SUPER 8 STORIES



Germany-Italy, 2001, 90 min, color / black & white, documentary

This feature-length documentary is mainly about musicians who reflect the wild, crazy, creative, even dramatic world of the Balkans. The band got together in Yugoslavia at the beginning of the eighties and did its own thing right from the beginning. It sought inspiration in jazz and rock, but drew on a variety of Balkan and Romany melodies. Indeed, the history of the past twenty years, which has of course marked the group's members, is reflected in what they play. The film begins in 2000 with an exceptionally successful tour. The archive footage assembles a portrait of the musicians' past and their private lives.

"Helmer and guitar slinger Emir Kusturica's free-wheeling docu about No Smoking Orchestra applies the decibel level and stylishly grungy look of Jim Jarmusch's Neil Young profile "Year of the Horse" to the sociopolitical structure -- if not exactly the sheer cool -- of Wim Wenders' "Buena Vista Social Club"."