Major Directors On Board For Marina Abramovic To Portray Maria Callas In Operatic Death Scenes

Maria Callas

Marina Abramovic

"Marina Abramovic plans to start filming her Seven Deaths project next summer, 25 years after she first conceived the idea of playing her heroine, the opera singer Maria Callas. In the seven short videos, the artist takes on the role of Callas performing the death scenes of seven operas, including Carmen, Tosca, Madam Butterfly and La Traviata. 'I [have been] obsessed with this unbelievably romantic idea of dying for love,' Abramovic tells us. 'It’s my story, but it’s definitely related to Callas and my complete craziness for her. She died of a broken heart.' The artist, who is in Miami this week, has invited leading film directors to collaborate with her. So far, five have agreed: Roman Polanski, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Marco Brambilla, Giada Colagrande and Yorgos Lanthimos. Abramovic also asked Lars von Trier, but the Danish director declined owing to a scheduling clash. After Miami, all of Abramovic’s other engagements will be put on hold, a spokesman for her studio tells us. The Norwegian writer Petter Skavlan has completed the general script, and the scripts for each opera are due to be finished this month. Abramovic also plans to make a behind-the-scenes documentary featuring interviews with the directors, as well as portraying Callas’s life and her death from a heart attack in 1977." [Source]