Credited cast: | |||
Richard Feynman | ... | Self (archive footage) | |
B.B. King | ... | Self | |
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Kongar-ol Ondar | ||
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Paul Pena | ||
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Aislinn Scofield | ... | Self |
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. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I really like this movie. It's a window into another world that I knew nothing about previously: Mongolia. It's amazing hat the filmmakers actually journeyed there with Pena. That's the part I enjoyed the most. And the music is great, too. I've been looking for the soundtrack CD to this movie, but no luck yet. I think this documentary should have gotten the Academy Award - but I guess that's politics. I also enjoyed the character of the Mongolian throat singer. He seems like such a nice guy, and on top of that he is a politician in Mongolia. I highly recommend this documentary for anyone who wishes to be entertained and watch something of substance.