Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

Colour, DIGIBETA
United Kingdom, USA, 2006, 95 min
Section: 2008: A Musical Odyssey

Synopsis

This documentary about shadowy American musician Scott Walker offers imaginative, dazzling music and also a strong story. During the Sixties, Walker was lead singer in The Walker Brothers and had his own TV programme on the BBC. He then abandoned his mainstream singing career, left the public eye and, once in a while, recorded highly acclaimed artistic songs. He became one of the most influential (and one of the most enigmatic) figures of new-age pop. His songs tell the stories of Mussolini, Franz Kafka and Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin; the song commissioned for the Bond movie The World Is Not Enough was deemed unusable. This visually powerful documentary reflects the dark and murky side to Walker’s work and includes interviews with big names in popular and avantgarde music: David Bowie, Radiohead, Jarvis Cocker (Pulp), Brian Eno, Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Alison Goldfrapp, Johnny Marr (The Smiths / Modest Mouse), Ute Lemper, Evan Parker and Hector Zazou.

About the director

Stephen Kijak (b. 1969, New Bedford), American filmmaker, studied with renowned film scholar (and expert on John Cassavetes) Ray Carney at Boston University. He wrote, directed and produced the film Never Met Picasso (1996), which won Best Screenplay and Best Actor at Outfest, the Los Angeles festival for LGBT culture. His next film was Cinemania (2002), a portrait on five of the most obsessive film buffs in New York. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man was screened in its international premiere in the Panorama section at last year’s Berlinale.