Trailer

Soundtrack & Book & DVD

You can buy the German DVD of SONG FROM THE FOREST right now!
Buy DVD now! >>
The special edition includes the german DVD, the soundtrack and a hand made Bayaka-necklace
Buy DVD Special Edition now! >>

Selected Recordings
of Bayaka Music by Louis Sarno
Buy Soundtrack now! >>

The film is inspired by the memoir “Song From The Forest: My Life Among the Pygmies”, recently reissued by Trinity University Press with a new forward by journalist Alex Shoumatoff, an afterward by the film's director, Michael Obert, and insight into the sound of the Bayara people by music scholar David Rothenberg. Buy Book now! >>

Story

SONG FROM THE FOREST

As a young man, American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. He never left.
Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno has recorded more than 1,000 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of the Bayaka society and has a 13-year-old son, Samedi. Once, when Samedi was a baby, he became seriously ill and Louis feared for his life. He held his son in his arms through a frightful night and made him a promise: “If you get through this, one day I’ll show you the world I come from.”
Now the time has come to fulfill his promise, and Louis travels with Samedi from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Together, they meet Louis’ family and old friends, including his closest friend from college, Jim Jarmusch.
Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, with a fascinating soundtrack and peaceful, loving imagery, Louis‘ and Samedi‘s stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son. SONG FROM THE FOREST is a modern epic set between rainforest and skyscrapers.

Crew & Partners

Michael Obert Director

Born in Breisach am Rhein in 1966, Michael Obert is an award-winning German author and journalist. Over the past 20 years he has travelled to the most remote parts of the world, forgotten corners of paradise as well as disaster areas and war zones. He mainly covers Africa and the Middle East. His seven-month journey from the source of the Niger to its mouth brought fame with his best-selling Regenzauber, known in English as On the River of Gods. Literary critics liken him to Bruce Chatwin, Jon Krakauer, and Ryszard Kapuscinski. When Michael is not travelling, he lives in Berlin. SONG FROM THE FOREST is his first film.

Alex Tondowski Producer

Alex started out as a stage actor in the 1980s in Paris, London, and New York. Following his childhood dream of Hollywood, he continued his career as a screen actor in Los Angeles and won roles in many television series, commercials, and films until his desire to return to Europe was too strong to resist. Shortly after his arrival in Berlin he founded Tondowski Films with his wife, Ira. Their goal is to support visionary directors to help them realise their ideas. “The story of Louis and his son is one that you dream of having the opportunity to make.“

Ira Tondowski Producer

Ira Tondowski was born in 1975 in East Berlin. She studied screenwriting at The Baden Württemberg’s renowned Filmakademie. She is a recipient of the Boje Buck Literature Prize for Nordwind, her greatly acclaimed screenwriting debut, and continues to work as a screenwriter and script adviser for both film and television. Driven by her desire to see stories on the big screen, she founded Tondowski Films in partnership with her husband, Alex. ”Working with Michael and Alex on SONG FROM THE FOREST has been life-changing, deeply moving, fun, and crazy. In one word: wonderful.”

Heino Deckert Co-Producer

Heino Deckert is producer and managing director of Ma.ja.de. filmproduktion based in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany, as well as running Deckert Distribution.
In 1995 Mr. Deckert founded d.net, an informal union of six European colleagues joining forces to exchange ideas and initiatives. Heino Deckert meanwhile produced more than 80 award-winning documentaries with filmmakers like Thomas Heise and Viktor Kossakowsky.
In 2005 Heino Deckert founded Ma.ja.de. fiction. “My Joy” and “In the Fog” by Sergei Loznitsa were chosen for the Cannes competition in 2010 and 2012.

Jutta Krug Commissioning Editor

Jutta Krug is currently working as commissioning editor for WDR, one of the largest German public broadcaster based in Cologne. She is in charge of feature length documentaries within the culture department. Her professional career was marked by ARTE in Strasbourg, where she was a member of the founding team in 1992. In 2000 she joined the WDR as a commissioning editor.
Many of the documentaries Jutta Krug commissioned received critical acclaims and are regularly screened at the most renowned international festivals. She has been member of different festival juries and regularly organises screenings and workshops.

Siri Klug Cinematographer

Siri Klug has been a camerawoman for numerous German and international productions. She trained with Michael Ballhaus (Gangs of New York), Hans Fromm (Wolfsburg), and took on second camera under Reinhold Vorschneider (Orly). “Working closely with such experienced filmmakers has helped me to quietly identify my own vision. My aim is not merely to seek out the perfect detail of a shot but also to bring the audience closer to those qualities we’re all searching for: sensitivity and passion.”

