SOUND ON SCREEN Music Film Festival 2023

ABOUT

The SOUND ON SCREEN film festival celebrates one of humanity’s most essential creations: 

M U S I C

The 13^th SOUND ON SCREEN MUSIC FILM FESTIVAL will stream across South Africa via Quicket, 31 March - 9 April, with 53 amazing new movies & documentaries from around the world, across all genres : https://qkt.io/BzPX24 - From Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, Metal & House, to Classical, Jazz, Reggae, Punk, Improvisation & more, it's all here!

See all movie line-up info below, and check out the full festival trailer here:

Unfortunately this year we were unable to secure cinema shows in Cape Town for some of the movies, BUT the streaming chapter includes the entire program with 50+ movies, documentaries and short films, accessible across ALL of South Africa! (streaming right here at Quicket)

HOWEVER! We have one special FREE pre-release cinema screening for the new movie SPINNING GOLD, to close the event in Cape Town on 9 April!

SPINNING GOLD is the true story of Neil Bogart, the man behind Casablanca Records, which helped catapult acts like KISS, DONNA SUMMER, George Clinton's PARLIAMENT, GLADYS KNIGHT, BILL WITHERS, the VILLAGE PEOPLE and THE ISLEY BROTHERS to stardom - and of course all the 1970s madness that went along with it.

For details on how to get tickets for April 9th, check out this trailer and its YouTube description:

The SOUND ON SCREEN 2023 Streaming Movie Line-Up :

Since 2010 Flamedrop Productions have curated an amazing new eclectic array of music-related movies, documentaries, short films and subjects linked to music & sound in all of its forms, covering the globe from Africa to Europe, Asia to North America, the UK to South America, the Middle East, Ukraine, Russia, and everywhere in between.

From subdued, beautiful, lyrical musical sentiments all the way through to eruptions of audio genius, innovation, intensity, history and madness, and everything in between, expect Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, Afro House, Classical, Metal, Punk, Improvisation, Experimental, Reggae, Electronic, Folk, Garage, Jazz, Cajun, World Music, Percussion, Avant-Garde, Dance & Movement, even something for vinyl and horror fans.

The exciting movies traverse moods across the spectrum, all illustrating the power of music: 

entertaining, serious, humorous, enlightening, uplifting, heart-breaking, inspiring, hopeful, informative, social commentary, educational, touching on the pandemic and more.

Hit the TICKETS button to access all the movie options, including an amazing discounted full festival pass which gives the viewer access to all movies at a substantial reduction >

R 25: Single Movie Pass

R 175: Full Festival Pass

NB! While most content is family friendly, horror elements in Terminatryx - "Suiker" and Eat The Rich is for 16 and older , as well as news footage in Rhythms Of Migration and an indigenous Australian hunting scenario in Gravel Road, which may upset sensitive viewers.

Connect with our social media and other on-line locations for more details and updates :

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoundOnScreenFilmFest

Instagram: www.instagram.com/terminatryx

YouTube: www.youtube.com/FlamedropProductions

Festival Website: www.flamedrop.com/sos

Twitter: www.twitter.com/terminatryx

Quicket: www.quicket.co.za/organisers/572-sound-on-screen-music-film-festival

THE MOVIES :

THE VENTURES: Stars on Guitars (USA)

This documentary is FREE to view!

A documentary film on the #1 instrumental rock group in the world, The Ventures. The story of their rise to fame in the 1960s right up to now, as they celebrate their 60th anniversary of playing the best guitar-rock of all time (including classics like Hawaii Five-0)

Watch this documentary now, for free:

DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON FRIDAY NIGHT (USA)

From Executive Producer Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave) - meet former gravedigger and doorman Ike Reilly. At 40 years old he landed a major label recording contract and in true rock & roll fashion he bought his family a dream home. He took his band out on the road where they became what The New York Times called “one of the best live bands in America.” Despite 9 albums, a cult following and immense critical acclaim Reilly has failed to achieve commercial success. Academy Award winning director James Marsh says, “Ike’s stuff sounds like it should be enormously successful and it just isn’t and I have no idea why.” Exploring Ike’s career, the film culls over 40 years of footage masterfully weaving in songs that reveal a complicated and formidable artist with an incredibly charismatic family. Struggling with booze and in the face of foreclosure, Ike finds redemption in music, art & family as his 3 sons begin performing with his band.

