Cycle: Sound of Music

The “Sound of Music” cycle has been an integral part of the Krakow Film Festival for some years now, showing documentary films about music, musicians’ biographies, history of bands and complex musical genres.

This year "The Sound of Music" will be screened both indoors and under the clear blue sky. This year the Krakow Film Festival are turning back the clock, harking back to joyful rock scene of London in the 70s and 80s, celebrating the emergence of The Police career and the energetic, crowd-pleasing performances of The Klezmatics, with to the nostalgic journey to Odessa and a walk along Norwegian streets, where former drug addicts are participating in an innovative music project recording their experiences; and by turn on to the downfall of Yugoslavia, where imagination of the nations youth has been captured by the band Bijelo Dugme and their front man Goran Bregovic.

The series of documentaries is characterised by music diversity and range, but in all of them the music plays the main role.

This year we have the use of an open air cinema, situated in the cinema Kino Pod Wawelem at Ulica Powisle 11. It is a very attractive location near Centrum Obslugi Ruchu Turystycznego (The Touristic Service Centre). The big screen is not the only attraction, as we are right in the shadow of  the monumental Wawel Hill.

"The Sound of Music" includes films such as:

"The Klezmatics: on Holy Ground", dir. Erik Greenberg, Anjou, USA 2010, 105′ 
The Klezmatics is a "too-big-for-small-concert-halls" New York based band merging Klezmatic music with jazz, gospel and rock.  The Grammy Award winners visited Poland during their recent worldwide tour. Their energetic concerts inspire crowds to dance, most recently in Krakow on Ulica Szeroka during the Festival of Jewish Culture. This documentary portrays members of of the group, who are trying to balance their passion for music with a family life and other interests.

Screenings:
24.05/22.00/ Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium
26.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Wawelem

"Bijelo Dugme – White Button", dir. Igor Stoimenov, Serbia 2010, 85′
In Yugoslavia in the mid-70s rock’n’roll exploded with enormous power, first and foremost with by Bijelo Dugme  and their front man Goran Bregovic.  They recorded their first album in the West, and they startled Yugoslavia with their eccentric clothes and scandalous behaviour, singing composing in Serbian, Bosnian and Albanian. The musicians – more popular than president Tito, cherished by everyone from teenagers to their grandmothers – have torn up the consciousness of a socialistic republic, which has just begun to rock in its foundations.

Screenings:
24.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium
26.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Wawelem

"Rock ‘n’ Roll… Of Corse!", dir. Lionel Guedj and Stephane Bebert, France 2010, 90′
A pirate from Corsica,  a French guitarist of Algerian origin, and a member of The Police, Henry Padovani is the protagonist and a narrator of the film. He leads the viewer through meandering stories of rock’n’roll of the 70s and 80s, and his famous friends – Sting and Kim Wilde – guide us through the life of a man who they respect for his devotion and loyalty, and all of this comes with  the musical accompaniment of The Clash, The Who, The Pretenders and The Police.

Screenings:
24.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Wawelem
26.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium

 

"Songs from the Street", dir. Mali Finborud Noren, Norway 2010, 58′ 
Kent, Clas and Charlie live on the street and each day they live with the  effects of their drug addiction and the indifference of passers-by. From the initiative of The Oslo Magazine, which was created with the idea of helping drug addicts, they are taking part in the music project called The Street Records. They perform songs which are key to understanding their experiences, and which have been released as a commercially available record. This engaging documetary from Mali Finborud Noren follows the chances of this innovative project.

Screenings (including “From the Heart of Odessa”):
25.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Wawelem
27.05/ 22.00/ Kino Baranami Cinema/ The Red Auditorium

 

"From the Heart of Odessa", dir. Andre Schreuders, Netherlands/ Ukraine 2007, 60′ 
Alec Kopyt, a musician from Amsterdam, travels to Odessa to sing at Moldawianka – the former Jewish quarter. Alec forms a band to play in a newly open restaurant owned by an old friend. We follow him on his travels around Odessa visiting the places he left 15 years ago, and as we do his memories come to life – and that is the power of this highly personal film.

Screenings (including “Songs from the Street”):
25.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Wawelem
27.05/ 22.00/ Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium

“The Other Europeans”, dir. Yvonne Andrä, Wolfgang Andrä, Germany 2010, 122’
Chişinău, Budapest, Jerusalem, Kraków and Austin are the places visited by a group of Jewish and Roma musicians who, as part of the musical project The Other Europeans, try to find the erstwhile symbiosis between the cultures of their nations. For them, making music together is a return to the past, brutally cut short by World War II. The nostalgic rhythms of Eastern Europe, well-known to Krakow’s audience from the Jewish Culture Festival, resound through the film.

Screenings:
23.05. / 22.00 / Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium
28.05. / 22.00 / Kino Pod Wawelem 

“Eastern Wind: the Film”, dir. György Szomjas, Hungary 2010, 80’
Miqueu is a musician. He lives in Provence with his wife and sons. He is fascinated by his region’s music tradition as well as the music of Hungary, where he comes from. When he is invited to play a concert together with Hungarian musicians, Miqueu goes to Budapest to form a band. It is an excellent opportunity for him to meet old friends after many years. Their conversations, reminiscences and rehearsals make a prelude to the final concert that will include songs from Provence, France and Hungary.

Sceenings:
25.05. / 22.00 / Kino Pod Baranami / The Red Auditorium
27.05. / 22.00 / Kino Pod Wawelem