Wiebke Grundler Editor

Wiebke Grundler, a film editor since 2002, has worked on a wide range of productions for arte, 3sat, ZDF Theaterkanal, Kleines Fernsehspiel, and Al Jazeera as well as for The Goethe Institute in Abu Dhabi, the art gallery Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the Berlin theatre, the Volksbühne. She completed her professional studies in 2011 at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (HFF), the Film and Television University in Potsdam-Babelsberg. SONG FROM THE FOREST is her fourth full-length film.

Timo Selengia Sound

Timo Selengia was born in 1971 in Hamburg. Since 1998 he has been a sound engineer for cinema and TV productions, mostly documentary and reportage but also short films and feature films based on real-life events.

Hammersnail Sonic Research – Sound Design and Re-Recording Mix

For 'Song From The Forest' Marian Mentrup and Daniel Teige applied their philosophy of audio-scenography on documentary cinema by working with contrasting sonic elements from both New York and Central Africa and creating a dense and emerging surround mix that brings us close to Louis' world. Marian has a background in sound postproduction and film scoring while Daniel specialized in multi-channel sound installations and sound art. Hammersnail Sonic Research are working in London, Berlin and Basel.

Partners

Louis & Samedi

Louis Sarno

Born in 1954 in New Jersey, Louis Sarno is a world-renowned musicologist. His remarkable life’s work includes more than 1,000 hours of recordings of the Bayaka people’s unique songs, some of which, without his documentation, would have been lost. As an undergraduate, Sarno studied English and literature, sharing his passion for experimental music with his roommate Jim Jarmusch, whose films Dead Man (1995) and Ghost Dog (1999) were inspired by Sarno´s unusual path through life.
It all started while he was listening to the radio one winter night in the nineteen eighties and discovered a type of music he had never heard before. “These strange harmonies sent shivers down my spine. They seemed to hypnotise me. It was pure magic.” The songs haunted him. He did some research and learned of their origin with the Bayaka. Soon after that he was packing his recording equipment alongwith his last 500 dollars and boarding a one-way flight to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic.That was in 1985. A quarter of a century later he still lives amongst the Pygmies. “They are my family. The rainforest is my home.”

Samedi Mathurin Bokombe

Samedi is 13 years old. His name means Saturday. He’s called that because he was born on a Saturday. Until he travelled to the USA with his father, Samedi had never been out of the rainforest. Like most Bayaka children, he doesn’t go to school and can neither read nor write. Louis has not taught his son any English, nor does Samedi speak French, the official language of the Central African Republic.

The Bayaka People

The Bayaka (pronounced “bye-jacka”), also referred to as the Aka or Babenzele, are one of the oldest peoples on earth. They number around 100,000 people of small stature and live in the Central African rainforest as hunter-gatherers, using nets made of liana bark to hunt in large groups. The women carry the proceeds of the hunt, along with wild berries and fruits, in woven baskets on their backs. Their striking body decorations include facial tattoos, incisor teeth filed to a sharp point, and body carvings.
The very essence of Bayaka culture is their ancient polyphonic singing. The Bayaka use the sounds made by water, tree-trunks, birds, and wind to navigate the maze of the rainforest. The forest has sharpened their auditory abilities: not only can they decipher sounds from great distances, they also understand their significance. Bayaka music comes directly from this auditory understanding of the environment: the forest is the orchestra, the Bayaka take the solo parts. In 2003 the music of the Bayaka people was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.
Over the past two decades, 75 percent of the Congo Basin rainforest has been cleared. The Bayaka, agile forest runners, are ill-equipped to deal with treefellers, gold prospectors, and speculative traders encroaching on their living space. The Bayaka people are fighting for survival.

News

SONG FROM THE FOREST won the German Documentary Award 2015!

You can order the German DVD of SONG FROM THE FOREST right now!

Official release date is 19.06.15.

Order DVD now!

COMING TO THEATERS IN SWITZERLAND STARTING ON JUNE 18th 2015

You can purchase the newly rereleased book “SONG FROM THE FOREST: MY LIFE AMONG THE PYGMIES”!

Release date: April 7th 2015

The film is inspired by the memoir Song From The Forest: My Life Among the Pygmies, recently reissued by Trinity University Press with a new forward by journalist Alex Shoumatoff, an afterward by the film's director, Michael Obert, and insight into the sound of the Bayara people by music scholar David Rothenberg.

