Little Blue Nothing

Colour, DIGIBETA
France, 2009, 105 min
WP – World premiere
Section: 2009: A Musical Odyssey

Synopsis

The documentary on music duo and partners Vojtěch and Irena Havel is the first "Czech connection” in the original and exceptional oeuvre of filmmaker Vincent Moon. He has been developing his focused music chronicles since 2006: his "concerts across the street” (celebrated via the Internet as The Take Away Shows) capture musicians in action, however, away from the concert scene – in their home environment, in public places, and during their symbolic return from the raised stage to the normal world. Moon, who also stylises his films using colour effects, has now filmed over ninety music testimonies. His documentary method is often compared with the Dogma 95 manifesto, the field recordings of Alan Lomax and the long-running radio show Peel Sessions hosted by famous BBC disc jockey John Peel; it also prompts references to a form of guerrilla filmmaking. Moon put together a special selection of his work for the Karlovy Vary IFF, dominated by the world premiere of a film about improvisers Vojtěch and Irena Havel, who combine early European musical tradition with the meditative sensitivity of East Asian philosophy.

About the director

Vincent Moon (b. 1971), born Mathieu Saura, is an independent filmmaker from Paris. A large part of his work can be accessed on the Internet, which also helped to bring fame to his exceptional musical chronicle Concerts à emporter. Moon mainly chooses independent musicians for his work (Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Yeasayer, Liars, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut), but has also accepted calls from major stars (R. E. M., Tom Jones, Sigur Rós). He makes experimental films and created the series of African documentaries Changes in Rhythm. The film Little Blue Nothing was co-directed with producer and filmmaker Antoine Viviani.