{"id":35273,"date":"2022-03-22T16:35:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T15:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.krakowfilmfestival.pl\/?p=35273"},"modified":"2022-04-27T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T09:22:18","slug":"the-great-world-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.krakowfilmfestival.pl\/en\/the-great-world-orchestra\/","title":{"rendered":"The international music documentary competition DocFilmMusic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The international music documentary competition DocFilmMusic at the Krakow Film Festival. The Great World Orchestra<\/p>\n

The first all-female thrash metal band from Lebanon, Ces\u00e1ria \u00c9vora like we have never seen her before, a ten-year-old piano prodigy from Georgia, a story about how <\/b>Fiddler on the Roof<\/i><\/b> was made, and a pandemic opera \u2013 these are just some of the topics examined by films qualified for the prestigious DocFilmMusic documentary competition. Documentary opera, musical, contemplative cinema \u2013 film-and-music documentaries from all over the world \u2013as always \u2013 bring many surprises in both content and form. <\/b><\/p>\n

Going far beyond traditional concert footage, every year DocFilmMusic confirms that this type of documentary cinema offers numerous possibilities <\/em>\u2013 says Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival. \u2013 There’s a variety of musical genres and film forms; protagonists who gained world fame and those we are going to introduce to the festival audience. I’m glad that this year’s line-up includes two Polish productions \u2013 and both make great and skilful use of artistic expression.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kapr Code<\/i><\/b> is an unusual biography of the Czech composer Jan Kapr \u2013 an equally fascinating and controversial figure (awarded by Stalin for his works). Subsequent stages of his life are sung by a choir and illustrated by, among others, unpublished archival footage consisting of audio and video recordings, letters documenting both the serious and more carefree years of one of Czech Republic’s musical pioneers. <\/p>\n

The film Shlomo Bar \u2013 a Musical Documentary<\/i><\/b> looks at one of the most important musicians from Israel. It compiles archival and contemporary concert recordings, guiding us through the life of the charismatic Shlomo Bar, and is both full of ethnic music and personal dramas. Krak\u00f3w audiences know him well, for example, from concerts at the Jewish Culture Festival. <\/p>\n

The protagonist of Atonal Glow<\/i><\/b> is growing into a musical personality. Ten-year-old Tsotne Zedginidze is from Georgia, where he lives with his grandmother \u2013 who simultaneously acts as his guardian, piano teacher, and mentor. The boy not only plays with great talent, but also composes his own works and performs in the country and abroad. The story of the young genius also involves a complicated family situation. <\/p>\n

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30 Years of Excuses, dir. Armand Urbaniak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Zbigniew Seifert. Interrupted Journey, dir. Robert Kaczmarek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Atonal Glow, dir. Alexander Koridze<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Near and Dear, dir. Mar\u00eda Alvarez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Para\u00edso, dir. Sergio Tr\u00e9faut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Shlomo Bar \u2013 a Musical Documentary, dir. Gilad Inbar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sirens, dir. Rita Baghdadi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Crazy Days \u2013 or Making an Opera in Pandemic Times, dir. Sanne Rovers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n

The film Near and Dear<\/b> also documents the life of piano players. The Cavallini twins form a unique duo who’s famous for their performances together and admired in Argentina and the United States. Currently, the 91-year-old women live in a small apartment in Buenos Aires together with a magnificent piano and impressive porcelain dolls. The tense and cordial relationship of these extraordinary artists unfolds against the backdrop of artifacts from the past.<\/p>\n

It will get extremely loud and dark thanks to Slave to Sirens \u2013 the band shown in the documentary Sirens<\/i><\/b>. It is the first all-female metal band in the Middle East. In conservative Lebanon, the girls aren’t only fighting to be able to perform their repertoire \u2013 widely considered to be satanic \u2013 but are also facing the problem of discrimination against LGBT people and problems within the band.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Para\u00edso<\/i><\/b> is a collective portrait of singing residents of Rio de Janeiro. Seniors meet after sunset in the romantic gardens next to the former presidential palace. Accompanied by various instrument, together they tell musical stories about life and love \u2013 at least until the pandemic brutally destroys their paradise.<\/p>\n

The impact of the pandemic on the music industry is shown in the documentary Crazy Days – or Making an Opera in Pandemic Times<\/i><\/b>, in which the Dutch National Opera tries to stage The Marriage of Figaro<\/i>, while ensuring that all safety rules are observed, which also means that the audience can’t be present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two Polish productions will compete against music documentaries from around the world for the prestigious Golden Heynal during this year’s edition of the Krakow Film Festival: the beautifully filmed 30 Years of <\/i><\/b>Excuses<\/strong> <\/em>by Armand Urbaniak and Robert Kaczmarek’s documentary Zbigniew Seifert. Interrupted Journey<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

30 Years of <\/i><\/b>Excuses<\/em> <\/strong>focuses on Micha\u0142 \u201cGier\u201d Giercuszkiewicz \u2013 an extraordinary hero, D\u017cem’s drummer, and co-author of the cult album Ceg\u0142a<\/i>. Due to his heroin addiction and drug-addled friendship with Ryszard Riedel, he abandons his native Silesia and sets off into the Bieszczady Mountains to live alone on a raft of his own design. We meet him when the legendary label Metal Mind Productions makes him an offer to release an original album. It’s a renewed proposal from 30 years ago! Will Gier use the opportunity to record his magnum opus?<\/p>\n

The title character of the documentary Zbigniew Seifert. Interrupted Journey<\/i><\/b> doesn’t need any introductions among jazz fans. We get to know one of the most brilliant musicians of all time. We follow him from Krak\u00f3w and places related to his adolescence \u2013 his family home, the Academy of Music, Krak\u00f3w’s clubs and basements, through Europe, to the US, where he dies prematurely in 1979 at the age of just 33. The film is filled with Seifert’s sounds, animations resembling those from the 1960s, the memories of his loved ones, as well as those of other outstanding jazz gurus.<\/p>\n

List of films qualified for the DocFilmMusic international competition:<\/b><\/p>\n