A film by Anna Schmidt
Germany 2023
Length: 114 Minutes
Voluntary self-regulation: all ages admitted
Cinema release: Nov 30th 2023
Director & Screenwriter
Anna Schmidt
Producer
schmidtFilm, Departures Film (Co-Producer)
Director of Photography
Axel Schneppat
Cutter
Martin Schröder
LIVING BACH is a production of schmidtFilm in co-production with Departures Film and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), in co-operation with ARTE and with the support of Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM), Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF) and Sächsische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk und neue Medien (SLM).
Distributed by Weltkino. Distributed worldwide by EuroArts.
Press Relations
WELTKINO FILMVERLEIH GMBH
Alexandra Dathe
Phone: (+49)-341-21 339 449
adathe@weltkino.de
Synopsis
There are over 300 Bach choirs and ensembles around the world, bringing together singers, music lovers and amateur musicians from a wide range of cultures, religions and walks of life. Whether they come from Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Paraguay, the USA or Switzerland, they are all united by one great passion: Johann Sebastian Bach and his work. Their lives are inextricably linked to the music of the world-famous German composer. LIVING BACH tracks down these enthusiasts, travelling around the globe, revealing extraordinary, exciting and life-changing relationships with Bach’s incomparable art and accompanies them on their way to the world’s largest gathering of the Bach family – the Leipzig Bach Festival.
About the film
The Bach community spans the globe: there are more than 300 institutions and choirs around the world that bear Bach’s name. Many of them are made up of amateurs. No other composer is so influential!
In June 2022, the world is set to witness a special event: the largest gathering of the global Johann Sebastian Bach family that has ever taken place. The Bachfest Leipzig has invited all of its members to perform together for the first time: Singers, orchestral musicians, conductors. An event of superlatives! It would be a dream come true for countless choirs and ensembles all over the world: To experience Bach’s music anew at the master’s place of work. There is great joy at the invitation, and many want to come. Bach choirs and ensembles from six continents have confirmed their participation. However, it is not certain whether they will be able to travel after the coronavirus pandemic.
Before this event, LIVING BACH will embark on the reverse journey. From Leipzig, a touching, amusing and very personal expedition starts around the globe to very different people in search of Bach’s secret. On the world tour, we meet amateur musicians on six continents. They live in Japan, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Paraguay, the USA and Switzerland. They are all united by one great passion: Johann Sebastian Bach. Their lives are inextricably linked to the music of the famous German composer. It means happiness to them, brings them comfort, hope, understanding and connection and has changed their lives forever.
We meet amateur musicians from different backgrounds, religions and cultures to find out what it is that brings so many people around the world together around Bach’s work and makes him the center of life for many. In doing so, we immerse ourselves in the culture of the different countries as well as in the souls of the protagonists. Regardless of their origin, culture or lifestyle, they are all connected by an almost identical set of values.
In the end, they meet in Leipzig. In the “Bach – We are Family” choir, the different voices become one sound.
Director's Note
Time and time again, I have experienced the unifying power of Bach’s music. Music that shakes people up, that gives them faith even when they have long since lost it. Music that spreads hope and brings joy.
But it is not only professional musicians who are moved by Bach. People all over the world listen to Bach, sing Bach, play Bach in their free time – more or less well. But all with great enthusiasm. No matter what profession they pursue, no matter what faith they are. I experienced this during the filming of LIVING BACH.
When I heard that the renowned Leipzig Bach Festival had invited over 300 Bach ensembles from all over the world to perform at Bach’s original places of activity, I was hooked. I didn’t realize that there were so many Bach choirs and ensembles and that people on every continent sing or play Bach with great dedication.
And so, I travelled around the world for a year, visiting Paraguay, Switzerland, South Africa, the USA, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and of course the Bach Festival in Leipzig, spending a lot of time with my protagonists, the choir or ensemble members, and immersing myself in the culture of the respective countries. I was surprised to see that many young people sing, play, and listen to Bach. I was fascinated by how alive this old German composer is for them and was amazed to hear how different the meaning of his music is for each individual. For Thabang Modise, who lives in the South African township of Soweto and shares a ten square meter room with his cousin, Bach is clearly political. He says that if everyone listened to Bach or sang or played Bach, there would be no more racial discrimination, and he explains it with the way the voices in Bach’s music are handled. Although people of Muslim faith in Malaysia can be imprisoned for playing Bach’s sacred works, Lee Hai Lin continues playing them with her “Wicked Music People”. Because she feels the music is so beautiful that she needs to share it with others. They perform it in warehouses in Penang harbour or in their café. I was amazed that the Aborigines in the Red Centre of Australia know Bach or that the choirmaster of the “Sociedad Bach del Paraguay” is determined to establish a Bach festival because – as he says – the continent needs Bach’s message of hope, solidarity, and faith. In 2023, he succeeded and organized the first Bach Festival in South America. Bianca Porcheddu experienced for herself that Bach teaches resilience and shows ways out of loneliness after devastating forest fires in Australia.
Time and again I heard sentences like: “For me, there is nothing comparable to Bach. He is a glimmer of hope in a troubled world. We need him. Everyone needs him.” David Chin from Malaysia told me: “I love Bach. He is my friend. I really feel like his music speaks directly to me, a Chinese Malaysian living in the 21st century.”
The meeting of the protagonists at the 2022 Bach Festival in Leipzig was moving. From the very first note, they all had a special connection to each other and a common language, which was Bach. We experienced an exciting, moving week together, during which we learnt a lot from each other. Everyone will be back at the Bachfest 2024, because as Lin said so beautifully at the final concert in St Thomas’ Church: “I think it doesn’t end here. This is just the beginning.”
My film is an emotional film. Not a film that educates or informs. It is a film that speaks to the heart, that radiates a positive, life-affirming energy, that carries people along and shows that there is more that connects people around the world than divides them.
I wanted it to be a film that gives hope, because it shows that many people in the world have something in common: their love of music, which unites them. And we all need hope in these times.
Anna Schmidt
Living Bach · A film by Anna Schmidt · Germany 2023 · 114 Minutes · all ages admitted · Cinema release Nov 30th 2023
Distribution Weltkino. Distribution worldwide EuroArts.
Press Relations · WELTKINO FILMVERLEIH GMBH · Alexandra Dathe · (+49)-341-21 339 449 · adathe@weltkino.de
schmidtfim · Anna Schmidt · Spinnereistraße 7 · 04179 Leipzig · (+49)- 341-99 39 057 · annaneuhaus@schmidt-film.com · schmidt-film.com