Xinjiang, Taklamakan & Karakoram

François R. Cambuzat and Gianna Greco
Concert film
(France)

* A Trans-Aeolian Transmission production.

Deep in the Taklamakan Desert, amidst the Karakoram mountains on the edge of the Pakistani border, Uighur musicians, shamans and bards take part in musical rites of spiritual elevation, contemplation and trance. 

Having lived among them, artists Francois R. Cambuzat and Gianna Greco have brought back a multitude of images, which they use to engage in a fascinating dialogue in this gripping concert film. The essence of this culture, rendered with computers and electronic instruments, blends with electro-rock ferocity, giving birth to breathtaking neo-shamanic music!

The remote regions of Xinjiang and their inhabitants will come to life on screen—fleeting ghosts that slowly take on form. A symbiosis between the images and the musicians on stage will emerge, the wall of projections melting away before your eyes. The virtual and the real will become one as the muqam melodies of the Dolan people induce a trance where the boundaries of time crumble.

Eschewing Western norms and expectations, this road movie distills the experience of place, dialogue and discovery. Through images and sounds, the captivating music of the Uyghurs will be brought to life, with stunning vocals and the haunting notes of the dutar and ghijak, faithfully echoed by musicians, filmmakers and anthropologists! 

Xinjiang, Taklamakan & Karakoram is a feast for the senses, a transcendental adventure where two worlds merge on stage in a synergistic exchange.