Buy your book here

COMING TO SELECT THEATERS IN THE U.S. STARTING ON APRIL 10th 2015

For information click here

COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU IN GERMANY STARTING ON SEPTEMBER, 11th 2014

For information click here

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE SOUNDS OF THE JUNGLE

you can now pre-order the soundtrack
Official release date is 11th of September. All pre-orders will ship on this date.
pre-order now

Song From the Forest was part of !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival, February 2015

for further information click here

Song From the Forest was part of Pan African Film Festival, February 2015

for further information click here

Song From the Forest is part of Annapolis Film Festival, March 2015

for further information click here

Song From the Forest was part of Boulder International Film Festival, March 2015

for further information click here

Song From the Forest runs at Planet in Focus Festival, November 2014

for further information click here

New York Premiere at DOC NYC, November 2014

for further information click here

Song From the Forest runs at Canberra Int. Film Festival, November 2014

for further information click here

Italian Premiere at Immagini & Suoni del Mondo – Ethnomusicological Film Fest, November 2014

for further information click here

We are part of Vermont International Film Festival, October 2014

for further information click here

Premiere in Lithuania at Inconvenient Film Festival, October 2014

for further information click here

Special mention is given to Song From the Forest at One World Film Festival Ottawa!

October 2014
The jury of the 25th One World Film Festival has given a “Special Mention” to SONG FROM THE FOREST “for its poetic and insightful depiction of the ongoing struggle to connect an unravel questions of colonization, community, desire and humanity.”
read the article

Spanish Premiere at WOMEX the World Music Expo, October 2014

For screening schedule click here

Song From the Forest is part of Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, October 2014

for screenings schedule click here

Song From the Forest is part of Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, October 2014

For screening schedule click here

Great Britain Premiere at BFI London Film Festival, October 2014

For information click here

Swiss Premiere at Zurich Film Festival, September/ October 2014

For screening schedule click here

Norway Premiere at Bergen International Film Festival, September/ October 2014

For information and screening schedule click here

Canadian Premiere at One World Film Festival Ottawa, September 2014

For information click here

We are part of International Film Festival Message to Man, September 2014

For information click here

Cyprus Premiere at Lemesos International Documentary Festival, August 2014

For information click here

Australian Premiere at the Melbourne International film festival, August 2014

For information click here

We are part of the competition “Horizonte” at Fünf Seen Film Festival, Germany.

For information click here

Theatrical release in Poland on July 4th 2014 in over 20 cinemas countrywide.

For information click here

or here

Russian Premiere at the Moscow International film festival, June 2014

For information click here

China Premiere at the Shanghai International film festival, June 2014

For information click here

Macedonia Premiere at the Makedox Film Festival in Skopje.

For screening schedule click here

New Zealand Premiere at the EDGE Film Festival in Auckland and Wellington.

For screening schedule click here

We are part of the Best of the Fest section at the Biografilm Festival in Italy.

For screening schedule click here

Italian Premiere at the Cineambiente Film Festival in Napoli.

For screening schedule click here

Canada Premiere at the DOXA Film Festival in Vancouver. May 2014

For screening schedule click here

Green Film Festival in Seoul, Korea.

Ecuador Premiere at the Edoc Festival.

For screening schedule click here

SONG FROM THE FOREST wins THE GRAND PRIX AWARD in Warsaw, Poland.

Poland premiere at the Planet + Doc Film Festival in Warsaw, PolandMay 2014

For screening schedule click here

Israel Premiere at the DocAviv International fim festival in Tel Aviv, Israel May 2014

For screening schedule click here

Coming to a cinema near you in Belgium starting on April 15th 2014

For screening schedule click here

Coming to a cinema near you in Denmark starting on April 30th 2014

For screening schedule click here

German premiere at DOK.fest Munich May 7th-14th 2014

For screening schedule click here

REVIEW

VARIETY, review by Peter Debruge

It' All True International Documentary Film Festival Brazil – Opening Film – in Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th – 13th April 2014

For screening schedule click here

River Run International Film Festival 2014 – Documentary Feature Competition – in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA 4th – 13th April 2014

For screening schedule click here

Reykjavík Shorts & Docs Festival 2014 – in Reykjavík, Iceland 3rd – 9th April 2014

For screening schedule click here

Cleveland International Film Festival 2014- in Cleveland, OH, USA 19th – 30th March 2014

For screening schedule click here

ZagrebDox 2014 – International Competition – in Zagreb, Croatia, 24th Feb.- 3rd March 2014.

