Txalaparta Around the World

The article you are about to read reminded me of the project Mundua 'ta Musika by my friend José Santancara, here you have it, comes to us via EITb:

Basque film Nomadak TX succeed on the world stage

The film Nomadak TX, in which Martinez and Otxoa turn the traditional Basque instrument txalaparta into a medium for cross-cultural exchange, was screened at Silverdocs as the Music Documentary Award winner.

After its success at several international festivals (Seattle, Nantucket, San Sebastian-Donostia, Guadalajara, Amsterdam, Belfast,...), the Basque film Nomadak TX, directed by Raul de la Fuente, was screened at AFI Silverdocs as the Music Documentary Award winner.

The AFI Silver Theatre hosted from June 12-17 the international film festival Silverdocs, a competition founded by the American Film Institute and The Discovery Channel.

The fifth edition of the festival screened 100 documentary feature films and shorts from a variety of countries and filmmakers. The Silverdocs Music Documentary Award was presented to Nomadak TX.

The film tells the story of a trip Basque musicians Harkaitz Martínez and Igor Otxoa, members of Oreka Tx, made through India, Lapland, Mongolia and the Sahara desert, a trip in search of the world’s last remaining nomadic tribes.

Traveling around the world, they perform for native peoples and nomadic tribes, bringing their singular music to other cultures. Otxoa and Martinez use the traditional Basque instrument, the txalaparta (similar to a xylophone), as a medium for cross-cultural exchange and understanding, turning it into a meetingplace for people and different cultures.

As Silverdocs points out on its web site, "the film captures an extraordinarily fluent and dynamic conversation across borders and languages, articulated through music. Through encounters with other musicians—a Mongol musician and a Hindu taxi driver, a Sami singer and an aging Saharan lady—the txalaparta becomes more than a musical instrument; it is a tool for communication in which everyone expresses their desires."

"Stunning photography and superb music fill nearly every frame of the film, culminating in an amazing performance piece involving the music of all tribes in unison with the txalaparta. With little dialogue, the film speaks volumes on the significance of music in our lives, and its power to connect people all over the world."

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