Nicola Bellucci tells the extraordinary story of Wolfgang Fasser, a blind musician and soundscape artist who works with severely handicapped children, helping them to find their place in a world not made for them. On his own way into the darkness, Fasser discovered the world of sounds, a parallel universe to our visual world. His far-reaching explorations of sound’s effect on mind and body led him to the field of music therapy.

Today, Fasser lives in a remote hamlet near Poppi in the beautiful landscape of Casentino (Tuscany). Here, the music therapist works with children, who are severely brain damaged. Some can neither see nor speak, others are paralyzed or autistic. Over a period of two years, Nicola Bellucci has observed how Fasser patiently and painstakingly builds a dialogue with his young patients using musical instruments, noises and touch exercises.

At night, Fasser is often out and about alone with his white stick and tape recorder in order to record «soundscapes». We accompany him on his wanderings through Tuscany and experience different rural and urban acoustic spaces with him. «For me, sound recordings are like postcards,» he says, adding, «I don’t have the feeling that I don’t see, because I hear.» Fasser’s personal hearing experiences are also incorporated into his professional work. The encouragement of sensual perception strengthens patients’ confidence in themselves and in other people. Step by step, the children expand their motoric and communicative capabilities and eke out a piece of autonomy for themselves.

• Director:
  Nicola Bellucci
  
• Producer:
  Frank Matter, soap factory GmbH
• Coproducers:
  Schweizer Fernsehen SF & Televisione Svizzera RSI
• Directors of Photography:
  Pio Corradi, Pierre Mennel, Nicola Bellucci
• Sound:
  Patrick Becker, Hercli Bundi
• Editors:
  Nicola Bellucci, Frank Matter
• Editing Consultant:
  Anja Bombelli
• Assistant Editor:
  Alkmini E. Boura
• Original Music:
  Daniel Almada
• Additional Music:
  Wolfgang Fasser, Shalom Klezmer
• Sound Editing, Premixing:
  Daniel Almada, Nicola Bellucci
• Mixer:
  Florian Beck
• Sound Designers:
  Sebastian Tesch, Ansgar Frerich
• Dialogue Editing:
  Florian Beck
• Foley Artist:
  Daniel Weis
• Sound Studio:
  BASISberlin
  Uwe Kiefer (Geschäftsführer)
  Tobias N. Siebert (Herstellungsleitung)
• Soundscapes:
  Walter Tilgner
• Accordion:
  Christian Gerber
• Percussion:
  Marco Doctor
• Color Corrections:
  Jürgen Kupka
• Credits & Graphic Art:
  Peter Volkart
• Equipment:
  Neuland Film, Basel
• Coproducer SF:
  Urs Augstburger, Thomas Beck
• Codproducer RSI:
  Luisella Realini

• Swiss Department of the Interior, Office for Cultural Affairs
• Commission of Audiovision & Multimedia Basel/Baselland
• Canton of Glarus, Office for Cultural Affairs
• Migros Kulturprozent
• Aktion Denk an mich
• Schweizerischer Zentralverein für das Blindenwesen SZB
• Schweiz. Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband SBV
• Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Zug
• Cerebral Stiftung
• Stiftung für gesellschaftliche Lebensqualität
• MBF Foundation

 

Festivals & Awards
What the critics say
Trailer
Buy DVD
back