Thorsten Schütte

Utilizing potent TV interviews and many forgotten performances from his 30-year career, we are immersed into Frank Zappa’s world while experiencing two distinct facets of his complex character. At once Zappa was both a charismatic composer who reveled in the joy of performing and, in the next moment, a fiercely intelligent and brutally honest interviewee whose convictions only got stronger as his career ascended.

The film goes far beyond the concert stage and delves into the tension-filled space of rehearsals – where the sound is not yet fixed, but alive, fragile, and in the process of becoming. We experience a wealth of musical encounters in which a shared musical language begins to breathe. The focus is on works by influential composers such as Rebecca Saunders, Heiner Goebbels, and Mark Andre, alongside the vibrant voices of a younger generation, including Brigitta Muntendorf and Milica Djordjevic, in collaboration with conductors such as Vimbayi Kaziboni, Bas Wiegers, Ingo Metzmacher, and Enno Poppe. Each year, Ensemble Modern premieres around 70 works, continually venturing into uncharted sonic territories.

Documentary on Frank Zappa.