A Place Called Music
(Un lugar llamado música)
Enrique M. Rizo | Documentary
2022 | 88 minutes | Mexico
The captivating musical encounter between American composer Philip Glass and Mexican Wixárika musician Daniel Medina.
Synopsis
A captivating documentary that explores the unexpected bond between Philip Glass, one of the most influential composers of our time, and Daniel Medina, a traditional Wixárika violinist from the mountains of Jalisco, Mexico.
Despite their apparent differences, Daniel and Philip find common ground through music, embarking on a unique collaboration that merges Wixárika tradition with contemporary composition. Through rehearsals and performances in iconic venues across Mexico and New York, the film showcases the fusion of Daniel's ancestral melodies with the grand piano, marking a groundbreaking moment in musical history.
Despite language barriers, their music becomes a universal language, creating a shared space where their spirits connect and resonate with each other.
Reviews
"Music in itself is a path. If I want to learn about a culture, the quickest way for me is to start with the music [...] What happened over time is that the music Daniel and I played began to influence us. So when we play together, we listen to each other." — Philip Glass
"A cinematic journey into indigenous culture." — Rukmini Raman, The Lawrentian
“Mexico would be very different if there were more films like this.” — Álvaro Cuevas, Milenio
"Rizo...settled on allowing the music to be the protagonist of the story. He mentioned that racism, anti-indigenous sentiment and preservation of culture were all pertinent topics to the Wixárika, but [Rizo] wanted to focus 'on what they had instead of what they did not'." — Rukmini Raman, The Laurentian
Citation
Main credits
Rizo, Enrique M. (film director)
Rizo, Enrique M. (screenwriter)
Danse, Patrick (screenwriter)
Cuevas, Cathia (film producer)
Medina de la Rosa, Daniel (on-screen participant)
Glass, Philip (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Cinematography, Iván Vilchis Ibarra; editing, Patrick Danse; music, Philip Glass, Daniel Medina de la Rosa.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Anthropology
Culture + Identity
Environment + Sustainability
Indigenous Peoples
Latin American Studies
Music
North America
Race + Ethnicity
Religion + Spirituality
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Morelia International Film Festival; Shanghai International Film Festival; AMBULANTE Film Festival; Doqumenta Querétaro International Film Festival - Jury’s Award; Icaro International Film Festival - Best International Documentary; Zaragoza International Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Enrique M. Rizo
NATIONALITY: Mexico
YEAR: 2022
GENRE: Documentary
LANGUAGE: English; Spanish; Indigenous languages; Other languages
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: Adult, College, High School, Middle School
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
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