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StratocastAir (Switzerland)

StratocastAir will be the opener for DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON FRIDAY NIGHT

StratocastAir is the story of a man, who dares to rock his passion...

and thereby unleashes something unexpected - buying an air guitar! 

MUSIC POWER: The Story of Capital Radio 604 (USA / South Africa)

During the South African Nationalist Apartheid regime where the government controlled all media, censored news, and banned music, a "pirate" radio station was created to inform the public by playing great music to attract listeners, and then reporting truthful and neutral news. This started a movement against the Nationalist government. 

ABOVE AND BEYOND - The Global Rise of Afro House (Germany)

They only need three things to make a club hit: talent, headphones and a laptop. All across Africa, accomplished DJs are taking the continent by storm and inspiring international artists to venture into the world of Afro House. DJ collective and music label RISE invites the world’s finest Afro House DJs to the heart of Berlin’s electronic dance music scene - allowing House music to go back to its Black roots.  From South Africa to Germany, from Angola to Portugal, from Kenya to the USA and beyond: the documentary “Above and Beyond” showcases key players of the Afro House music scene and looks at the many challenges left ahead on its way to the world stage.  Featuring: Osunlade, Louie and Anané Vega, Shimza, Da Capo, Thandi Draai, DESIREE (RSA), Hyenah, JAMIIE, Amémé, Walter Griot, Midi Minds Kenya, DJ Paulo Alves, Wilson Kentura and Henrik Schwarz

GOT TO BE FREE (Ukraine)

This is a true, though not documentary, musical story about modern Ukrainians during the events of the Revolution of Dignity that took place in Kyiv in 2014. The musical is based on the story of rock musician Ivan and activist Malanka. According to the script, they met during the Maidan and fell in love with each other. Together, they will spend the winter of 2013 with snowballs and shared food, constructing the barricades and opposing aggressive “titushki”. Throughout the entire musical, the couple fights for their own happiness and for dignity of their country. 

500 DAYS OF SILENCE (USA)

"You never realize how music affects you... until you're told to sit still." Tempe, Arizona based rock trio The Black Moods breaks through Billboard Top 20 just as the pandemic shutters the music industry. After years of work on the road to 'make it' the musicians return home to an uncertain future as all live entertainment is canceled. Established artists interviewed in this documentary include plus international artists such as Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Steel Panther, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield, Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms and The Refreshments and rock radio show host Eddie Trunk.This story focuses on the bond and struggles of artists working together as a band to continue to pursue their passion and work as they rely on each other to get through difficult times. With live music venues shuttered, how do artists and entertainers keep going when their livelihood has been suddenly and indefinitely put on hold. 500 Days of Silence is a look at the journey taken by musicians playing small clubs to large arenas during this unprecedented time in history in a story of perseverance, personal creativity and inspiration. Find out how the bond of this "band of brothers" faces the loss of their livelihood to keep their dreams alive together. Filmed on location over two years during the pandemic with Arizona's The Black Moods as they navigate the highs and lows of adapting to the new normal in Tempe, Arizona, Mexico, Missouri, South Dakota, Florida, and Southern California. 

SHASH INSIDE (Austria)

SHASH INSIDE's story spans from an artist's life with all its ups and downs, its beginning to the memory of it. Based on the music of the protagonists Abby Lee Tee and GC, episodes were developed and then the artists used them as inspiration for remixing the original tracks. This not only resulted in a documentation of the artists' work, but also new music and a soundtrack. This soundtrack also works without visualization like a 60-minute DJ mix (director Dieter Strauch has been a DJ since 1992, the protagonists since the late 1990s). In the episodes, topics such as dealing with politics, the continuous work in an artist's precarious circumstances, the influence and exchange with other artists, a search for clues and the attempt at commercial success are processed in a circular dramaturgy. The film borrows from European cinema as well as from Hollywood cinema, packing the documentation into an entertaining genre mix of adventure film, drama and thriller. Director D. Strauch forms this mix into a pure music film with sound design by SHASH, which proves how much the audience is guided by music and sound - only two sentences are spoken.

