Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Saturday, July 13: BRASSLANDS
The Meerkat Media Collective’s look at the world’s largest brass music festival debuted at the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival, where it won “Best of Fest.” It went on to close Belgrade’s BelDocs and later made its North American premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
The setting is Guča, a small Serbian town of just over 2000 that sees an influx of more than half a million visitors each Summer to attend its annual trumpet festival, a celebration of Balkan brass band music. For its 50th anniversary, the organizers have extended invitations to non-Serbian bands to compete in a special International section, giving non-Balkan, Brooklyn-based band Zlatne Uste an excuse to return for the first time since 1987 – a time, critically, before the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars that followed which ravaged the region for years. While they serve as de facto guides for Western viewers, there frankly isn’t much to their story beyond being slightly naive enthusiasts of the music. Somewhat more interesting are the profiles of other competitors: the festival’s reigning champion, Dejan, and a strong contender from the south, Demiran, who faces prejudice because of his Roma roots. Meerkat Media’s film best captures the festive atmosphere of Guča – a sort of brass SXSW or Coachella – making it most palatable for music doc fans. Beyond that sense of vibrant cultural spectacle, there are moments when ethnic, political, and historical divisions bubble to the surface, providing viewers with an intriguing hint of the factors ever at play in a nation still struggling with its past scars.
what (not) to doc 