DOKU.ARTS
Zeughauskino Berlin
10.09.–12.10.2014
Enzo Avitabile Music Life
Enzo Avitabile is a charismatic Neapolitan composer and singer who is today one of the leading figures on the world music scene. He has worked (and continues to work) with musicians from across the globe, including Palestine, Armenia, Pakistan and French-speaking Africa.
Jonathan Demme’s film introduces us to this warm-hearted and compassionate man and in the course of well-staged recording sessions (in beautiful interior locations) allows us to sample the great range of his music-making talent. A connoisseur as well as an artist, Avitabile has amassed a huge collection of exotic wind, string and percussion instruments, which we are introduced to as we wander with him round his studio. This studio is a veritable laboratory of sound: it seems there is no instrument he is unwilling to try his hand at!
His main genius however is the Italian genius for friendship. Wherever he goes he forges relationships and breaks down barriers. His fundamental belief is that music is a force for world peace.
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme (born February 22, 1944) is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense and a trilogy of Neil Young documentary/concert movies.