For screening schedule click here

USA Premiere at SXSW Festival 2014 in Austin, Texas, 7-15 March 2014.

For screening schedule click here

SONG FROM THE FOREST by Michael Obert was awarded the VPRO IDFA Award for Feature Length Documentary 2013!

29.Nov.2013
The IDFA Jury Report:
“… one film stepped out. With a lush sound design, tender images, and intimate access, this film explores the legacy of an aging man immersed deep in a rainforest community, where he has recorded thousands of hours of music. By tracing his journey back to the city with his young son, this film poetically asks: as the world changes around us, what do we leave behind? The jury gives the prize for the best Feature length documentary to Song from the Forest by Michael Obert.”

See IDFA reviews:

Hollywood Reporter Review IDFA 2013
Indie Wire Review IDFA 2013

For the winners more screening have been scheduled see Showtimes

SONG FROM THE FOREST is nominated for the VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary
27.Nov.2013

SONG FROM THE FOREST is selected for
Feature-Length Documentary Competition
at The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013 (www.idfa.nl)

WORLD PREMIERE
Thursday, 21st of November, 8.15pm
at Pathé De Munt Theatre
Vijzelstraat 15, 1017 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Further Screenings click Showtimes

Showtimes

COMING TO THE FOLLOWING THEATERS IN SWITZERLAND STARTING ON JUNE 18th 2015

Zürich: Arthouse Movie, 18.06.15 further info
Basel: Kult.kino, 18.06.15 further info
Bern: Kino Kunstmuseum, 18.06.15 further info
Lucerne: Stattkino, 18.06.15 further infos
Schaan: Filmclub im TaKino, 18.06.15 further info

Zürich Pre-premiere
Switzerland
Lunchkino, Arthouse Le Paris
12. – 17. June
12. June with special guest director Michael Obert

COMING TO THE FOLLOWING U.S. THEATERS STARTING ON APRIL 10th 2015

New York: Cinema Village for further info and tickets click here
Friday, 10th Aril: Special screening at 07.05 pm with director Michael Obert and protagonist Louis Sarno, Q&A and Book Signing
Saturday, 11th April: Special screening at 03.05 pm and 07.05 pm with director Michael Obert and protagonist Louis Sarno and Q&A
Daily screenings: 01.05 pm, 03.05 pm, 07.05 pm, 09.05 pm

Pasadena: LAEMMLE Theaters – Playhouse 7 Movie Theater, 17.04.15
for further info and tickets click here
Daily screenings: 01.00 pm, 03.20 pm, 05.40 pm, 8.00 pm, 10.15 pm

Portland: The Clinton Street Theater, 23.04.15
for further info and tickets click here

Santa Fe: Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, 24.04.15
for further info and tickets click here
Daily screenings: 05.30 pm
01.05.15-07.05.15 Daily Screenings: 02.15 pm

