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KOMEDA – A SOUNDTRACK FOR A LIFE

POLISH TITLE: KOMEDA – MUZYCZNE ŚCIEŻKI ŻYCIA

REPRESENTED BY KFF

Krzysztof Komeda – jazz pianist and film composer. With compositions like the lullaby for “Rosemary´s Baby” from Roman Polanski, Komeda succeeded in writing his own chapter in the history of soundtracks. As a jazz pianist he gained cult-status in Poland. As a film composer he made it into Hollywood’s first ranks. But there his career came to a sudden end. Claudia Buthenhoff-Duffy’s film essay follows the dramatic life story of the musician and film composer Komeda by the means of the melodic sounds of Komeda’s music.

The film essay KOMEDA – A SOUNDTRACK FOR A LIFE is a reflection on Komeda’s soundtracks, which changed the common film scores forever. It is a contemporary document about the attitude to life in a time of social, political and cultural change after war, about work and exodus of Polish artist in the 50s and 60s. A story about how film music is created and how it affects people. Directors who worked with Komeda and who are also friends will talk about him: Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Henning Carlsen and Andrzej Wajda. His wife, Zofia Komeda, and his sister, Irina Orlowska, remember him.

FILM REPRESENTED BY THE KRAKOW FILM FOUNDATION

GENRE:
documentary
RUNNING TIME:
52'
YEAR:
DIRECTING:
Claudia Buthehoff-Duffy
SCRIPT:
Claudia Buthehoff-Duffy
DOP:
Józef Romasz, René Dame, Andreas Höfer, Vivien Vogel
EDITOR:
Ewa Will
MUSIC:
Andreas Hornschuh, Matthias Hornschuh
PRODUCTION:
TVP S.A., Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop, Benedikt Pictures, Wave-line GmbH, ZDF, Schweizer Fernsehen DRS, YLE Teema

Claudia Buthehoff-Duffy »

Born in Stuttgart in 1959. She studied Linguistics, Philosophy and Psychology at Free University in Berlin. Altogether she worked for 20 years as an assistant for handicapped people. From 1990-95 she was a freelancing radio journalist covering such topics as music, kids, culture and social issues. In 1995 she organized a radio campaign from the USA for several German radio stations on behalf of black journalist and activist on Death Row Mr. Mumia Abu-Jamal – until the execution was postponed. Claudia has been active in the film busines since 2001. She finished the Kaskeline film school in Berlin with a short film, FINNEN FINDEN, then participated in Winterakademie Gera/MDM with her funded project „Glasbruch“ (now titled 'Fragile'). She participated in several writing clinics - including 'The hero’s journey' with Cunningham/Schlesinger). Then Claudia worked for the German distributor Neue Visionen (in the areas of PR, promotional campaigns and funding for distribution). She also translated and subtitled a number of famous as well as new films (Noam Chomsky Portrait, The Cat On The Hot Tin Roof, Bonnie and Clyde, Taxi Driver, The Wind That Shakes The Barley).

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