PianoMania

Deutschland Österreich 2008/2009 Dokumentarfilm

Summary

"The tone isn’t breathing", "The instrument need more magic" – typical sentences that Stefan Knüpfer often hears as Steinway & Sons’ chief technician and Master Tuner in Austria. He works with the best pianists in the world. And when Alfred Brendel, Lang Lang or Pierre-Laurant Aimard sit down at the piano, everything has to be perfect, on down to the most exacting tone nuance.

 

For every piano has its own personality, each piece demands its own timbre, and every interpretation has a particular temperament. The collaborative work between Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Stefan Knüpfer is at the centre of the film. Bach’s "The Art of Fugue" is to be recorded. Aimard has decided in favour of Concert Grand No. 109. The film begins one year be fore the Bach recording is to take place and the two men set out on their long odyssey of sounds. Stefan Knüpfer is a communications wizard; but he is also a technician who assembles, tightens, and fine-tunes. He works with all his senses and produces pianos that give artists wings. "PianoMania" studies Knüpfer’s passionate grappling with the sound of the piano, from deep inside the instrument to the exterior surroundings, in the full concert hall.

The prize-winning documentary by Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis tells – with affection and humour – of moments of the absolute love of attention to detail and perfection. "PianoMania" observes, from unique angles, the enthralling search for the perfect tone.

Source: 60. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)

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Credits

All Credits

Duration:
2639 m, 96 min
Format:
HD Cam - überspielt auf 35mm, 1:1,85
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby Digital
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 25.05.2010, 122982, ohne Altersbeschränkung / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung: 28.01.2009, Saarbrücken, Max-Ophüs-Preis - Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm;
Kinostart (DE): 09.09.2010

Titles

  • Originaltitel (DE AT) PianoMania
  • Untertitel (DE AT) Die Suche nach dem perfekten Klang
  • Weiterer Titel (DE AT) Pianomania: Auf der Suche nach dem perfekten Klang

Versions

Original

Duration:
2639 m, 96 min
Format:
HD Cam - überspielt auf 35mm, 1:1,85
Video/Audio:
Farbe, Dolby Digital
Censorship/Age rating:

FSK-Prüfung (DE): 25.05.2010, 122982, ohne Altersbeschränkung / feiertagsfrei

Screening:

Uraufführung: 28.01.2009, Saarbrücken, Max-Ophüs-Preis - Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm;
Kinostart (DE): 09.09.2010

Awards

Deutscher Filmpreis 2011
  • Lola, Beste Tongestaltung
Film Festival Locarno 2009
  • Bester Film, Settimana della Critica
FBW 2009
  • Prädikat: Besonders wertvoll
  • Dokumentarfilm des Monats
Kinofest Lünen 2009
  • Lüdia, Bester Nachwuchsfilm