The Holy Gift is a documentary written by
Stéphane Kazadi. It's
journey to the four corners of the world, inspired
by the group Tool's music,
searching for answers to the question: "Why
do we like music?"
"Music is everywhere. No people or culture lives without it.
Why do we
feel the need to listen to it? Can we understand our attraction? Why is
this art so special?
I offer a journey from Paris to New York, New Delhi to
London, Athens to the Amazon rain forest in search of individuals from
different worlds (a psychedelic painter, a mathematician who translates
music into geometric shapes, a surgeon who became a virtuoso pianist
after being struck by lightning, and a sculptor who casts metal to the
rhythm of rock) - individuals who, through their singularity, passion,
and talent, will enable audiences to better grasp the nature of music.
I've been playing music since I was 8 - piano, then guitar. Lateralus
is my greatest musical discovery to date, an album that was different
to what I knew though I couldn't explain why. It changed my approach to
music. It provoked so many questions in me, including seemingly the
simplest: Why do we like music?
By wondering about that, I asked myself what Music was.
The Holy Gift opens the audience
up to questions about creativity,
rhythm, meditation, mathematics, philosophy, and myths. We will
discover that understanding what music is means trying to understand
its emotion and to justify it. But how can one rationally justify
something which cannot really be analyzed?
This film shows that music isn't just a series of notes on a stave. I
want the audience to be able to listen to music with a fresh ear after
watching the film."
Stéphane Kazadi