“Vali’s dogs, Vali’s trees, Vali’s donkey, the birds, the flowers, the caves, the spiders of Vali. We have seen for the first time the old skeleton of nature.”
                Bernardo Bertolucci, film-maker, Last Tango in Paris, Stealing Beauty.
 
 
The Tightrope Dancer: Synopsis
An engrossing documentary on artist and adventurer Vali Myers; the legendary flame-haired dancing Bohemian of post-war Paris; the Free Spirit of Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending and the creator of magical paintings.
 
Shot on location in her wild remote valley in Salerno, and Naples where she dances with Vesuvian gypsies, Vali then resumes her annual sojurn to New York’s Chelsea Hotel where she continues to take the city by storm.
 
Featuring appearances by movie star Peter Weller (Robocop) musicians Deborah Harry (Blondie), Chris Stein and George Plimpton.
 
The Painted Lady: Synopsis
In this delightful documentary, made as a sequel to the festival hit The Tightrope Dancer, director Ruth Cullen captures Australian artist and adventurer Vali Myers at her studio in the heart of Melbourne.

With the Romany poet Lee Fuhler, and the Klezmer musical group Vardos, whose wild music from Eastern Europe provides an exuberant backdrop to the “at-home”action. Only this home and its inhabitants are unlike any that you’ve seen before.
 
Produced and Directed by Ruth Cullen