10.10 - "The Speaking Hand in Seattle
10.10 - Posted by Editor
From the official announcement:
THE SPEAKING HAND
Zakir Hussein and the Art of the Indian Drum
Feature-length documentary
Oct 10, 11:30am
Seattle Art Museum, 100 University, Downtown
$10 – General Admission
$7 – Students, Seniors, Struggling Musicians
The subject of this fantastic documentary is world-renowned tabla virtuoso, Ustad Zakir Hussein. A legend in his own time, Hussein is blessed not only with a flawless command of an instrument of extraordinary technical complexity, but also with the vision, inspiration and energy to innovate with the tabla, to venture into new styles, and to employ the tabla in ways masters of the past had never done. As Ravi Shankar says in The Speaking Hand (Sumantra Ghosal, India, 2003, 104min), “It is a fact that he (Hussein) has brought the…whole art and technique of tabla playing so much forward, so much advanced, and left it in a place where it is limitless.”
Sumantra Ghosal’s documentary of Hussein is both informative and inspiring. The maestro speaks openly and enthusiastically about his musical journey, and what tabla playing has meant for him in his life. He shares stories from his young years studying with his father, his experiences playing and performing with other greats of South Asian classical music, the opportunities tabla playing has given him to communicate to people all over the world, and the moments he has taken to collaborate and create with percussion masters of various backgrounds and traditions. The film features such legends of South Asian classical music as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, “Baba” Ustad Allaudin Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Hussein’s father, Ustad Alla Rakha, who offer their own insights into Hussein’s expertise and unique contribution to the South Asian musical tradition. The film is also dense with long-running clips of many of Hussein’s greatest concerts. Music lovers seldom find opportunities to come so close to one so synonymous with the art. Ghopal’s movie creates this closeness with Hussein for the audience.
- Sophia Purekal
Film Reviewer
Tasveer, independent south asian film
The Speaking Hand, presented by Tasveer, is part of Utsav 2004, a festival of Indian music and arts.
ABOUT TASVEER
Tasveer, "picture" in Hindi/Urdu, is a nonprofit South Asian film organization based in Seattle, Washington founded in March 2002. We are committed to bringing films from South Asia and diaspora to the Pacific Northwest. Our intention is to increase awareness of all South Asian countries and cultures -- Afghanishtan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – through film screenings.