THE ART OF TEACHING MUSIC

will include CHAMELEONS and UNSEEN :

CHAMELEONS (Austria)

You have to empathize with every given situation and adapt to it: creative, communicative and flexible - like a chameleon.  The documentary focuses on the diverse work of instrumental and singing teachers in the field of tension between education and being an artist, between elementary music teaching and musical excellence. How and where do the instrumental and vocal teachers actually work? What are the challenges you face? In addition, the film illuminates the many possible approaches to making music, offers a look behind the scenes of musical excellence, with a contribution to diversity, inclusion and identity in instrumental and vocal pedagogy.  “Chameleons”: a film about the power of music, about the value of educational work, and at the same time a plea for freedom in artistic expression that encourages you to explore your own musicality.

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UNSEEN (Russian Federation)

A visually impaired violinist, a frustrated pianist, an aspiring vocalist, and a highly patriotic accordionist are studying at Novosibirsk State Conservatory. This music documentary reveals all their dreams and fears.

LE MALI 70 (Germany / Mali)

Popular music has its roots in West Africa, and especially in Mali. In Berlin, a bigband discovers old vinyls from the Malian Bigband era, music which embodied the hope for Malian independence before a coup brought an end to the big band scene. Inspired by these songs, the Berliners travel to Mali to find the heroes of their vinyl-collection. There they research the origins of the songs, marvel at old archive footage and play jam-sessions with forgotten Malian stars, leading often to heated arguments over the correct beats, and record an album in Salif Keita's studio in Bamako

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TIMBILA (Mozambique)

This will be the opener for LE MALI 70

Nowadays there are young individual Timbila players who integrate the Timbila into popular music styles, creating a fusion between traditional and contemporary instruments. On the one hand, this arouses curiosity about the origin and history of the instrument, on the other, it raises the question of where the original practice of timbila went and whether traditional timbila groups still exist today. Deep in the district of Zavala there are still masters with their orchestras who pass the art of making, playing and dancing Timbila from generation to generation, who practice this art according to rules that must be strictly followed, to continue with their tradition. Today's orchestras are challenged by a lack of resources, they hardly earn any money, which makes young people move to cities in search of work, but still, some people have the strong will and the necessary courage to continue in the orchestras of Timbila and preserve this culture for the future.

THE DOGMATICS : A Dogumentary (USA)

The Dogmatics might very well be the most emblematic Boston band of this half-century, that too-few people know about. This outlier status has more to do with the untimely death of their bandmate than with their catalog of kick-ass garage rock.  The Dogmatics were established in 1981. They gained notoriety with a loyal following in the Boston music scene, and beyond. The quartet was no different than any other talentless, self-deprecating, beer-swilling, girl-chasing lunkheads with guitars. It wasn’t about money. Catching a girl’s eye, a free round of drinks, or simply completing a song in unison were their rewards.  Fans and fellow bands in Massachusetts look fondly on the decades of positive ripple effects their presence (still to this day) has on the local music scene.  This documentary is a four year effort by family and friends, crafted as a tribute to the Dogmatics’ late co-founder and bassist Paul O’Halloran. See how the band came into being in the early 1980s, rising out of a pocket of musical talent in the South Shore area near Boston.  At its core, this is a story of brothers – by both blood and bond. Not only that, but a rock and roll quartet that included identical twins with a common passion for music and its rich history.

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STONED TO THE BONE (USA)

STONED TO THE BONE will be the opener for THE DOGMATICS

Stoned to the Bone is a short that focuses on a 1985 weekend field party bacchanal that took place in Montgomery County, Maryland. A cast of colorful characters are recorded using a home video camera and a CBS microphone swiped from the Reagan Inauguration earlier that year. Music included is the doom metal icons Pentagram who are interviewed as they setup for the performance. Rudy Childs created this short to look back in time to wilder days. 

