian company’s 2019 play The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunter Becomes, the film is a bold statement and a darkly humorous meditation on individual and collective responsibility.

With its core ensemble consisting of actors with disabilities, Back to Back Theatre questions the assumptions of what is possible in theatre – and the assumptions we hold about ourselves and others.

In 2020 Back to Back Theatre was unable to tour internationally due to the coronavirus outbreak. After the restrictions were removed, there was a rare positive outcome of the pandemic that the group could now focus on: the making of Shadow.

Back to Back Theatre is the winner of the 2022 International Ibsen Award. Shadow won the 2022 SXSW Film Festival Audience Award. The film also made the official selection in Edinburgh, Rotterdam and Sydney, among other film festivals last year.

You're welcome to join us for the panel discussion after the screening. The panel discussion will be held mainly in Finnish.

Thursday 10 August
Moderator: Hilkka-Liisa Iivanainen, member of Tampere Theatre Festival's artistic team
Panelists: Riikka Papunen, actor and researcher & Mikaela Hasán, artistic director, DuvTeatern

Friday 11 August
Moderator: Hilkka-Liisa Iivanainen, member of Tampere Theatre Festival's artistic team
Panelist: Petri Mäkipää, actor, theatre teacher and special needs teacher

Read more about the story of producing Shadow: Shadow tells a story about humanity, AI and a town hall meeting gone wrong (18.7.)