EAML Press Kit - FINAL(rev. cvr,p1,p10) - Shadow Distribution

SYNOPSISA film by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme on Enzo Avitabile, his music andNaples.This project is the fruit of the two artists’ reciprocal esteem for one another. It is also theresult of many years spent following the musical artistry of Enzo Avitabile, a well-knownfigure on the world music scene recognized for his passion for research of new sounds andmusical experimentation.Music has always played a decisive role in Demme’s films. Over the years, this passion hasbeen expressed in stunning videos of artists such as Bruce Springsteen, New Order and ThePretenders, and above all, a series of critically acclaimed documentaries (including thenonpareil Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense, and three features with Neil Young).His other documentaries have taken him from the life of former U.S. President Jimmy Carterto true stories as riveting as his fiction films in locations as diverse as Haiti and New Orleans.This film gives us the incredible opportunity to experience a story told through the eyes ofone of the greatest directors in the world, not only about the music of the unique artistthat is Enzo Avitabile, but also of Naples, a city full of treasures and contradictions.4

BIOGRAPHIESENZO AVITABILEThe Music Conservatory, Jazz, Pop, Afro-American Rhythms and Sacred Chants have allinspired the musical artistry of Enzo Avitabile. He has dedicated his life to researching newsounds and pursuing a musical vision with an original, vital and essential personal sound. Anon-conformist, he has bypassed the show business rules, looking beyond the commercialand overcoming established limits.Enzo Avitabile, a talented singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, was born in1955 andraised in Marianella (a poor area on the outskirts of Naples). As a child he studied thesaxophone, and as an adolescent he performed in several clubs in Naples that werealways jam-packed with Americans. Later, he earned his diploma in flute at the “S. Pietroa Majella” Conservatory of Naples and soon after, he started collaborating with a greatnumber of international pop, rock and soul artists, such as James Brown and Tina Turner,yet always retaining his own personal and unique style.Between 1982 and 1994 a series of successful solo albums was released by EMI in Italy:1982 – Avitabile – eponymous debut record1983 – Meglio Soul – featuring a duet with Richie Havens1984 – Correre in fretta1986 – S.O.S. Brothers1988 – Alta Tensione1989 – Street Happiness – with Afrika Bambaataa1990 – Stella Dissidente1991 – Enzo Avitabile1994 – Easy – features “Leave me or Love me” – a vocal duet with Randy CrawfordIn 1996 he returned to his roots, using his native language enriched with modernneologisms, prosodic features, and evocative and digital arrangements. Addò and Aizeté(whose title-track is the soundtrack of Incantesimo Napoletano) belong to this artisticmoment that marks a clear dividing line between his past and present works.In 1999 he had the honor of being appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, in honor ofwhich he composed “Mane e Mane” (a duet with Mory Kante) – a moving and heartfeltsong whose profits were donated to improving schools in Benin. Today, the song embodiesthe very spirit of dialogue among cultures in the Mediterranean area; the experiencepaved the way for the release of the album O-issa (1999).He also continued composing for theatre (Decamerone), film (Beffa della vita e dellaMorte), and for several international female singers including Giorgia (Italy) and AmalMurkus (Palestine).In 2004, his deep sense of identity and belonging, along with full acceptance of hislinguistic heritage, led him to create a group called the Bottari from Portico di Caserta,where barrel, vat and sickle-beaters directed by a leader known as a “Capopattuglia”beat ancient processional rhythms with a primitive, energetic and obsessive pace as if in a6

trance. The creation of this intriguing project aimed to blend his truly personal sound withthe ancient tradition of the Bottari, whose origins date back to the 14th century. Avitabilesaid, “It was time to turn away from the American influence to my own musical language”-- and he definitely did.In 2004 and 2005, the CD Salvamm ‘o Munno (Save the World) received two BBC RadioWorld Music Award nominations for the Best European Artist and Audience Awardcategories. The album, which covers a wide spectrum of musical genres from LiturgicalChants to the traditional Vesuvian a cappella singing, a fronna, also boasts theparticipation of such high profile world music artists as Khaled, Manu Dibango, Zi GianninoDel Sorbo, Miserere from Sessa Aurunca, Luigi Lai, the Alphonsiana Polyphonic VocalQuartet and Baba Sissoko.In 2006, Avitabile devoted himself to popular sacred music, giving birth to Sacro Sud,released by Ethnosuoni/Musiche Migranti.Since 2006, he has been teaching at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, andgives courses and seminars in Ethnomusicology entitled “Tradizione e Cemento” whichfocus on the revival of traditions in urban society.In 2007, Festa Farina e Forca was released (double album with the Bottari, MatthewHerbert, Bill Laswell, Banco De Gaia, Manu Dibango, Djivan Gasparian and Luigi Lai).Through sacred and secular images, Avitabile composed, sang, played and told storiesabout world cultures, modern colonial power, slavery and that part of our complicatedhistory that remains with us now.In 2008, after expressing his artistic sensitivity through a wide variety of styles for manyyears, he began devoting his energy to the pursuit of a longstanding aspiration: tocompose classical music. The result was “Sinfonia N°1 – La Lazzara”, first performed at theMarruccino Theatre in Chieti under the direction of Sir Di Iorio, an internationally renownedflutist. Since this debut, he has composed numerous classical works. That same year,Napoletana was created: a research project which aimed to retrieve ancient Neapolitanlyricism, returning to its origins with labor chants and villanelle, but also including new songsthat arose from the city’s cement. With a gaze towards the past and a heart beatingtowards the future, he has successfully created new music born from an ancient art that isoriginal, full of emotion, and expressed with a refined and innovative language.Napoletana won the prestigious Premio Tenco Award -- a disc rooted in “his” Naples was atrue innovation.Next, Avitabile reached another objective that he had been pursuing for a long time: tobring World Music to the Conservatory. In 2009, he participated in an innovative project ofthe “Conservatorio Statale di Musica di Santa Cecilia” in Rome, and now holds the firstchair of World Music in Italy. During this time, the book he had been working on finallycame to life: Scale rare e ritmi del mondo, written with the intention of giving students andothers a method to access World Music.In 2010, he composed Exeredati Mundi, which was created and developed as a uniquesymphonic piece and performed in the Church of Donnaregina Nuova del MuseoDiocesano. A scenic cantata, it is a hymn for the world’s disinherited who have alwayslived on the margins of society.7