CLASSICS IN BRAZILIAN CHORO - The Movie (Brazil)

The documentary film "Classics in Brazilian Choro - The Movie" portrays the creation of the musical project Concertando o Choro, whose undertaking consisted of composing, performing, and recording unprecedented musical arrangements that incorporated the style of the Brazilian popular genre choro into well-known works of classical music. The film captures essential steppingstones of this project from 2014 to 2017, from the initial idea to the composition of the arrangements to rehearsals to public concerts to recording sessions. In addition to getting a chance to experience the creative process of such choro legends as seven-string guitarist Luizinho Sete Cordas and other world-class musicians who took part in the project, the viewer also gets to witness the process through which musical elements of such typical Brazilian dances as maxixe, baião, and frevo (among others) “spice up” the aesthetic of famous works of classical music, including Bach’s “Air on the G String”, Ravel’s “Bolero”, and Bizet’s arias from the opera Carmen, to name a few. 

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MusArt (USA)

MusArt will be the opener for CLASSICS IN BRAZILIAN CHORO

Musician and painter, Randall Vemer, has once again expanded his talent pool; this time into filmmaking.  In a nearly 12-minute biographical documentary, Vemer reveals what happened when his ability to play his beloved viola was taken away.  The film is filled with striking portraits of the people and instruments by which he's been surrounded for much of his life. And always the educator, the hauntingly lovely music is scored and timed, not only to enhance the viewer's enjoyment of Vemer's classical style images but also to point out which instrument is highlighted within the rich and ethereal paintings.  Randall Vemer's musical bio-doc is a moving tribute to the creativity, discipline, and heart of this incredibly talented man.

PHOENIX: David’s Dream (Brazil)

After helping to fight the fire that destroyed the National Museum in Brazil, a firefighter decides to look for wreckage to transform them into art. The musical instruments are made and crafted from the salvaged wood with the help of artists such as Gilberto Gil, Paulinho da Viola and Hamilton de Holanda.

AMAZON RASTA (Brazil)

Shot in the Amazon Rainforest, São Paulo, Ethiopia, South Africa and Chile, 'Amazon Rasta' is a 'Road Movie' documentary. The film follows the musical and spiritual journeys of Carlos Pereira Marques, known as “Ras Kadhu”, musician, composer and leader of the band JAH I RAS. In his songs he affirms the knowledge he absorbed in the Amazon Rainforest with the Santo Daime journey and in Ethiopia with Rastafarian guidance. RasKadhu's travels through these worlds bring us surprising and exciting connections, portraying this character that could only emerge in the 21st Century. 

IT'S JUST A LIFETIME: A Portrait of Craig Nuttycombe (USA)

Retired handyman, devoted dog dad, and sixties troubadour: Craig Nuttycombe is the surviving half of Lambert and Nuttycombe, the West Coast's Simon and Garfunkel, and his present circumstances find him tucked in amongst the gentle greenery of a quiet trailer park in Central California. Following a wide-ranging, yearlong correspondence, the filmmakers lived with the musician for three autumnal weeks, documenting his musings, interactions, and memories.  Presented in the style of '70's handmade films, It's Just a Lifetime is an affectionate, musical odyssey of a resilient, septuagenarian artist who defies the 'almost famous' archetype by embracing life's lessons with a song in his heart, and a toothpick on his lips.

FURIOUS AND FAST: The Story of Fast Music and the Patiphone (Israel)

A music documentary about the rise and fall of the independent "Fast Music" label and "The Patiphone" club in Tel Aviv from the late 90's till the late 00's. Two best friends against an industry - Can it work? The film also follow the global success of the band Monotonix which started at the small club.

GRAVEL ROAD (Australia)

In Australia's remotest community of Tjuntjuntjara, lives Jay Minning - a singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock band the Desert Stars. As the band hit the road to head out on their first tour we see the trials and tribulations that beset them. From van trouble, to smashed windows, to navigating the infamous Gravel Road. On the journey Jay shares with us his passion for music, his inspiration and a rare glimpse into his Indigenous way of life. 