COMING TO THE FOLLOWING CINEMAS STARTING ON SEPTEMBER 11th 2014

Aachen: Apollo further info
Alpirsbach: Subiaco, 08.01.15 – 14.01.15 further info
Bad Urach: forum 22, 09.10.14 – 15.10.14 further info
Bad Endorf: Marias Kino, 24.11.14 further infos
Berlin: Delphi Filmpalast tickets and info; Hackesche Höfe further info; fsk further info; b-ware Ladenkino further info Kant Kino, 19.10.14 further info Bali Kino, starting 09.10.14 further info Babylon Mitte, starting 27.11.14 further info Brotfabrik, 18.12. – 23.12.14 further info Cinemaxx Potsdamer Platz, 24. + 25.01.15 Green Me Filmfestival further info
Bamberg: Lichtspiel, 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Bochum: Endstation further info
Bonn: Neue Filmbühne further info Woki, 13.04.15 further info
Breisach on the Rhine: Kommunales Kino, 04.10.14 + 05.10.14 + 11.10.2014 further info
Engel-Lichtspiele, 17.03.15 further info
Bremen: City 46, 03.10.14 – 06.10.14 further info
Brodowin: Haus Gilsenbach, 21.02.15 further info
Chemnitz: Clubkino, 23.10.14 – 29.10.14 further info
Cologne: Filmpalette further info; Odeon further info
Dortmund: Camera further info
Dresden: Thalia further info
Duisburg: Filmforum further info
Düsseldorf: Metropol, 11. + 12.10.14 further info
Dusseldorf: Filmwerkstatt, 17.10.14 further info
Erlenbach: Kino Passage, 02.11.14 + 05.11.14 further info
Essen: Luna further info
Esslingen: Koki, 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Fellbach: Orfeo, 22.10.14 further info
Flensburg: 51 Stufen, 8. + 9.11., 22. + 23.11., 29. + 30.11.14 further info
Freiburg: Friedrichsbau further info
Frankfurt: Mal Seh'n further info Orfeos Erben, starting 18.09.14 further info Filmtheater Valentin, 23.1014. – 29.10.14 further info
Freudenstadt: Subiaco, 18.12.14 – 24.12.14 further info
Friedrichshafen: Studio 17, 4.12.14 – 8.12.14 further info
Gera: Filmclub Comma, 15.10.14 further info
Göppingen: Kino Open End, 11.04.15 further info
Göttingen: Lumière 04.12.14 – 10.12.14 further info
Hachenburg:Cinexx, 09.11.14 and starting 13.11.14 further info
Hamburg: Abaton further info; Zeise, 28.09.14 matinee further info
Hannover: Kino im Künstlerhaus further info; Kino im Sprengel, 19.09.14 + 20.09.14 further info
Heidelberg: Karlstorkino, 20.09.14 – 23.09.14 further info
Hillesheim: Eifel-Film-Bühne, 16.10.14 – 22.10.14 further info
Immenstadt: Union starting 30.10.14 further info
Ingolstadt: Audi-Programmkino, 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Inning am Ammersee: Kino Alte Brauerei Stegen, 24.10.14 – 26.10.14 further info
Karlsruhe: Kinemathek, 29.10.14 – 31.10.14 further info
Kiel: Kommunales Kino in der Pumpe, 18.09.14 -24.09.14 further info
Konstanz: Scala-Kinocenter further info
Leipzig: Schaubühne, 09.10.14 – 22.10.14 further info
UT Connewitz, starting 27.11.14 further info
Lich: Kino Traumstern, 26.10.14 – 29.10.14 further info
Lübeck: KoKi 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Ludwigsburg: Caligari, 16.-17.10.14 + 20.-21.10.14 further info
Ludwigslust: Luna, 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Lüneburg: Scala, 21.12.14 Matinee further info
Mainz: Cinemayence, 23.10.14 – 26.10.14 further info
Mannheim: Cinema Quadrat, 11.12.14 – 17.12.14 further info
Marburg: Filmkunstkinos further info
München: Arena Filmtheater further info; Arri Kino, 03. + 05.10.14 further info ; City 2, 28.09.14 matinee further info ; Monopol, starting 25.09.14 further info
Münster: Cinema & Kurbelkiste further info
Neitersen: Wied Scala, 13.11.14 – 19.11.14 further info
Nürnberg: Filmhaus, starting 18.09.14 further info
Ochsenfurt: Casablanca, 23.10.14 – 26.10.14 further info
Oldenburg: Casablanca, starting september further info
Passau: Scharfrichter further info
Penzberg: Kino P, 09. – 14.10.14 further info
Pforzheim: KoKi, 25.12.14 – 30.12.14 further info
Potsdam: Filmmuseum 11.12.14 further info
Regensburg: Filmgalerie further info
Rostock: Lichtspiel Wundervoll, 10. + 12. + 17.10.14 further info
Saarbrücken: Kino 8 1/2, 13.09.14 + 14.09.14, 20.09.14 – 22.09.14 further info
Schorndorf: Kleine Fluchten, 07.11.14 – 16.11.14 further info
Schramberg: Subiaco, 11.12.14 – 17.12.14 further info
Schwäbisch Hall: Kino im Schafstall, 14.11.14 + 16.11.14 further info
Seefeld: Kino Breitwand further info
Simmern: Pro-Winzkino, 11.01.15 further info
Sinsheim: Citydome 04.03.15 further info
Stuttgart: Delphi Arthaus Kino further info
Trier: Broadway, 07. + 09. + 10.12.14 further info
Trostberg: Stadtkino, 25.09.14 – 01.10.14 further info
Tübingen: Arsenal, ab 18.09.14 further info
Ulm: Obscura further info
Wasserburg: Utopia, 16.10.14 – 22.10.14 further info
Weikersheim: Kinomobil e.V., 10.01.15
Weimar: Lichthaus, starting 18.09.14 further info
Weingarten: Linse, 23.10.14 – 29.10.14 further info
Weiterstadt: KoKi, 13.11.14 – 16.11.14 further info
Wiesbaden: Murnau Filmtheater, 09.10.14 – 15.10.14 further info
Wiesbaden: Caligari, 30.01.15 + 01.02.15 further info
Wiesenburg: Bahnhof, 27.02.15 further info
Witzenhausen: Capitol, 14.11.14 + 18.11.14 further info
Würzburg: Central Programmkino further info

