Instruments of a Beating Heart (2024)

Directed by

Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Genre

documentary film, musical film

Country

Japan

Runtime

23 min

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 29 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows first graders at a Tokyo public elementary school as they prepare to perform Beethoven's Ode to Joy for a ceremony welcoming new students. The film captures their struggles and growth through the final semester music assignment.

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What happens

Instruments of a Beating Heart is a 2024 Japanese documentary short film directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki. Edited down from Yamazaki's 2023 feature The Making of a Japanese, the film documents the challenge presented to the first graders in a Tokyo public elementary school of performing "Ode to Joy" at the ceremony for the new incoming first graders, as their assignment for the final semester. Instruments of a Beating Heart had its world premiere on June 14, 2024, in the Shorts Program: One-of-a-Kind of DC/DOX Film Festival 2024. It won Best Short Documentary at the 40th IDA Documentary Awards and was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 97th Academy Awards. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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