MOFFOM 2008 Press Release

The international festival of music films is preparing many new surprises!

The 5th annual MOFFOM festival will be held from the 16th to 20th of October at Lucerna,  Světozor and Evald cinemas. Fifty documentary films will have their Prague premier, with a focus on New York City and introducing a new section called „Planet MOFFOM.“  Additionally this year, a professional jury will evaluate and choose the best among twelve competing  entries. Tickets will be on sale starting from September 15th on the TicketPro network!

The festival will present 50 films, each making their debut in Czech cinemas. This will be a unique, behind the scenes look at the world of musicians like  Joy Division, Bob Dylan, Gogol Bordello, Sigur Rós, Pete Seeger, KISS, The Who, James Brown, Brian Wilson and many more!

The section on New York City, which follows previous focuses on Russia, South Africa and Brazil, offers films mainly documenting the creative work, cultural environment, instruments and atmosphere of New York City.

The inspiring cult movie "Style Wars" traces the development of graffiti and the fast-growing hip-hop subculture in New York in the early 80's. 

"From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale" tells the story about the creative life in southern Bronx, recording the rise of hip-hop and reflecting the power of music.

In 1958, dozens of American jazz legends unexpectedly gathered for a photograph that eventually became the symbol of the golden age of jazz.  "A Great Day in Harlem" captures this extraordinary event in the history of jazz.

The documentary "Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037" maps the manufacturing process of the Steinway L1037 piano.

Last but not least, this section includes Mel Brooks' 1968 legendary comedy "The Producers" featuring Zero Mostel.

In addition to the documentaries, the festival will introduce a new section, Planet MOFFOM, presenting an overview of mostly non-narrative films that observe the ways in which music forms the basis of our existence.

One of these is the legendary "Baraka" and the similar "Laya Project" , a compilation of contributions by musicians originating from areas devastated by the 2004 Tsunami. The film pays both a personal and collective musical homage to the endurance of the human soul, dedicated to those who survived.

The movie „What About Me?" is another visionary project by 1 Giant Leap, a.k.a Jamie Catto, the former singer of Faithless and producer Duncan Bridgeman. Through music, Catto and Bridgeman explore the complexity of the human essence on a global scale. Theirs is an account of how we are all interconnected through our creativity and faith.

"Heima: a film by Sigur Ros" records a series of concerts of the Icelandic band  Sigur Rós in their home country. This section also includes the black-and-white film "Middle of the Moment", which is accompanied by the beautiful music of composer Fred Firth, presented at last year's MOFFOM Festival.

12 documentaries have been entered for the festival contest and they will be evaluated by both audience and  professional jury, made up of: 

Petr Dorůžka (music critic, one of the 7 Samurajs of the Womex World Music Festival), 

Saša Michailidis (director of Radio1 and presenter of his own program called "Film at 5 o'clock"),

Alexander Hacke from Berlin (musician and member of the band Einsturzende Neubauten),

Kevin Fitzgerald (DJ Organic) (film producer, founder of Hip-hop Film Festival and an educational center focusing on hip-hop), and

Taina Ronkainen from Finland (creative director of „Oulu Music Video Festival”).

Tickets are for sale from September 15th in the TicketPro network!!!
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For more information:                            
Monika Klementová                            
Tel.: +420 602 695929                            
m.klementova@moffom.org
www.moffom.org