FITS 2022: SIX MORE SHINING STARS ON THE WALK OF FAME

The Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS) is honoured to announce the six exceptional artists whose names join the Walk of Fame this year: Sasha Waltz, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Götz Teutsch, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Claus Peymann and Ion Caramitru.
 

Having reached its 29th edition, FITS takes place this year between June 24 and July 3, hosts 575 events, with 3300 guests who will delight the public in 70 performance venues. This year's theme is BEAUTY, and the program and tickets can be found on the website: www.sibfest.ro 
 
The Walk of Fame is a special project by means of which the names and memory of some of the world's most important creators permanently join the city of Sibiu, in a valuable "Walk of Fame".
 
 
“It is a sign of great appreciation for the community that these exceptional artists, respected worldwide, great creators, have a concrete, tangible imprint on our city. The festival only takes place for ten days every year, but the echoes of this miracle continue in the form of unforgettable memories on the Walk of Fame, where millions of steps are accompanied by the endless BEAUTY that these people brought to the world" - Constantin Chiriac, President of FITS and Director General of TNRS.
 
***

"Dance is a universal language, the messenger of peace in the world, of equality, tolerance and compassion"– Sasha Waltz
 
One of the most respected choreographers of the moment, dancer, director and leader of prestigious cultural institutions, Sasha Waltz studied in Amsterdam and New York. For her special merits, she received the German Federal Cross of Merit, being elected, in 2013, a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
In 1993, together with Jochen Sandig, she created the dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests. Her notable performances also include Sacre (2013), based on Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Kreatur (2017), created in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective and costume designer Iris van Herpen, and Exodus (2018). Sasha Waltz is currently leading the Berlin State Ballet together with Johannes Öhman.



Krzysztof Warlikowski was born in Poland and studied at the Sorbonne where one of his teachers was Krystian Lupa, another great artist whose name can be found on the Sibiu Walk of Fame.


He is known for his non-conformist style of staging both classical and contemporary performances, and since 2008 he has been the artistic director of the Nowy Teatr in Warsaw, where he has directed numerous shows.
 
Warlikowski has also staged two shows for the Odéon Theater in Paris and directs in major European opera houses including La Monnaie in Brussels, Opera National in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Royal Opera House in London, to which one can add the Festival d'Aix en Provence, the Rurhtriennale and the Salzburg Festival.
 
 
Krzysztof Warlikowski has won numerous awards, including two Awards of the Union of Theater Critics of France, the Meyerhold Award in Moscow, New York's Village Voice's Obie Award and the "Golden Mask" for the best foreign play presented in Russia. In 2013 he received the French distinction of Commander of Arts and Letters and in 2021, he received the Golden Lion for his entire activity, at the Venice Biennale.

Götz Teutsch is a famous cellist who was born in Sibiu, in 1941, and studied at the Bucharest Conservatory, where he had Dimitrie Dinicu and Radu Aldulescu as teachers, and then studied with Enrico Mainardi and Karl Richter.
Main cellist at the Bucharest Radio Symphony Orchestra and, from 1976, at the Berliner Philharmoniker, where he also performs as a soloist under the baton of such conductors as: Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle.
He is one of the founding members of the ensemble The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, together with whom he performs concerts all over the world.
 
Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt (b. 1960, Lyon) is a Franco-Belgian playwright, prose writer, novelist, screenwriter and director. His books are translated into 48 languages ​​and his plays are staged in over 50 countries.
He holds a doctorate in philosophy at the Sorbonne, signs the French translation of opera librettos, flirts with the art of the comic strip, and sometimes goes on stage to interpret his own texts or to accompany a pianist or a soprano.


His first play, La Nuit de Valognes, appeared in 1991 and enjoyed enormous success. His next plays, performed by famous actors such as Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Francis Huster, Jacques Weber and Charlotte Rampling, share the same success. In 2001, he received the Grand Prix of the French Academy for his dramatic work.
 
In 2012, he joined the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium, and in 2016 he was unanimously elected by his colleagues as a member of the Goncourt jury.

Claus Peymann (b. 1937, Bremen) is a theatre director.
Between 1966 and 1969 he managed the Theater am Turm (TAT) in Frankfurt, and in 1970, together with Peter Stein and others, he founded the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer in Berlin. He worked as a director for the Schauspielhaus Bochum, and in 1986 he settled in Vienna and became director of the Burgtheater, where he spent 13 years, during which he fought for the affirmation of contemporary Austrian drama.
 
 In 1996 he settled in Berlin, where he worked as artistic director of the Berliner Ensemble until 2017. During all this time he collaborated with great directors of the contemporary stage, such as Peter Zadek, Peter Stein, Robert Wilson and George Tabori. Claus Peymann directed numerous shows based on plays from the classical, as well as from the contemporary repertoire. He also staged almost all the plays signed by Thomas Bernhard.
 
Ion Caramitru was one of the most important and appreciated theatre and film actors in Romania. He was born in Bucharest, in 1942, and in 1964 he obtained a degree in Acting from the "I.L. Caragiale" Institute of Theatre and Cinematographic Art and, in 1975, a Master's degree in Theatre Directing from the same institution.
He collaborated with the most important names of Romanian film and theatre, being acclaimed, in particular, for his exceptional roles in productions based on Shakespeare's plays. Between 1976 and 1980, he was a Professor of acting at the Academy of Theatre and Film in Bucharest. Between 1990 and 1993 he was the General Director of the Bulandra Theatre in Bucharest. Also in 1990, he was elected President of UNITER, and from 2005 to 2021 he worked as General Director of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre of Bucharest. Between 1996 and 2000, Ion Caramitru was appointed Minister of Culture.
Ion Caramitru passed away on September 5, 2021.