Kaboom x In-Edit: They Shot the Piano Player
110 minutes
An anidocufiction that plunges deep into a forgotten murder case and the genre of bossa nova
An animated docufiction that plunges ocean deep into a forgotten case, They Shot the Piano Player is part swinging love letter to Latin America bossa nova music from the sixties and seventies, and part captivating procedural about an unsolved murder against the backdrop of military juntas. The latest hand-drawn film by directing duo Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal - whose first outing together, Chico and Rita, earned an Oscar nom - centres around the real-life disappearance and presumed (political?) murder in 1976 of Brazilian pianist Francisco Tenório Júnior, who had grown a considerable fanbase in Latin America.
As Francisco is more of a ghost presiding over the film, the true protagonist comes in the form of a fictional New Yorker journalist, distinctively voiced by Jurassic Park legend Jeff Goldblum, who originally sets out to do a historical piece on the genre of bossa nova, but ends up taking an interest in the tragic figure of Tenório. The interviewer's conversations with the persons Tenório left give a rich tapestry of historical and personal recollections. Using real recordings of interviews Trueba conducted over a period of 15 years, the film was initially meant to be a live-action documentary. Luckily for animation afficionados, Trueba decided the animation medium would be a better and freer fit. Mariscal's vivid designs and bold colour palette breathe even more life into a politically charged hunt for the truth. And as a who's who of Brazilian and Argentine music, They Shot the Piano Player isn't that bad either!
This animated music documentary is the perfect occasion for Kaboom Animation Festival and In-Edit Netherlands for a collaboration: a dream come true. Kaboom brings a Dutch animator for a Q&A and In-Edit adds a musical performance to kick off the screening with some jazzy Bossa nova vibes.
