Greater Circulation (2005)

Tethered to the netherworld of ghosts, muses, and dreams, a poet transforms his lament over the tragic death and loss of his friend and fellow artist into an epic work of literature. In 1908 Rainer Maria Rilke wrote his "Requiem For a Friend" over two dream-filled nights at the Hotel Biron in Paris. A hundred years later an experimental theatre group in Berkeley California prepares to stage his "Requiem" as an avante garde performance ritual. Time shifts to and fro as impressions of the contemporary era begin haunting Rilke's night dreams and consequently, inspiring the creative processes of writing his tribute to artist Paula Modersohn-Becker, who unexpectedly died eighteen days after birthing her first child. Part bio-pic and narrative fiction, "The Greater Circulation" is a cinematic treatment of Rilke's powerful prose addressing the central drama of all women who feel torn between sacrificing their lives to their Art or to Motherhood.