Lola Arias Masterclass

Other People’s Lives

Lola Arias is always probing the boundaries between reality and fiction in theatre and documentary film. In this masterclass, she reflects on the formal and political challenges of telling stories based on real events, where the personal and professional lives of the protagonists intertwine with the major social and political issues of our time. Through video excerpts from her most recent works, she will discuss the unique approach of her productions, in which non-professional actors from diverse backgrounds participate, giving voice to those who have personally experienced the themes addressed and have lived through different historical events and experiences.

Lola Arias is a writer and theatre and film director. Born in Argentina, she now lives and works in Berlin as a versatile artist moving deftly between fiction and reality, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds (war veterans, refugees, sex workers, among others) in projects spanning theatre, film, literature, music and visual arts. Since 2001 she has created more than twenty projects, including Los días afuera (2024), Lengua Madre (2022), Futureland (2019), Campo minado (2016) and Mi vida después (2009).

Her first feature, Teatro de guerra (2018), was selected for the Berlinale Forum and then screened to great acclaim at a number of international festivals, including l'Alternativa 2018. Her second feature, Reas (2024), also premiered worldwide at the Berlinale before being presented at l'Alternativa 2024. Her play Los días afuera, which was showcased at this year’s Grec Festival in Barcelona, is the second part of the film and features the same protagonists re-enacting scenes from their life on the outside.

Her films have been screened at international film festivals in cities such as Berlin, San Sebastián and Amsterdam, and her theatre work has been performed at the Festival d’Avignon, the LIFT Festival (London), Under the Radar (New York), Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zurich) and Wiener Festwochen (Vienna), among others. Lola Arias has won several awards, including the prestigious International Ibsen Award in 2024.