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Look out for Stacey Tenenbaum’s “Pipe Dreams”

Look forward to Canadian-filmmaker Stacey Tenenbaum’s Pipe Dreams which premiered at Hot Docs  — a fascinating investigation into the psychology of competition and the pressure it engenders.

This feature length documentary follows five young, dedicated organists as they compete in the world’s most lucrative organ competition: Canada’s International Organ Competition. Watch the trailer here:

[media_video teatime_video_unique_id=”99e9fa09a306cdb17c61a74b34d322c6″ teatime_video_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v‹´›UP52F70-ck4″ teatime_video_size=”{‹²›video_size‹²›:‹²›size_fluid‹²›,‹²›size_fixed‹²›:{‹²›width‹²›:‹²›640‹²›,‹²›height‹²›:‹²›320‹²›}}” __fw_editor_shortcodes_id=”66bd557287c15c1731d74d52807029f3″ _array_keys=”{‹²›teatime_video_size‹²›:‹²›teatime_video_size‹²›}” _fw_coder=”aggressive”][/media_video]Pipe Dreams gives you an inside look into the wonderful world of competitive organ playing; only one will master of the ‘king of instruments’, and be deemed victorious in Montreal.

The production values are comparable to that of a modestly produced Netflix film, which is a staggering achievement for an independent filmmaker.

The complexities of the instrument are daunting, and can only make you admire these young talents more. Tension grows throughout the film as you grow attached to each of them; you’ll want all them to succeed.

Yuan Shen is the daughter of China’s most famous organist; losing is not an option, as she is determined to prove to her father that she is also a great musician.

New Zealand’s Thomas Gaynor is attempting to be the first organist ever to win three organ competitions in one summer. Will he be prepared for the CIOC, or will his taxing travel schedule overcome him?

Alcee Chriss III is a talented African American organist from Texas who has beaten Thomas the two previous times they competed. Alcee plans to draw on his gospel and jazz roots to win the competition.

Alcee’s classmate Nick Capozzoli––young organist from Pittsburgh, distinguished for his reliability and perfect technique––is willing to take risks to get noticed at the CIOC. He’s chosen a risky selection of music from contemporary composers, through which he hopes to impress the judges.

Nineteen-year-old Sebastian Heindl is the youngest person ever to enter the International Organ Competition. Sebastian has exceptional talent for his age, coming from the same town as his idol and namesake Johann Sebastian Bach. Will he shock the world and come out as victor?

The film will have a theatrical release in Canada in the summer, and will also be broadcasted on The Documentary Channel in the fall. Be sure not to miss it, as it’s also currently (as of May 2019) being applied to festivals around the world.

We’re expecting this film to, like the protagonists in the nail biting penultimate section, get a standing ovation. Congrats Stacey.


Contact the agent for Pipe Dreams at cristine.platt.dewey [at] rocofilms.com. The international distributor is International distributor is Ro*co Films.

You can find out more about the film, such as the director’s contact, as well as future screening dates at the film’s website here: www.pipedreamsdoc.ca

 

 

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