Song from The Forest – Kamerafrau | Siri Klug | Director of Photography

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SONG FROM THE FOREST
Feature Length Documentary
2013 | 97min
A father-son story between real- and urban jungle
Director: Michael Obert
DP: Siri Klug
Production: Tondowski Films Berlin, Majade Berlin and WDR

“… überirdisch schöne Aufnahmen…”
Spiegel Online Kultur, Oliver Kaever, 13.09.2014

“It is a charming and beautifully filmed story. It is especially in sound and vision that Song From the Forest succeeds in being a striking and gently haunting film.”
ScreenDaily by Mark Adams (chief film critic), 3.12.2013

“…the film mainly operates in terms of striking images and aural impressions.”
The Hollywood Reporter by Neil Young, 23.11.2013

“…gorgeous Song from the Forest… delicately shot by Siri Klug.”
Indiewire by Eric Kohn, 22.11.2013

“… mindblowing cinematography!”
Jakub Duszynski, Co-President of Europa Distribution, 7.01.2014

VPRO IDFA 2013, Amsterdam | Winner: Best Feature Length Documentary
German Feature Length Documentary Award 2015

SXSW Film Festival 2014 Official Selection, Austin-USA
The Grand Prix Award 2014,Warsaw-Poland
ZabrebDox 2014 International Competition, Zagreb-Croatia
Reykjavik Docs Festival 2014 | Official Selection, Iceland
River Run 2014 Official Selection, Winston-Salem-USA
International Doc Film Festival 2014 | Opening Film, São Paulo-Brazil
DOK.fest 2014, Munich-Germany

Synopsis

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.