Roberta Cantow’s “Accordions Rising” will be shown at the Leavenworth Accordion Festival on Friday, June 17, 2016 at 11:30 AM Grange/Upper. Admission is $10.00. Leavenworth, Washington. Admission is $10.00. See the article on the Leavenworth Accordion Festival in this publication.
Dr. Robert Young McMahan, DMA /composer and classical accordionist / Prof. of Music Theory, Composition, and Accordion, The College of New Jersey / Officer of the American Accordionists’ Association and Chair of its Composers Commissioning Committee wrote the following endorsement:
“Accordions Rising” Documentary is the most exhaustive and fair representation of the accordion in all its facets—popular, ethnic, jazz, contemporary classical, avant garde– I have thus far encountered in the media. It was particularly edifying to see my long-time friends and colleagues in contemporary music Bill Schimmel and Guy Klucevsek threading the historical narrative of the accordion as well as its enormous diversity throughout the documentary.
Their inclusion was most appropriate and deserved as was that of the great Pauline Oliveros demonstrating some of the idiomatic traits of both the acoustic and Roland accordions. Thank you for this lovely exposé. It covered all the bases of the accordion’s strange and wonderful world and truly needed to be done.”
Roberta said, “The information about “Accordions Rising” Documentary is now in the On-line catalog for Filmakers Library’s Academic Video Store: https://www.academicvideostore.com/video/accordions-rising
where it is available for educators, libraries and academic institutions who would want to make use of it in those settings vs. my (or a distributor’s) future DVD or Blue Ray sales, which will be for home/personal use exclusively.”
Excerpts from the “Accordions Rising” Documentary website:
“The film provides a tapestry of fascinating individuals, their attitudes, deep passions, and above of all else, profound dedication to the instrument. We learn that though still a rebellious lot, these music makers have an audience in some of the hippest hideaways and most sought after mainstream venues.
The film makes clear that the so-called “accordion world” is actually a curious continuum that includes everything from wacky and kitsch to sophisticated, serious, meditative and post modern. As Dr. William Schimmel points out, “the accordion is the icon of the 21st century.”
Roberta would like all to know that she is interested in being contacted by accordion museums, repair shops and other retailers who would be interested in buying the DVDs wholesale and selling them.
Both DVDs and Blu Rays are available to all who are interested in purchasing disks for home/personal use, even though the Purchase Page will not be officially added to the website until the end of the summer (film festival restrictions). Streaming options will be set up by the end of the year. DVDs are $24.95 and Blu Rays are $29.95 (+ tax in California + S/H).
Accordions Rising received an Award of Merit from the Accolade Global Competition in October of 2015 and premiered at Cinema on the Bayou in Lafayette, Louisiana in January, 2016, to an enthusiastic and receptive audience. It was an official selection in the Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival, Muskogee, OK, where it was nominated for Best Music Documentary. Instead, it won the Best Movie Poster Award (depicted above).
“Accordions Rising” was also picked up by the educational distributor: Filmakers Library, now an imprint of Alexander Street Press, Inc., which will offer a vast array of opportunities for exposure in colleges and universities, as well as university,and public libraries. This is thrilling news, as it will lead to better and more widespread understanding of the instrument.and its astonishing capabilities, not to mention the talents of the players, without whom it would be nothing!
Notification is pending for about 15 more film festivals between now and October. Unfortunately,in relation to film festival acceptance, the film seems to be the “victim” of the very stereotype it sought to overcome.
However, the accordion world has whole-heartedly embraced it, and that is good enough for me. Between now and the end of summer, It will be presented at the Leavenworth Accordion Festival, the Las Vegas Accordion Convention, the Cotati International Accordion Festival and the Accordion Noir Festival in Vancouver, BC.
For further information: rcantow@originaldigital.net
