The Gesture Between Us (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

The Gesture Between Us draws on 28 years of recordings made by Artur Luanda Ribeiro and Andre Curti, tracing the connection between their theatre practice, travels and life together. Directed by Roberto Bomtempo, this Portuguese-language documentary emerges from an intimate personal archive.

The Gesture Between Us is a documentary built from an unusually extensive personal archive. For 28 years, Artur Luanda Ribeiro and Andre Curti recorded rehearsals, journeys and the daily development of their work in physical theatre.

Directed by Roberto Bomtempo, the film brings that material together to examine how artistic collaboration and personal life have remained closely connected for the pair. Its focus is the archive itself: a record of time spent creating, touring and living alongside one another.

The Gesture Between Us movie details

Story without spoilers

The documentary follows the history of Artur Luanda Ribeiro and Andre Curti, the artistic couple behind the physical theatre company Dos à Deux. Since founding the company, they have kept cameras close as they rehearsed, toured around the world and developed their creative processes.

Rather than presenting a newly staged account, the film draws from this accumulated collection of footage. Across 28 years, the recordings preserve moments connected to both their professional practice and their life away from the stage. The result is a portrait shaped by the relationship between gesture, theatre, memory and shared experience.

What to expect

The Gesture Between Us is a documentary centered on performance-making, archival footage and the personal history of two theatre artists. Its material comes from a long-running record of rehearsals, travel and creative work, giving the film a broad time span rather than focusing on a single event.

The supplied details also identify queer and LGBT elements, along with the significance of gesture and theatre. Viewers can therefore expect an intimate, Portuguese-language documentary concerned with the overlap between artistic partnership and personal life, presented through material gathered over many years.

Cast and creative team

Andre Curti and Artur Luanda Ribeiro appear as themselves. The film is directed by Roberto Bomtempo, who also shares writing credit with Zeca Ferreira. Curti and Ribeiro are identified as the founders of the physical theatre company Dos à Deux, whose work and archive form the documentary’s central subject.

• Andre Curti as Self
• Artur Luanda Ribeiro as Self

Release and production context

The Gesture Between Us is a 2026 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 43 minutes. Its listed release date is October 6, 2026. The film is associated with Brazil, France and Portugal, and its spoken language is Portuguese. Production companies include Matizar Filmes, Movimento Carioca Produções Artísticas and Canal Curta!.

Production companies: Matizar Filmes, Movimento Carioca Produções Artísticas, Canal Curta!

Movies Dock view

With its focus on a long-preserved archive, The Gesture Between Us offers a documentary account of how theatre practice, touring and a shared life can develop together over time. Its strongest point of distinction is the duration and personal nature of the material on which it is based.

Film data:
TMDB