It all started quite spectacularly with a contest invitation to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere. Subsequent screenings took place at various festivals, including Brazil’s It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, Denmark’s CPH:DOX, and the American Sarasota Film Festival and Milwaukee Film Festival.
Currently, viewers and jurors at the Visions du Réel International Film Festival in Switzerland have the opportunity to watch this remarkable documentary.
Pianoforte is an intimate portrait of young musicians participating in the legendary Chopin Piano Competition. The production has been very well received by festival decision-makers and has been successfully pitched multiple times. The documentary was produced by Telemark.
During the elimination rounds, there are 160 participants, then about 80, and then 40. Only 12 make it to the finals. The film’s protagonists are young people (aged 16 to 30) from different parts of the world, whose lives have been dedicated to playing the piano since childhood. Like Olympic sportsmen, they compete in the most prestigious piano competition that could change their lives forever.
The Chopin Competition is the oldest of its kind in the world, taking place every five years in Warsaw. It has seen a record number of famous participants, from the outstanding composer Dmitri Shostakovich, to Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Rafał Blechacz, Seong-Jin Cho, Dang Thai Son, and Krystian Zimerman. The competition brings immense emotions to both the stage and the audience. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The film focuses on several protagonists. We observe them at home, during preparations, and in their private lives. The narrative follows the rules of the competition, which is divided into three stages and the finale.
The Chopin Competition exemplifies a crucial moment in our protagonists’ lives. Although the depicted world seems elitist and inaccessible, each of them has been preparing for this moment their entire lives. They all share a similar dream and will be mercilessly assessed by the competition mechanism – the number of places on the podium is drastically limited. Some will be eliminated, while others will make it to the finals.
Jakub Piątek is a graduate of the Łódź Film School. Before studying film directing, he worked as a local journalist and manager of culture. His debut short documentary Mother (2009), produced by the Wajda School, was screened at over fifty international festivals. In 2014, he completed the documentary One Man Show, which premiered in Kraków and Leipzig. In 2018, he directed the short fiction film Users (premiered in Kraków and at Slamdance). In 2021, his feature film debut Prime Time had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and is available on Netflix in all territories. Since 2021, Jakub Piątek has been co-teaching fiction film directing at the Łódź Film School. He also lectures on documentary filmmaking at the Social Arts studies at the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw.