• The Strange Sound of Happiness

    The Strange Sound of Happiness



  • The Strange Sound of Happiness

    The Strange Sound of Happiness



  • The Strange Sound of Happiness

    The Strange Sound of Happiness



  • The Strange Sound of Happiness

    The Strange Sound of Happiness



The Strange Sound of Happiness

by Diego Pascal Panarello

The Strange Sound of Happiness

Germany | 2017 | 89:00 min

Original Title:
DER SELTSAME KLANG DES GLÜCKS

Content Categories

Documentary Music film
original version Italian, English, Sakha, Russian with English subtitles or German voice over and subtitles available
Location: Sibirien, Sizilien, Schweiz, Ungarn, Bayern
Synopsis
After years drifting, Diego returns to Sicily. His dream of becoming a musician has not worked out. He has no job and no plans for the future but the sound of an ancient musical instrument, the mouth harp, points the way. From the torrid coasts of Sicily, Diego journeys to the frozen flatlands of Yakutia in Siberia where he becomes part of a prophecy from a century ago. The ‘sound of happiness’ is at last there.
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After twenty years, the failed musician Diego returns to his Sicilian hometown of Augusta with no money, job or perspectives. In a dream he has a vision of a Jew’s harp, called Marranzano in Italian. The half vibrant, half buzzing sound of this small musical instrument echoes in the chant of the omnipresent cicadas – and in the sound of an electric shaver. After some initial research at the local souvenir shop, Diego soon finds himself in freezing Yakutia, where the Jew’s harp is called Khomus and considered a lucky charm. In Siberia Diego also meets the most famous Khomus player in the world, a generally respected blacksmith with a striking resemblance to the master from “The Karate Kid”, and learns about the rich mythology of the instrument. People say, for example, that one of the best Marranzani flew into space one night to be played by a Russian cosmonaut. Diego’s research on the universal history of the Jew’s harp merges with the story of his personal pursuit of happiness, while his journey is driven in equal measure by self-questioning, ethnographical interest and associative enthusiasm. (DOK Leipzig, Esther Buss)
Festivals/Awards
DOK Leipzig – Honorable Mention Next Masters Competition 2017
25th hotDOCS Toronto 2018
20th International Tel Aviv Documentary Filmfestival - doc aviv
35th Kassel DokFest
Cast and Crew
  • Director Diego Pascal Panarello
  • Producer Jörg Bundschuh (Kick Film GmbH Munich), Edoardo Fracchia (Stefilm International)
  • Director of Photography Matteo Cocco
  • Editor Carmen Kirchweger
  • Compositing Michael Haesters
  • Score Bartolomeo Sailer
Original Languages

English

Russian

Italian

Co-Production Company
Kick Film GmbH
Germany
www.kickfilm.de
Links / Reference
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