Music from the Moon Carsten Christochowitz, Christian Hund and Uwe Wältring, Germany, 2009, 92 minutes
Sunday, May 9 | 9:00pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
In 2006, international theatre group Hypno Theatre set out on a tour of Iceland and Greenland. Their show, based on stories and songs from around the globe, introduces different cultures to children, emphasizing the importance of their own cultural heritage in the world. Songs and stories from each culture are added with each country the show visits. Music from the Moon documents the group’s journey through Arctic landscapes and their interactions with children and teachers as well as encounters with Icelandic and Greenlandic artists.
Although the goal is entertaining children, the tour becomes much more. In Iceland, they discover a country where there are seemingly no limits to musical creativity. This small country is home to an amazingly large number of internationally renowned artists and what starts as a theatre tour quickly grows into a mutual musical communion. Along with startling scenic images of the Arctic, the film highlights collaborative concerts with musicians from both countries.
The political and social aspects of culture differ greatly between the two countries. In Iceland the group is visiting as part of the project “Music for Everybody,” which gives school kids access to cultural activities as a regular part of curriculum. As a result, Icelandic children regard musical creativity as part of their everyday lives.
In Greenland, the performers come face-to-face with another culture — one that suffers the great loss of the Inuit cultural identity, due to Danish rule. In stark contrast to the lively music scene in Iceland, here it becomes clear how colonialism has distanced the indigenous population from its own culture. However, young Greenlandic musicians are beginning to sing in their own language and rediscover their roots.
The members of Hypno Theatre are originally from India, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Britain and Germany, and bring their own cultural influences to the performances.
Look forward to exceptional concerts and personal moments with Emilíana
Torrini, Benni Hemm, Dagur Kári, members of the band Múm and other stars
of the Icelandic and Greenlandic musical scenes.
North American Premiere
Directors’ biographies
GUCC grafik film was formed in February 2005, when the three graduate designers and film makers, Carsten Christochowitz, Christian Hund and Uwe Wältring set up shop in Münster, Germany. Their creative alliance has been highly successful as evidenced by the multi-award-winning graduate production, the film Nordstrand. The themes of their independent film projects, revolve around music and dialogue between cultures. Along with their documentary about young people in Burkina Faso, Music from the Moon represents their most ambitious documentary film project so far. It celebrated its world premiere in November 2009 in the Cineplex Münster.
