Screening of “We Don’t Care about Music Anyway”
Hanoi: 6, 7 and 8 Mar 2012, 7 pm
ATK
HCMC: Fri 09 Mar 2012, 8 pm
Café Saturday
UPDATE: please see the bottom of the post for an Important Message.
From the organizer:
You are invited to four official screenings of “We Don’t Care about Music Anyway” – accompanied by live experimental sounds from a host of talented local musicians. “We Don’t Care About Music Anyway” is a documentary film associating and confronting the work of 8 musicians from Tokyo’s new music scene with the Japanese society.
“Rather than a film about music, we like to think of “We Don’t Care..” as a film about sound and its perception” say directors CédricDupire and Gaspard Kuentz. How else to approach Tokyo’s world renowned avant-garde music scene? The amplified sound of a controlled heartbeat; the screech of an electric cello played with ferocity; turntablism at its most esoteric; walls of guitar drones over 8-bit soundscapes: these are the points where a diverse, ultra-modern cityscape meets ancient traditions in creative youths.
For people whose wish to explore new terrains far outweighs any narrow-minded prejudices: the film is a real treat, one that will sonically transfer you to a different world – or take you closer to a reality that has always been there – or maybe both, depends on how you look at it.
Program
In Hanoi: film screening with live performances from: Tri Minh + Pham Quang Tran Minh (on the 6th), Vu Nhat Tan (solo set) (7th), Vu Nhat Tan + Bush Lam (8th).
In HCMC: film screening with discussions after the screening with Nguyen Manh Hung and Giang Writher.
Languages
In Hanoi: Japanese with English subtitles
In HCMC: Japanese with subtitles in English and Vietnamese
Ticket
In Hanoi: 100 000 VND. Tickets available now from ATK 73A Mai Hac De
In HCMC: Free entry.
Watch film trailer here:
Important Message
Dear Hanoi Grapevine readers,
It has come to our attention that there was a certain confusion regarding the difference between the pricing systems of the screenings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. We would like to offer our explanation below.
As stated in the original article, all 4 screenings of We Don’t Care About Music Anyway are official screenings, in the sense that we worked directly with the film’s producers (Studio Shaiprod) to bring the film to Vietnam, which means that there is a rights fee that needs to be paid for that.
In Ho Chi Minh City, we are fortunate enough to get financial support from Mr Dương Thụ (Café Saturday’s owner) to organize the event.
In Hanoi, the screenings are a joint-production between CAMA and The Onion Cellar and we have no further financial support from any organization. We also have different line-ups of professional musicians playing at each Hanoi screening; we would like to think that these live performances from 4 of the most interesting local artists are as an integral part of the evenings as the film. Naturally, it is their right to be paid for their performances.The only way for us to cover the costs from the rights fee and musicians’ fees is to sell tickets.
Our sincere apologies to anyone who gets the impression that CAMA/ATK and The Onion Cellar are using the screenings to make money – neither party is. Both have put much effort over the last few months to make these screenings happen and to bring something interesting / different to the music scene in Vietnam; if we did not sell tickets it is certain that we would lose a large amount of money. Money is the last thing we think about, but given the current economic climate unfortunately we still have to draw a line somewhere, especially in The Onion Cellar’s case, as we have only started not long ago with this being our third event, and we really do not want to make it our last.
Thank you for your understanding and support, and thanks Hanoi Grapevine for allowing us to publish this statement. We look forward to seeing you at the screenings. After all, music is the most important thing and we believe what you are going to hear and see next week will not disappoint!
The Onion Cellar
| ATK 73A Mai Hac De, Hanoi |
| Café Saturday 25B Tran Cao Van, District 3, HCMC |
Hello, just a quick notice that all 3 screenings in Hanoi will now also have Vietnamese subtitles (together with English subtitles). Thanks!
We Don’t Care About Music Anyway screened last night at ATK Cama bar in Hanoi. A few dozen people had turned out, looking sheepish while Trí Minh played, waiting for the film to begin. The event is sandwiched each night by live experimental music drummed up for the cause, obviously meant to complement the documentary itself. Trí Minh’s distorted post-techno sample-and-hold mashed-up beats assaulted the ears of the waiting crowd, unsure whether to stroke their beards, jive around like a child in a tantrum or plonk themselves down and wait for the feature. Most opted for the latter, when the chairs finally arranged themselves.
The film was a journey through the lives of eight different experimental musicians in the Tokyo scene. However, that doesn’t even come close to doing justice to what the film, and the music itself was. It took you on a journey through each of their mentalities, giving you an insight into what made each musician tick (or grind), but not simply from one perspective. Each musician had a chance to explain their philosophy, eloquently and in discussion, to play their music, in intimate, personal surroundings and on stage in wild abandon. At the same time the film examined the sound-world of Tokyo itself, interlacing common scenes of urban life, drawing attention to the very things which the musicians obviously incorporate into their performance, both rejecting, assimilating and regurgitating it at the same time.
It was an inspiring film, and I challenge anyone not to be moved by its eloquence and transparency. The music is at times lyrical, abrasive, shocking, powerful, quiet and funny, but above all the reason for all of it is intertwined into the narrative of the film. Trí Minh’s post-film performance almost seemed unnecessary, but he’s showing us that in Hanoi they know what’s going on, and although the scene is a world away from Tokyo, it knows where it’s going, and it has a voice.
It’s screening tonight and tomorrow night again in Hanoi at ATK Cama bar, 73A Mai Hắc Đế, and in HCMC/Saigon on Friday. Get down and see it, and hear the music.