32nd Kalamata International Dance Festival-BULL’S HEART/Eva Stefani

The documentary Bull’s Heart was created on the occasion of Dimitris Papaioannou’s performance Transverse Orientation, produced by Onassis Culture. Director Eva Stefani follows the preparation and tour of the acclaimed Greek creator’s work across European stages, observing Dimitris Papaioannou and his collaborators at close range as they strive to give form and life to the piece.

For two years, her camera captured scenes from rehearsals at Onassis Stegi during the pandemic, as well as performances in Paris, London, Vilnius, and other international destinations, all the way to the final performance in San Francisco. The central question running through the documentary is: “Why do we do what we do?”, highlighting art both as a means of resistance to the futility of things, and as a way of giving meaning to our very life.

Bull’s Heart explores the dynamic generated by a work of art, revealing the moments of anxiety and uncertainty, but also absolute trust that define the world of rehearsals; the hope that persists in times of crisis; and loss transformed into creation. Yet the film is not merely a documentary about a performance or an artist, but a study of the nature of creation itself. As Dimitris Papaioannou himself says in one scene, “the joy of art is that it gives you the sense that there is something beyond the life you are living.”

The film had its world premiere at the 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in March 2026.