10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

FILMS 2024:  Caribbean Focus | Feature Films | Short Films | Yellow Robin Award Nominees
FILMS 2019: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2018: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2017: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2016: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film
FILMS 2015: A – E | F – L | M – P | Q – S | T –  Z | Feature Film | Short Film

Seymour: An Introduction (2016 Feature Film)

Ethan Hawke | USA | 2014 | 84 min | English | n.s.

Loving documentary portrait of pianist Seymour Bernstein (1927), made by actor and good friend Ethan Hawke. Hawke reveals how Bernstein passed up on a brilliant artistic career because he wasn’t a performer and thought passing on knowledge was more important. What drives this virtuoso musician as a pianist, teacher and last, but definitely not least, as a human?
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In his compact New York apartment, pianist Seymour Bernstein (1927), by now an octogenarian yet sharp as a pin, receives his mainly adult students. The virtuoso musician could have been a star if the talented veteran hadn’t disliked the spotlights and commercialism the artistic life entails. The stage, so he muses in this intimate documentary, would have made him a different musician and person. Bernstein prefers to pass his knowledge on to others. Whereas most Americans aim for a “Flash Dance fantasy” in which talent is everything, Bernstein is primarily interested in craftsmanship and practice. A lot of practice. Bernstein philosophises away in his pleasing baritone: about the power of music, the soul of art and about life. Various students, good friends and director (and actor) Ethan Hawke speak about this thoroughly inspiring, likable man.

Place: CINEMA 3

Date: 7 April 2016

Time: 21:30

Duration: 1:30

Place: CINEMA 3

Date: 8 April 2016

Time: 14:15

Duration: 1:30

Place: CINEMA 4

Date: 9 April 2016

Time: 15:45

Duration: 1:30

Year in
Festival

2016

Director

Ethan Hawke

Camera

Ramsey Fendall

Country

USA

Editor

Anna Gustavi

Language

English

Length

84 min

Music

Linda Cohen

Producer

Ryan Hawke
Greg Loser
Heather Smith

Production Company

Room 5 Films
Under the Influence

Sales

Cinetic Media

Sound Design

Cody Ball

Year of Production

2014

Ethan HAWKE (1970, USA) is a globally renowned actor due to his intensive cooperation with director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Boyhood among others), and for roles in films such as Dead Poets Society (1989), Gattaca (1997) and Daybreakers (2009). Hawke has also worked as a scriptwriter and director over the course of his career. Seymour: An Introduction (2014) is his first feature-length documentary.

 

Filmography

Straight to One (1994, short), Chelsea Walls (2001), The Hottest State (2006), Seymour: An Introduction (2014, doc)