Genghis Blues (1999)

San Francisco bluesman and composer, Paul Peña makes a musical pilgrimage to the land of Tuva.

Director:

Roko Belic

Stars:

Richard Feynman, B.B. King, Kongar-ol Ondar

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Richard Feynman	...	Himself (archive footage)
B.B. King	...	Himself
Kongar-ol Ondar
Paul Pena
Aislinn Scofield	...	Herself

Storyline

The extraordinary odyssey of a U.S. musician of Cape Verdean ancestry to Tannu Tuva, in central Asia, where nomadic people throat sing more than one note simultaneously, using vocal harmonics. A bluesman, Paul Pena, blind and recently widowed, taught himself throat singing and was by chance invited to the 1995 throat-singing symposium in Kyzyl. Helped by the "Friends of Tuva," Pena makes the arduous journey. Singing in the deep, rumbling kargyraa style, Pena gives inspired performances at the festival, composes songs in Tuvan, washes his face in sacred rivers, expresses the disorientation of blindness in foreign surroundings, and makes a human connection with everyone he meets.

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Plot Keywords:

tuva | throat singing | independent film

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Wadi Rum Productions

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 1999 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

Dzsingiz blues

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$32,606 (USA) (9 July 1999)

Gross:

$323,881 (USA) (24 March 2000)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director 'Christopher Nolan (I)' qv receives one of his earliest credits on this documentary, when he is listed under 'Editorial Assistance'. When he spent 3 years in Chicago as a child, he was friends with Roko and Adrian Belic and the three of them made short Super 8 movies together.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

User Reviews

A Beautifull movie - not to be missed.

As a long-time fan of the blues and the music of Tuva, it was a real thrill to see this movie. This film is beautiful, and though provoking too. Showing, as it does, how the shallow west will throw a blind man on the trash heap when it (the west) loses interest, yet in Tuva he was instantly recognized for the talent that he is.

It was also a thrill to see that the legacy of Richard Feynmann is evidently alive and well in Tuva.