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INN OF THE DAMNED (Australia)

INN OF THE DAMNED will be the opener for GRAVEL ROAD

Three friends are in the process of putting together the ultimate rock band; INN OF THE DAMNED. The only thing they are missing is the perfect drummer. Over the course of one afternoon, at their local pub, they meet a series of drummers. None of them live up to their lofty expectations.

ROOTS OF FIRE (USA)

“If you’re not living your culture, you’re killing your culture.” - In Roots of Fire, a group of musicians honor the rich history and cultural legacy of Cajun music. The genre's contemporary scene in Louisiana has found mainstream success with Grammy Award nominations and wins, but shuttering venues and aging fans leave some questioning the music’s longevity. Featuring electrifying performances, this vibrant documentary examines the intersection between music and preserving tradition for future generations. 

OTHER WAYS OF LISTENING (France)

“Changing life” was the objective proclaimed by the politicians who came to power in France in 1981. It was this impetus that enabled the Ministry of Culture to provide the major creators of avant-garde music with the means to develop new ways of making and listening to music. Luc Ferrari seized this opportunity to create a collective structure in 1982: La Muse en Circuit.  "Other Ways of Listening" retraces the tumultuous history of this association dedicated to the development of non-standard music, drawing on archives and explosive testimonies. For a whole year, the documentary takes the viewer behind the scenes of the experiments, recordings and shows promoted by this institution.  Forty years after its creation, this laboratory continues to irrigate a whole current of unclassifiable music, the common thread of which is still based on sound creation.   With the participation of Heiner Goebbels, Pablo Cueco, Henry Fourès, Brunhild Ferrari, François Sarhan, Wilfried Wendling, Georges Aperghis, Maria Bertel & Nina Garcia. 

TIL STEDE / from soil to soul (Norway)

"TIL STEDE / from soil to soul" takes the audience behind the scenes and conveys how it feels to be in a creative process as a musician. How a place, soil, food, people and instruments intertwine in this process. The film is based on the theme of folk music and puts old hardanger fiddle traditions from Telemark, Norway, in a new perspective. Through a meeting between three women, "Til Stede" reflects on what it is like to be human today: the need to be in contact with nature, the urge to create something of your own and express yourself, and the desire for community and feeling alive.

EPIC GANDAREZA - Epopeia Gandareza (Portugal)

Since the beginning of times to the far future, out of the metaphysical analysis to the daily life emoticons, from the threat to mother nature to the culture´s diversity, in this movie the region of Gândara is only a point of view on this guided sensorial experience through several chapters.  This work has no dialogue, characters, nor traditional narration, however, it contains a history. The rhythm and tone are established by the intentional juxtaposition of sound and images, that is the language here, probably the universal one.  Above all, this is an intuitive journey in which music and also silence invite the public to apprehend this imaginary concept and find meaning, leaving the global approach to later…  Adopting a methodology inspired by the symphonic poems from the XIX century, driven by the legacy of masterpieces as Dziga Verto´s “Man with a Movie Camera” (1929), Walter Ruttmann´s “Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis” (1927) or Godfrey Reggio´s “Koyaanisqatsi” (1982) and propelled by Carlos Oliveira´s literature, this is a manifest, artistic, experimental and documental work, seeking to arouse sensations, touch human sensorial dimensions and relate to mankind symbolic references. 

LAND MASS (UK)

A new kind of liturgy is about to begin… a Land Mass. This is a spontaneous, vocal-visual liturgy for the land, sung by a unique choir, The Improvisers’ Choir, conducted by composer Jenni Roditi, who is creating her conducting directions as the improvised music is sung. The film, by Slovenian filmmaker Sara Pozin, was created after the music, in response to each track and to the poetry. 

4 GLOBAL FILMS ON DANCE & MOTION

incl. A FEAST THAT NEVER COMES, THE OPENINGS, INHERITANCE, and RICE CONNECTIONS

A FEAST THAT NEVER COMES (USA)

Four characters inhabit cycles within cycles of contentment, discontentment, inertia, movement, desire, and betrayal. A story emerges — told through the marriage of music (Ex-Fiancée) and dance (ChrisMastersDance) — functioning as a set of nesting dolls, inviting you to uncover as many layers as you wish... 

