Brasslands

Loved this movie! The Balkan music is refreshing and enlivening, and the juxtaposition of different cultures (American, Serbian, Roma) offers an interesting backdrop. Especially intriguing is the fact that this independent movie was written and directed by a collective of 10 individual filmmakers using a consensus process. The film captures the electric energy and excitement of a ten day party in a tiny Serbian village, and culminates with winners and losers in the 50th anniversary of the world's largest trumpet festival.

This film is loaded with lots of amazing horn and trumpet players- including American musicians who play just for the love of this eastern European musical style. It also takes us on an intimate journey into the homes of local Serbian people, and gives insight into their family dynamics and customs. Throughout the festival and competition it reveals some of the longstanding issues that impact people raised in different cultures but living in the same region.

An uplifting, thought-provoking glimpse into a moment of live musical history.

I was at the same 50th installment of the festival, and unfortunately this documentary fazes out a few very obvious facts.

Guča is the biggest event in Serbia and therefore a showcase of Serbian culture. That also means revisionist T-Shirts and items glorifying the ill-fated wars of the 90s. And lots of folklore in the early hours program. Nothing really wrong with that, the Serbs do have a right to feel wronged by a process that wound up leaving them isolated. But the film fails to mention nationalism all but in passing, even though it's a huge presence in Guča.

The REALLY good bands that year performed at a hillside restaurant a short walk from the village center, because at that period the festival was dominated by Serbian bands. Not that those were bad, but the Romani bands struggling to survive played for pay among the crowds. The film team chose to interview just a few of them, ignoring the huge tent village at the river bed. They decided to focus on a competing US band, which makes this film an exploitative piece of an "exotic" setting, when the team had all the history of the region at their disposal.

In recent years, fortunately, there has been a renaissance of Romani players in the competition. That has brought some of the fantastic spirit of this festival back, which it had lost at the time owing to its rapid growth. So instead of watching this film, which is a missed opportunity, go and experience Guča for yourself.