Pianomania
Pianomania - in search for the perfect sound is a German-Austrian documentary film by the directors Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis, made in 2009. The film presents Stefan Knüpfer, a virtuosic piano tuner, in his work with pianists such as Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
| Film Data | |
|---|---|
| Tiltle | Pianomania - in search for the perfect sound |
| Production countries | Germany, Austria |
| Year | 2009 |
| Original language | German, English |
| Lenght | 93 minutes |
| Crew | |
|---|---|
| Directors | Lilian Franck, Robert Cibis |
| Script | Lilian Franck, Robert Cibis |
| Production Companies | WILDart Film, Oval Film |
| Producers | Vincent Lucassen, Ebba Sinzinger, Robert Cibis, Lilian Franck |
| Camera | Jerzy Palacz, Robert Cibis |
| Editing | Michèle Barbin |
| Cast | |
|---|---|
| Piano tuner | Stefan Knüpfer |
| Pianists | Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Till Fellner, Julius Drake, Rudolf Buchbinder |
| Music cabaret artists | Igudesman & Joo |
| Sound Engineers | Christoph Classen, Tobias Lehmann |
Contents
The collaborative work between Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Stefan Knüpfer is at the center of the film. Bach’s „The Art of Fugue“ is to be recorded. Pierre-Laurent Aimard has decided in favor of concert grand piano Nr. 109 for the Bach recording. The film begins one year before the recording.
Knüpfer wants to study instruments from the time of Bach for Aimard. He experiments with sound absorbers made from felt and with glass sound mirrors. But as fate will have it, the number 109 grand piano is sold to Australia a few months later; and that is not the last obstacle that gets in their way. Knüpfer and Aimard meet regularly, and when the tension is so thick it can be cut with a knife, Knüpfer saves the day with his sense of humor. The road toward the pianist’s longed for “bravo” is long.
One afternoon, a rather sleepy artist in jeans and sneakers shows up. It is the Chinese star pianist Lang Lang, who will be giving a guest performance in the Viennese concert hall. Still suffering from jet lag, he has to choose an instrument to play. His overcrowded tour calendar leaves little time for individual settings. Instead, and almost shyly, he asks for a heavy bench that will hold up through his extroverted style of playing without sliding around. The Piano superstar completes his performance in the large hall in a dark suit and wild hairstyle. The bench holds up, and he receives thunderous applause.
The sketches of the comedy duo Igudesman and Joo always parody the elitist music world. Together with Knüpfer they come up with some of the craziest scenarios for the next show.
One of Alfred Brendel’s last concerts takes place at the Grafenegg Music Festival. Knüpfer prepares the piano for him while the star pianist gives his directions humorously.
Technical aspects
Corresponding to the struggle of the protagonists to find the perfect sound, the sound recording of the film itself was made with great efforts. All the scenes were recorded in Dolby Surround quality and on up to 90 separate sound tracks
Festivals and Awards
Pianomania was shown very successfully at numerous international festivals. Among others for instance:
2009
International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), Netherlands
Max-Ophüls-Preis, Germany
Kinofest Lünen, Germany
International Hof Film Days, Germany
Unerhört Hamburg, Germany
Diagonale, Austria
Cork Festival, Ireland
Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland
Zurich Film Festival, Switzerland
Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain
Sheffield Doc/Fest, Great Britain
SoNoRo Bucharest, Romania
2010
The Magnificent 7, Serbia
Internationales Filmwochenende Würzburg, Germany
Göteborg International Film Festival, Sweden
Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Berlinale), Germany
Jameson Dublin IFF, Ireland
Zagrebdox, Croatia
Sofia International Film Festival, Bulgaria
34th Hong Kong International Film Festival, China
Macau International Film Festival, China
BAFICI – Festival International de Cinema Independiente Buenos Aires, Argentinia
St. Paul International Film Festival Minneapolis, USA
Doc Outlook-Market, Switzerland
San Francisco International Festival, USA
DOK.Fest München, Germany
Planet Doc Review Film Festival, Poland
Moscow International Film Festival, Russia
Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
New Zealand International Film Festival, New Zealand
Semana de Cine Aleman in Cinemateca Nacional Mexico City, Mexico
Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington DC, USA
Flickers – Rhode Island International Film Festival, USA
Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, South Korea
Ghent Film Festival, Belgium
Nominations, Awards and Prizes
"Golden Gate Award" as best documentary at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival, May 2010
Audience award for the best documentary at the 36th International Filmweekend Würzburg, January 2010
"Lüdia", first prize at the 20th Cinema Festival in Lünen, Germany, November 2009
"Best Editing" award at the Diagonale Graz, Austria, 2009
"Semaine de la critique" in its section at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, 2009
Honourable Mention diploma at the EURODOK film festival held by the Norwegian film institute in Oslo in 2010
Pianomania was also nominated by the European Film Academy for its 22nd European Film Prize.
The Film Evaluation Committee in Wiesbaden awarded Pianomania the rating ‘Highly Recommended’.
Weblinks
- Pianomania official website
- Pianomania on the Internet Movie Database