The program features an orchestra from the Paris banlieues led by a female conductor, a shanty choir from Wales, the piano virtuoso Igor Levit, the clarinetist in a klezmer band or the one and only King of Rock’n’Roll. They can all be heard and seen, not on a concert stage, but on the big screen: since 2008, the Oberaudorf Music Film Festival has been dedicated to music films, which, as is well known, come in all sorts of variations. The 16th edition of the festival will feature major Hollywood dramas, German documentaries, British comedy sequels, portraits of Danish composers and “Orphea in Love”, an opera film from the Bavarian National Theatre.
“This side is the worst of all,” says Igor Levit in the film “No Fear,” before banging his head on a Beethoven sonata.
(Photo: Zero One Film)
The Music Film Days will open on Wednesday, July 5th, with the Austrian-Italian concert film “Symphonic Alps”. It is about the South Tyrolean musician and composer Herbert Pixner, who wants to create new worlds of sound together with three colleagues and a 60-strong orchestra. The documentaries “Music For Black Pigeons”, “Anne-Sophie Mutter – Vivace” or “La Clave – The Secret of Cuban Music” are also about sound artists. They line up with musical biopics like “Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody” or “Elvis”. Most of the films have already been shown in cinemas or at other festivals, and nobody expects world premieres here anyway. After all, two previews have made it into the program: the British comedy “Fisherman’s Friends 2” and the German children’s film “Kannawoniwasein” will not be shown in cinemas until August.
Overwhelmed by sudden fame? In the sequel to the hit comedy “Fisherman’s Friends”, the odd boys in the shanty choir don’t give up.
(Photo: Splendid Film)
The performances take place in the Oberaudorf Kursaal and in the Reisach monastery, open-air performances and a concert in the Kurpark are also on the programme. On Sunday, July 9, three short films will be shown that just a few days ago were awarded the City of Munich’s 2023 Starter Prize. On the same day, the traditional Musikfilmtage morning pint takes place in the Gasthaus Waller: the actress Michaela May and the film composer Ralf Wengenmayr (“Der Schuh des Manitou”, “Jim Button and Lukas the Locomotive Driver”) are expected, and admission to this event is free free.
16th Music Film Days Oberaudorf, Wed., 5th to Sun., 9th July, www.musikfilmtage-oberaudorf.de