In 2011-2012 he created Black Tarantella, an international project with David Crosby, BobGeldof, Franco Battiato, Pino Daniele, Francesco Guccini, Raiz, Co’ sang, Mauro Pagani,Daby Tourè, Enrique & Solea Morente, Idir, and Toumani Diabatè.In 2013, Avitabile won the Premio Tenco Award for Black Tarantella. His most recentrelease is a 2 CD soundtrack of Enzo Avitabile Music Life, featuring the music of the film,outtakes and alternate tracks.JONATHAN DEMMEIn his more than thirty-year career, Jonathan Demme has always been a unique figure,staying on the “margins” of the Hollywood scene, successfully uniting social commitmentwith commercial success.In 1974 he directed his first film, Caged Heat. In 1977, he achieved great critical successwith Citizen's Band (Handle with Care). In 1979, he directed the thriller Last Embrace, andthe year after, Melvin and Howard, which won Best Film of the Year from the New York FilmCritics Circle.In 1984, Swing Shift, with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, was followed immediately by thestunning critical and commercial success of the groundbreaking Talking Heads concertfilm Stop Making Sense. In 1987 and 1988, he made Something Wild and Married to theMob, unusual comedies crossed with other genres, with a range of narrative registers.In 1991, The Silence of the Lambs brought Demme unprecedented recognition,winning five Oscars including Best Film and Best Director as well as the Silver Bear at TheBerlin Film Festival.In 1993, Philadelphia was released, with Tom Hanks, who won the Oscar for Best LeadingActor, and Best Soundtrack, which won a statuette for Bruce Springsteen.In 1998 he brought Toni Morrison’s Beloved to the big screen. Morrison, recipient of a NobelPrize in Literature, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for this novel.In between the Hollywood triumphs, Demme's commitment to Independent film anddocumentaries brought forth the acclaimed personal documentary Cousin Bobby,Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia, cult musician Robyn Hitchcock in StorefrontHitchcock, and the documentary on Haitian human rights activist Jean Dominique, TheAgronomist.Over the course of the years, Demme has made various music videos, includingunforgettable ones on Springsteen, on Neil Young and on New Order, who in turn can befound in the soundtracks of his films.Among Demme's many other films for the big screen are The Truth About Charlie, aremake of Charade by Stanley Donen, and The Manchurian Candidate, an innovativecontemporary reworking of John Frankenheimer's classic, starring Meryl Streep and DenzelWashington.8

LIST OF CONVENTIONS BY SUBJECT13 Social security C012 Workmen's Compensation (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 12) C017 Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) C018 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention, 1925 (No. 18)C019 Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) C024 Sickness Insurance (Industry) Convention, 1927 (No. 24) C025 Sickness Insurance (Agriculture) Convention, 1927 (No. 25) C035 Old-Age Insurance (Industry, etc.) Convention, 1933 (No. 35) C036 Old-Age Insurance (Agriculture) Convention, 1933 (No. 36) C037 Invalidity Insurance (Industry, etc.) Convention, 1933 (No. 37) C038 Invalidity Insurance (Agriculture) Convention, 1933 (No. 38) C039 Survivors' Insurance (Industry, etc.) Convention, 1933 (No. 39) C040 Survivors' Insurance (Agriculture) Convention, 1933 (No. 40) C042 Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention (Revised), 1934 (No. 42) C044 Unemployment Provision Convention, 1934 (No. 44) C048 Maintenance of Migrants' Pension Rights Convention, 1935 (No. 48) C102 Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)C118 Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118)C121 Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121)C128 Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967 (No. 128)C130 Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention, 1969 (No. 130)C157 Maintenance of Social Security Rights Convention, 1982 (No. 157)C168 Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168)14 Maternity protection C003 Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3) C103 Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103)C183 Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)15 Social policy C082 Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82)C117 Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117)16 Migrant workersInspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926 (No. 21)C021C066C097C143Migration for Employment Convention, 1939 (No. 66)Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97)Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143)viii

ENZO AVITABILE MUSIC LIFEA JONATHAN DEMME PICTURETheatrical Release Date: October 18, 2013Running Time:Language:Format:Rating:80 MinutesIn English and Italian with English SubtitlesDigital Cinema Package (DCP)Not RatedOfficial Selection: Venice International Film Festival 2012Press Materials:Official Website:www.shadowdistribution.comwww.enzoavitabilemusiclife.comPRODUCTION COMPANY:Dazzle Communication in collaboration with Rai CinemaRELEASED BY SHADOW DISTRIBUTION:Shadow Distribution is a small, specialized film distribution company located in Waterville,Maine, dedicated to releasing unusual, great films. Founded in 1988, the company hasdistributed some of the best independent and foreign films of the last two decadesincluding THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL, LATCHO DROM (like ENZO AVITABILE, aone-of-a-kind documentary on world music), Oscar nominee THE WEATHERUNDERGROUND, Laurent Cantet's HEADING SOUTH, with Charlotte Rampling and KarenYoung, Oscar nominee UNDER THE SUN, THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD, and the Veniceprize-winning Russian film SILENT SOULS. Next up from Shadow is Jos Stelling's THE GIRL ANDDEATH.* * *10