They Shot The Piano Player (2024)
Director: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Run Time: 103 min. Rating: PG-13 Release Year: 2023
Starring: Abel Ayala, Jeff Goldblum, Roberta Wallach, Tony Ramos, Vinicius de Moraes
Country: Spain, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Peru, United Kingdom
Language: English, Spanish, Portuguese with English subtitles
About the film:
Official Selection, 2023 Toronto Film Festival
A New York music journalist goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr.
A vibrantly hand-drawn and celebratory origin story of the world-renowned Latino musical movement Bossa Nova, They Shot The Piano Player (2024) captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.
“an intriguing hybrid in all sorts of ways… it never stops being visually captivating”
—Chris Willman, Variety
About the filmmakers:
Fernando Trueba is a multi-award-winning writer, director and producer, with a career spanning more than three decades in film, television, documentaries, theater and music. His film Belle Epoque (1993) won both the Academy Award and BAFTA for Foreign Language Film. Trueba’s Latin jazz documentary Calle 54 (2000) saw the birth of his collaboration and friendship with Javier Mariscal, who also co-directed They Shot the Piano Player (2024).
Javier Mariscal is a Spanish artist and designer who works in a wide range of mediums, including paint, sculpture, and landscaping. His work in film has largely been in partnership with Fernando Trueba. The pair first collaborated on the jazz documentary Calle 54 (2000) and paired up again for Chico & Rita (2012)—a film which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. They Shot the Piano Player (2024) is Mariscal and Trueba’s third collaborative feature.
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