SONG FROM THE FOREST

by Michael Obert
  • (c) Tondowski Films & Friends
  • 2013 Tondowski Films | Deckert Distribution

    Synopsis

    As a young man, American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. He never left. Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno has recorded over 1,000 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of the Bayaka society and has a 13 year old son, Samedi. Now the time has come to fulfill an old promise, and Louis takes Samedi from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, with a fascinating soundtrack and peaceful, loving imagery, their stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man, and his son.

    Festivals

    2013
    VPRO Award for feature length Documentary – IDFA, Amsterdam
    2014
    Lower Silesia Grand Prix - The Marshall of Lower Silesia Award - 11th PLANETE+DOC FILM FESTIVAL
    River Run International Film Festival – Wettbewerb bester Dokumentarfilm
    One World Film Festival Ottawa, Special Mention
    SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas
    ZagrebDox – Internationaler Wettbewerb
    Cleveland International Film Festival
    Reykjavík Shorts & Docs Festival
    It' All True International Documentary Film Festival Brazil – Opening Film
    DOK.fest Munich
    DocAviv IFF, Tel Aviv
    Edoc Festival, Ecuador
    Green Film Festival in Seoul, Korea
    DOXA Film Festival in Vancouver,
    Cineambiente Film Festival in Napoli,
    Biografilm Festivals, Italien - Best of the Fest
    EDGE Film Festival in Auckland & Wellington
    Makedox Film Festival in Skopje,
    Shanghai IFF
    Moscow IFF
    Fünf Seen Film Festivals "Horizonte"
    Melbourne IFF
    Lemesos International Documentary Festival,Cyprus,
    IFF Message to Man, St. Petersburg
    Bergen IFF,
    Zurich IFF,
    BFI London Film Festival,
    Santa Fe Independent Film Festival,
    WOMEX the World Music Expo, Spain
    Inconvenient Film Festival, Lithuania
    2015
    German Documentary Award