Screening at Annapolis Film Festival, USA
28. March 12:00 pm
for further info click here

Screening at Princeton Environmental Film Festival, USA
22. March 11:00 am
for further info click here

Screening at Vera Filmfestival, Finland
15. March 11:00 am
for further info click here

Screening at Boulder International Film Festival, USA
07. March 09:30 pm
for further info click here

Screening at Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival, USA
27. February 06:30 pm
for further info click here

Screening at Sedona International Film Festival, USA
23. February 03:20 pm
26. February 09:00 am
for further info click here

Screening at !f Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey
12. February 12:00 am Istanbul
26. February 03:30 pm Ankara
for further info click here

Screening at Spokane International Film Festival, USA
10. February 06:30 pm
for further info click here

Screening at Pan African Film Festival, USA
08. February 12:15 pm
10. February 04:00 pm
12. February 03:45 pm
for further info click here

Screening at Norient Musikfilm Festival 2015 Bern, Switzerland
15. January 08:00 pm
for further info click here

Screening at DOC NYC 2014, USA
14 November 05:00 pm
for tickets and screening schedule click here

Screening at Planet in Focus Festival 2014, Canada
09 November 11:00 am
for screening schedule click here

Screening at Canberra International Film Festival 2014, Canada
02 November 02:30 pm
06 November 11:00 am
screening schedule click here

Screening at Immagini & Suoni del Mondo – Ethnomusicological Film Fest 2014, Italy
03 November 06:00 pm
screening schedule click here

Screening at Viennale 2014, Austria
01 November 06:00 pm
04 November 08:30 pm
for tickets and screening schedule click here

Screening at Vermont International Film Festival 2014, Canada
30 October 4:15 pm
screening schedule click here

Screening at Inconvenient Films 2014, Lithuania
26 October 06:00 pm
26 October 06:00 pm
08 November 07:30 pm
screening schedule click here

Screening at WOMEX 2014, Spain
25 October 3:00 pm
screening schedule click here

Screening at Santa Fe Independent Film Festival 2014, Mexico
19 October 3:00 pm
for tickets click here

Screening at Loft Film Festival Showcase 2014, USA
17 October
for tickets click here

Screening at Hot Springs Documentary Festival 2014, USA
14 October 5:45 pm Cinema 1
15 October 1:50 pm Cinema 1
for screening schedule click here

Screening at 58th BFI London Film Festival 2014, UK
12 October 6 pm BFI Southbank, NFT3
17 October 3:30 pm ICA Cinema, Screen 1

Screening at Zurich Film Festival 2014, Swiss
29 September 6:15 pm Corso 4
2 October 4:30 pm Corso 4
4 October 1:15 pm Corso 4

Screening at Camden International Film Festival 2014, Maine USA
27 September 11:00 am Farnsworth Art Museum

Screening at One World Film Festival 2014 Ottawa, Canada
26 September 09:00 pm

Screening at Bergen International Film Festival 2014, Norway
24 September 03:45 pm Kjop
30 September 05:15 pm Kjop

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Breisach on the Rhine, Germany
Saturday 4th October 2014 8:15 pm Kommunales Kino
Sunday 5th October 2014 5:00 pm Kommunales Kino

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Hanover, Germany
Friday 19th September 2014 8:30 pm Kino im Sprengel

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Berlin, Germany
Sunday 14th September 2014 6:00 pm fsk
For information click here

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Freiburg, Germany
Saturday 13th September 2014 time 7:00 pm Friedrichsbau

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Frankfurt, Germany
Friday 12th September 2014 5:30 pm Mal Seh'n
in co-operation with medico international

Screening and Q&A with director Michael Obert
Stuttgart, Germany
Thursday 11th September 2014 6:30 pm Delphi Arthaus

Hamburg premiere
Germany
Monday 1st September 2014 8:00 pm Abaton
with Special Guests From Team and Cast
For information and tickets click here

