LA PALOMA - LONGING WORLDWIDE

LA PALOMA - SEHNSUCHT WELTWEIT

Directed by Sigrid Faltin

SATURDAY JANUARY 17 12NOON CASTRO

You know the tune, but you probably cannot remember where you heard it. Perhaps you remember lugubrious Spanish lyrics or the breezy English lyrics Elvis sang in BLUE HAWAII. The song is Sebastián de Iradier’s La Paloma, which he composed in the Basque country in the 1860s. La Paloma has traversed the globe since its composition, and while the original music has survived the trek, the lyrics have not. Each culture that adopts the song transforms its meaning, and this malleability is the cornerstone of Sigrid Faltin’s staggering contemplation on the power of music.
Faltin investigates the rich history of La Paloma by taking us to Cuba, Mexico, Hawaii, Romania, Germany, the Basque Country, and finally Tanzania. Archival footage, clips of films in which the song appears, and interviews with the people who keep La Paloma alive have a remarkable effect on the storytelling: historical and geographical distances disappear, and we get to see the song’s meaning shift instantaneously and continuously.
-- Deborah L. Jaramill

PURCHASE TICKET

WEST COAST Premiere

Country
Germany
Year
2008
Run Time
35mm, 93min., German
with English subtitles
Cast
Musicians from Germany, Romania, Spain, Hawaii, Mexico, Cuba, and Sansibar
Camera
Holger Schüppel
Screenwriter
Sigrid Faltin
Printsource
white pepper
Email
Faltin@whitepepper.de

Awards
Silverdocs 2008, Washington DC
Prix Italia 2008
IDA International Documentary Awards 2008, Los Angeles

Director

Sigrid Faltin
was born in 1956 in Dessau. Dr. Faltin studied English and German literature as well as history. For two decades she has been a writer and film director and producer. Her films include THE GUGGENHEIM AND THE BARONESS (2004). Her latest work is LA PALOMA (2008).