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RICE CONNECTIONS (Malaysia)

This documentary is about an artistic journey of Aida Redza, a female contemporary dancer from Malaysia, and how she created a dance performance site by growing the paddy plot from scratch during the COVID-19 pandemic in late October of 2020. She is famous for creating collaborative multidisciplinary works involving rice. Aida and her co-collaborators participated in the different phases of the paddy’s life-cycle and finally created a dance performance out of this process.

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INHERITANCE (USA)

Inheritance is a short film which explores the evolution of a dance from small isolated movements to the final work. This process is juxtaposed against images of environmental stress brought on by climate change. The film explores human interventions in the natural world and building an awareness of the environmental threats we face through music, dance and collage. 

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THE OPENINGS (Cyprus)

We, like two openings facing aware of any of each other’s ramblings. Everyday, salutation, amenities and laughter, everyday, a tryst for tomorrow, life, a mirror of heaven, but…alas shorter than the night and days of June and December now my heart is broken and tired, because one of the openings is shut. Neither the sun did sorcery nor the moon magic, Curse be upon the journey, he did it all – everything that happened. 

A NEW BRITISH FLAVOUR

will include JAZZ UK and ROTTEN HILL GANG

JAZZ UK: Spitting Fire (UK)

DJ broadcaster and music journalist Tina Edwards celebrates some of the most exciting talent in a new and dynamic underground music scene, featuring live performance and interviews with the next generation of jazz artistes.  Tina takes us on a musical journey where each city has its own unique sound and vibe, from the spiritual jazz of Matthew Halsall in Manchester to the electronic, emotional collaborations of Bristol’s Ishmael Ensemble, to the raw, impassioned, rave-inducing sounds from London’s Sons of Kemet.  The documentary showcases live performances and interviews from some of the scene’s key artistes, including Emma-Jean Thackray, Steam Down and Alabaster dePlume. It’s a fusion of eclectic influences and cultures.  Some say it’s jazz – others say it’s not. With crowds swelling at sold-out festivals and sweat dripping from the walls of packed clubs, this DIY counterculture movement is gaining momentum.

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ROTTEN HILL GANG (UK)

This film follows the Dickensian world of the Rotten Hill Gang. They are a collective of creatives cleverly fusing rap with rock, funk and reggae into an exciting mix of classic tunes, each with a modern and diverse twist. Includes Mick Jones, legend from The Clash.

AN IMPROVISATIONAL TRIPTYCH

will include IN THIS PRESENT SPACE, IDEA, and THE SAULEP VILLAGE CHAPEL

IN THIS PRESENT SPACE (Austria)

"In This Present Space" is a cinematic realization of a concert by the Vienna Improvisers Orchestra (VIO), conducted by Michael Fischer, at the Odeon Theater in Vienna, staged exclusively for the film. A special feature of the VIO is that ad hoc musical ideas are communicated to the ensemble by means of hand signals from the Instant Composition Conductor. The film focuses on the musical practice of Instant Composition Conducting and follows the communicative process in the poetic moment.  

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IDEA - Miniatures by Improvisers (Germany)

IDEA is a free-style music film, a video collage, a tour de force of improvisations by musicians from mainly the UK and Germany in an audio-visual dialogue with Ebba Jahn. The result is a shrill, flashy, colorful, touching video collage full of different approaches to sound and image and the world.  Filmmaker Background: I asked all improvising musicians I had worked with in the recent years to send me up to 3 single minutes of music with or without video / images for the creation of this music video collage - it was an inspiring delight to receive and work with them.  The UK musicians are also members of the OXFORD IMPROVISERS and MOPOMOSO. 

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THE SAULEP VILLAGE CHAPEL- a folk orchestra with a swing (Estonia)

Freely improvised sound-paintings now and then.  The concert took place in Tõstamaa mansion on the occasion of Arno Arrak's art exhibition. On August 13, 2022, at 1:00 p.m  "There are no coincidences," said Uugway, the old turtle from the cartoon "Kung Fu Panda", the founder of Kung Fu. But if there are no coincidences, then what is it that we call a coincidence?  Playing is fun for children, it's great to remind them from time to time and let the imagination fly!  We make music while playing together, from the professionals to the students and the hobbyists to the beginners. We just take things that make a sound and have fun freely improvising with the sounds.

MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS

will include RHYTHMS OF MIGRATION and TEMPO

RHYTHMS OF MIGRATION (USA / Sicily)

Rhythms of Migration follows a group of African youth migrants living in Sicily as they create a musical album about their migration experiences. Working with producer Alex Polydoroff and migrant activist Ramzi Harrabi, their music touches on everything from their hopes for their new lives in Europe to the horrors they experienced as teenagers in war-torn Libya.  By producing the album "One Humanity" and performing in live concerts, they work to raise broader awareness of the global migratory crises, create cross-cultural conversations and understanding between the youth and their Sicilian neighbors, and provide an outlet to express their experiences and stories. 

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TEMPO (Spain / Lebanon)

A portrait of Bahaa Al Jomaa and Yazan Ibrahim, two Arab artists who, through music, merge together different worlds while embracing and exploring different realities - between Lebanon and Spain, Palestine and the Golan Heights. Although living away from their respective home lands, they strive to fulfill their essence and passion for life through the music they make and share, be it as a form of resistance and survival or as a tool to explore the world and to manifest and share their incredible talent. Quoting Yazan, “These stories seem to be similar because most of these people have made the same physical journey. But the essence of each is very different. What is their real story? Beyond what they had to go through to get to where they are now.”

MUSICAL DIVERSITY IN 15 SHORT FILMS

A collection of various music-themed shorts from around the world, across many genres, from narrative and documentary to animation and music videos :

KAOTIC DRUMLINE: Drumming With a Difference (USA)

On the South Side of Chicago, the Kaotic Drumline brings people together with creativity, energy and hope.

TERMINATRYX - "Suiker" (South Africa)

In this music video by Cape Town band Terminatryx, a businessman with bad intensions attends a private poll dancing show, but gets more than he bargained for …

PEARL (New Zealand)

In this animated short, a young girl with language issues finds her calling in the world of moving images.

SLOUCH (USA)

In this animated short, wannabe musical legend Slouch is pushed by his song-writing-demon Nuffti to deep dive into his darkest emotions, while his girlfriend Lisa is pregnant and wants him to transition into a harmonic family life…

PEACE (South Africa)

This story represents the journey we go on to find peace and the lessons we learn along the way of finding it. The focus was to show how peace can get brought into our lives by others while at the same time showing how others have to go on a more difficult journey of finding it by themselves, only to realize peace was always with them to begin with.

BUSKERS (Turkey)

Street Musicians Selection and Placement Examination is held by the municipality to determine the places where street musicians play. Where and when each musician will be found and which songs they will play will be determined according to the results of the exam. The little girl who saves money to buy a red violin wants to take this exam, but she can't wake up. While other musicians comfort the sad girl at the exam venue, the exam results are announced, but the musicians and the little girl realize the futility of this exam.

EAT THE RICH (USA)

You are what you eat. 

An dark animation trip.

SARONG SONG (USA)

Sarong Song is song #2 of The Soul Fox, a song cycle composed in 2013 by Lori Laitman to a poem by David Mason, her frequent collaborator. The cycle set Mason’s autobiographical poems to create a narrative about the upheaval in Dave’s life as his second marriage dissolved. This song seizes on the moment Dave from Colorado met Chrissy from Tasmania — and her mesmerizing effect on him, which later resulted in their marriage and move to Tasmania.  The film alternates between a superb performance of Laitman’s melodic music by mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Simon Lepper and slow animation created from famed illustrator Ian Beck's custom watercolors. The musical blending of these elements by director Jeremy Hamway-Bidgood creates a new kind of film — a hybrid presentation of classical song, poetry, and original art. 