Berlin premiere
Germany
Tuesday 2nd September 2014 8:00 pm Delphi Filmpalast
with Special Guests From Team and Cast
For information and tickets click here

Cologne premiere
Germany
Wednesday 3rd September 2014 8:00 pm Odeon
with Special Guests From Team and Cast
For information and tickets click here

Screening at Lemesos International Documentary Festival 2014, Cyprus
6 August 6:30 pm Theatro Ena
further info

Screenings at Fünf Seen Festival 2014, Germany
26 July 7:00 pm Kino Breitwand Herrsching
27 July 6:00PM Kino Breitwand Starnberg
further info www.fsff.de

Theatrical release in Poland on July 4th 2014 in over 20 cinemas countrywide.

For information click here
or here

Screenings at Edge Documentary Festival 2014 in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand
Auckland
Saturday 31 May 9:15 pm Q Theater
Monday 2 June 1:30PM Q Theater
Wellington
Wed 11 June 1 pm Roxy Cinema
Sat 14 June 8:45 pm Roxy Cinema
further info www.documentaryedge.org.nz

Screenings at Beldocs Film Festival in Belgrade, Serbia
Tuesday, May 14, 2014 – 19:00am
further info www.beldocs.rs

Screenings at DOXA Film Festival in Vancouver, Canada
Saturday, May 10, 2014 – 11:00am
further info www.doxafestival.ca

Screenings at Docaviv Festival 2014 in Tel Aviv, Israel
Friday May 9th 19:30 Cinemateque 4
Tuesday May 13th 16:45 Cinemateque 1
further info www.docaviv.co.il

Screenings at the Green Film Festival 2014 in Seoul, Korea
Saturday May 10th 19:00 / Seoul Museum of History
Thursday May 15th 16:00 / Seoul Museum of History
further info www.gffis.org

Screenings at Planet + Doc Festival 2014 in Warsaw and Wroclaw, Poland
KINOTEKA (Warsaw)
14.05 / 21:30
15.05 / 21:30
16.05 / 17:00
17.05 / 21:30
DOLNOŚLĄSKIE CENTRUM FILMOWE (Wrocław)
10.05 / 21:00
11.05 / 17:00
16.05 / 17:00
further info www.planetdocff.pl

Screenings at BuDoKu festival in Budapest, Hungary
Tuesday May 6th, 2014/ 20h00 / Toldi
Sunday May 11th, 2014/ 18h45/ Művész
further info www.budoku.hu

Screenings at DOK fest. München in Munich, Germany
DOK Panorama Section
Friday May 9th, 2014/ 19h30/ City 2
Sunday May 11th, 2014/ 20h00/ Filmmuseum
further info www.dokfest-muenchen.de

Screenings at It's All True International Documentary Film Festival – in São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
International Retrospective
São Paulo/ Friday, April 4th, 2014/ 17h00/ Livraria Cultura
Rio de Janeiro/ Thursday, April 10th, 2014/ 19h30/ Espaço Itaú de Cinema Botafogo
São Paulo/ Sunday, April 12th, 2014/ 14h30/ Livraria Cultura
further info www.itsalltrue.com

Screenings at River Run Internation Film Festival – in Winston – Salem, North Carolina, USA
Saturday, April 5th, 2014/ 10h30/ a/perture
Sunday, April 6th, 2014/ 19h30/ a/perture
Tuesday, April 8th, 2014/ 14h30/ a/perture
further info www.riverrunfilm.com

Screenings at Reykjavík Shorts & Docs Festival 2014 – in Reykjavík, Iceland
Friday, April 4th, 2014/ 18h00/ Bió Paradís
Monday, April 7th, 2014/ 22h00/ Bió Paradís
further info www.shortsdocsfest.com

Screenings at Cleveland Int. Film Festival 2014, Cleveland,OH, USA
Friday, March 28, 2014 at 1:30 PM
Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 6:20 PM
further info www.clevelandfilm.org

Screenings at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2014, Thessaloniki, Greece
Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 8PM – John Cassavetes Cinema
Friday, March 21, 2014 at 8PM – Pavlos Zannas Cinema
further info www.tdf.filmfestival.gr

Screenings at SXSW 2014, Austin,TX, USA
Saturday, March 8 / 2:00PM / AMC Theater at VCC
Monday, March 10 / 9:30PM / SXSatellite: Marchesa
Wednesday, March 12 / 2:00PM / SXSatellite: Alamo Village
further info www.sxsw.com

