From filmmakers Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed, Music for Black Pigeons is a documentary record of one film crew’s 14-year journey across North America, Europe and Japan on the trail of legendary Danish jazz composer Jakob Bro. The milieu they end up in contains musicians of all generations and nationalities, as Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Midori Takada and others make special appearances through their work with Bro. Music for Black Pigeons is a testament not only to the diverse and innovative methods of the musicians documented, but also to the unique energy and camaraderie generated when great minds collaborate.
Director Andreas Koefoed will be present for a film talk after the screening with film subject Jakob Bro, as well as other musicians from the documentary.
Shooting in the time-honored improvisational mode of “letting the tape roll”, Leth and Koefoed’s film is as improvisational as the artmaking process it sheds light on. Moving between hallowed recording spaces of the experimental music world in New York, Copenhagen, and Lugano, the film includes interviews with fixtures of the scene like jazz saxophonist Mark Turner, double bassist Thomas Morgan, avant-garde jazz drummers Joey Baron and Andrew Cyrille, trumpet player Palle Mikkelborg and many more.
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Jørgen Leth, born in 1937, is a Danish poet and film director who is considered a leading figure in experimental documentary film making. Most notable are his documentary A Sunday in Hell (1977) and his surrealistic short film The Perfect Human (1968). His feature documentary The Five Obstructions (co-directed with Lars von Trier) premiered in Venice in 2003 and was Denmark’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Andreas Koefoed was born in Copenhagen in 1979 and graduated as a documentary director from The National Film School of Denmark in 2009, and in sociology from Copenhagen University in 2004. He has directed documentary films since 2001 with a focus on universal stories on human existence, including The Lost Leonardo, Ballroom Dancer, The Arms Drop and At Home in the World. His films have screened and won numerous awards at festivals around the world including IDFA, CPH:DOX, Full Frame, AFI Docs, Sheffield Doc Fest and Tribeca.