HYPNOTHERAPOLOGY by Hourstone (Singapore)

Who is foolish enough to interrupt a male creature of the night solemnly playing piano in his own theater? The culprit can only be a female of even darker and more mysterious dimensions. Not only does she invade his space, but then toys with him until she lets herself be found. They may both be sole predators of the night in their own right, but in the end, eternity is long and they can only be with someone like themselves. "Hypnotherapology" is about her enthralling him and is a combination of three words: hypnosis, therapy and cosmology. 

FreeWorld - “D-Up - Here's To Diversity” (USA)

Diversity. One of the foremost qualities in nature that defines our planet. Without it, all flowers would smell the same, every creature would look the same, and all people would be the same. Life would not only be incredibly boring, but virtually impossible without the multitude of diverse beings populating our world. The endless variety of colors, thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, styles, desires, hopes, and dreams just within humanity alone is astounding.  It was this reality that inspired Richard Cushing, leader of the Memphis-based musical ensemble, FreeWorld, to envision the re-recording of their song, “D-Up (Here’s to Diversity)” in the fall of 2020.  The song (with lyrics written by David Skypeck) and accompanying video (produced by Justin Jaggers), came bursting forth with new life through the amazing production talents of Niko Lyras, along with the instrumental & vocal contributions of over three dozen established entertainers, talented newcomers, and legacy artists, who all came together and donated their time and talents to create a work of art that celebrates and exemplifies the musical, cultural, emotional, intellectual, and Spiritual unity and diversity inherent in the city of Memphis and the world beyond.  

FREE GOLF CLUBS - You Think We'll Make It? (Canada)

A single shot music video for the song "You Think We'll Make It?" by Free Golf Clubs  

HIBERNATE (Syria)

A child running after his dream in a place where dreams are banned. A poor Syrian kid with a great love for music sees a young woman playing accordion, so he starts chasing her to get into a music institution where he can make his dream of being an accordion player come true. 

A SHORT LOVE STORY AND TWO SONGS (Chile)

Simon (40) listens to new music in a record store. Rosa (30) enters the store, and they generate an immediate connection. Through dialogue and songs they listen and connect with a part of their past and their present, which will reveal a secret that unites them both.

BenBen - "Algorithmia" (USA)

A music video for BenBen's "Algorithmia", from the forthcoming EP.  Do neural networks listen to simulated rock bands? Algorithms have dictated much of what we see and hear for years already; they've only much more recently become able to reproduce semblances of it on their own. With the advent of adversarial learning (pioneered by chess AI trained through near-endless competition against each other), digital simulacra have become more and more eerily convincing: songs extended through extrapolation, faces invented, and so many machine-generated avocado armchair designs. Especially over the last six months, the tools for fully AI-created images (based only on generalized knowledge from data sets consisting of millions of captioned pictures) have rapidly evolved, diversified, and improved, allowing more and more generative artists to explore the form. But with algorithms already warping artistic production through the feedback loops of streaming and social media, what may come of vertically-integrating algorithmic distribution with its own ability to create? Or, in the deeper exploration of machine-generated art -- the interest of which comes as much from its mystifying errors and omissions as from its successes -- will the essential significance of the guiding human hand become only more obvious?

ONE CHANCE (France)

A young lady attends a gospel choir and will have to face her fear of the stage in order to let her light shine.

Across the festival history the invigorating screening selections have included: 

IT MIGHT GET LOUD, SPRINGBOK NUDE GIRLS, THE HEALING NOTES, THE CREATORS, LORDS OF CHAOS, AFRICAN DRUM - Beyond The Beat, ROCK THE BELLS, THE HEIR OF LISZT, MARCH OF THE GODS, SOUND OF NOISE, PUNK IN AFRICA, FREDDY MERCURY - THE KING OF QUEEN, SOAKED IN BLEACH, FOKOFPOLISIEKAR, GOD BLESS OZZY OSBOURNE, TAKING WOODSTOCK, ONE MINUTE FOR CONDUCTORS, BJORK BIOPHILIA, MAMA GOEMA, THE HEART IS A DRUM MACHINE, PLACEBO: ALT.RUSSIA, MISSION TO LARS, live silent film soundtrack performance by THE MAKABRA ENSEMBLE and many, many more.

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Watch the 2023 Sound On Screen selection video here:

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