Screenings at ZagrebDox 2014, Zagreb, Croatia
Monday, Feb 24th at 12pm-Theater 4
Thursday, Feb 27th at 9pm-Theater 3
Saturday, Mar 1st at 4pm-Theater 2
further info www.zagrebdox.net

EFM Industry screening, Berlin, Germany (EFM Badge holders only)
Friday, February 7th 2014, 4pm – Cinemaxx 19

More Screenings at IDFA 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands
29.11.2013/ 10h00/ Melkweg – Rabozaal
30.11.2013/ 10h00/ DLM: Mary Dresselhuys Zaal
30.11.2013/ 10h00/ DLM: Wim Sonneveld Zaal
30.11.2013/ 10h00/ Melkweg – Rabozaal
30.11.2013/ 12h30/ Tuschinski 3
01.12.2013/ 10h00/ DLM: Mary Dresselhuys Zaal
01.12.2013/ 10:00/ DLM: Wim Sonneveld Zaal
for tickets www.idfa.nl

Screenings at IDFA 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands

21.11.2013 / 20.15h / Munt 7 – WORLD PREMIERE
22.11.2013 / 12.30h / Brakke Grond Expo
23.11.2013 / 15.45h / Munt 12 – INDUSTRY SCREENING
24.11.2013 / 17.45h / Tuschinski 4
27.11.2013 / 14.15h / Munt 12
30.11.2013 / 12.30h / Tuschinski 3
for tickets www.idfa.nl

Gallery

Help the Bayaka

THE BAYAKA SUPPORT PROJECT

Dear audience,

the unique culture of the Bayaka is threatened by the destruction of their rainforest, by poaching, and epidemics. A lack of education and legal support compounds these problems. The Bayaka need our help! Please donate now to the Central African MEFP (“Maison de la Femme et de l´ Enfant Pygmée”), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Bayaka. Help them set up a long-term health system in the area south of where Louis and Samedi live. The MEFP is run by a family from Bangui whom we know personally and whose activities Louis Sarno approves of:

To make a donation to the MEFP through PayPal click here:

Thank you very much!

Michael Obert, director

PS: Your donation goes to a PayPal account of Tondowski Films & Friends and will be forwarded to the MEFP. Because this is an international transaction, your donation is not tax-deductible, but all the more welcome.

Listen to Louis Sarno explaining why you should support MEFP

Press

Reviews

VILLAGE VOICE, review by Ernest Hardy
NEW YORK TIMES, review by Jon Caramanica
FILM JOURNAL, review by Neil Young
EXAMINER, review by Christia Torres
MXDWN, review by James Lambert
WHAT NOT TO DOC, review by Basil Tsiokos
THE TIMES WEEKLY, review by Kam Williams
VARIETY, review by Peter Debruge
INDIEWIRE, review by Eric Kohn
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, review by Neil Young
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, review by Mark Adams
SPIEGEL ONLINE, review by Oliver Kaever
RBB ONLINE, review by Andreas Lueg
FOCUS, review by dpa
FILMDIENST, review by Ulrich Kriest

Contact

Tondowski Films & Friends

Krieler Landweg 3
14662 Mühlenberge, Germany
Phone +49 33238 205 87
, www.tondowskifilms.de

Office Berlin
Obentrautstr. 55
10963 Berlin
Phone +49 30 91509342, Fax +49 30 37719575

World Sales

Deckert Distribution GmbH
Marienplatz 1
04103 Leipzig, Germany
Phone +49 341 215 66 38
, www.deckert-distribution.com

Press Agency

Claudia Tomassini + Associates
Saarbrücker Strasse 24, Haus B, 2.OG (2nd floor)
10405 Berlin, Germany
Phone + 49 30 4434 0606
, www.claudiatomassini.com

Imprint

Tondowski Films & Friends GbR & Co. TF KG

Managing Directors:
Alexandre Tondowski, Ira Tondowski

Phone +49 33238 205 87, Fax +49 33238 205 86
, www.tondowskifilms.de

Court Register:
Amtsgericht Potsdam, HRA5416P

Vat-ID-No:
DE278409483

Liability:
 Despite careful checks being made on content, the company bears no legal liability for the content of external links. Only the operators of webpages reached through links can be held legally responsible for their content.

Layout:

StudioKrimm

Web Development:

Ingo Tegeder

CMS:

Redaxo