After many years of work our documentary film on Estonia's magnificent song festival, entitled To Breathe as One, will premiere in San Francisco on June 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Laulupidu (the song festival) was founded in 1869 and continues stronger than ever today, and for two days every five years is the largest choir in the world. But this festival is about far more than song. It is about identity, resistance, unity. In Estonian, "soul" and "breathe" come from the same root word. In Estonian, “to breathe as one” is to sing as one, to connect our souls as one. To Breathe as One was also the official name of the 25th Laulupidu, which is the one we filmed for this project.
Part concert film, part history film, all celebration, To Breathe as One is a one-hour documentary that follows the Piedmont Children's Choir of Oakland, California, as they take the long journey to sing at the festival and discover what it means to be Estonian.
Jim and I will be at all screenings for Q&A. Friday night, June 28th, will also feature the Piedmont Children's Choir. Founding Artistic Director Robert Geary will be present and the 2013 Piedmont Children's Choir will perform a song. Screenings are held at 7PM and 8:45PM. To buy tickets for the Friday screenings, go to: http://www.piedmontchoirs.org/....
The Saturday and Sunday screenings are hosted by LEP-ESTO, which is also holding an Estonian Festival from June 28th - July 1st. There will be Estonian music, food, and many cultural events. If you come to the screening, you will likely want to participate in the festival as well! For more information about the festival itself, go to: http://www.lep-esto2013.com/en....
Saturday screenings will be at 6:45PM and 8:30PM. One Sunday screening will be at 3:30PM. To learn more about these screenings go to: http://www.lep-esto2013.com/en... To buy tickets for the Saturday & Sunday screenings, go to: http://lep-esto2013.eventbrite...
All screenings are generously sponsored by Stanford University Libraries. Net proceeds from the screenings will be used to provide additional educational DVD sets of The Singing Revolution into the hands of American school teachers. 10,000 have already been distributed.
After a few select screenings this summer, To Breathe as One will be broadcast on public television this fall/winter! Details to follow.
Thank you to all who have helped bring this film to life, and if you're in the area we hope you can join us for this very special event!
Maureen & James Tusty
The Singing Revolution & To Breathe as One Filmmakers
TSR DVDs, BOOK & MUSIC AVAILABLE AT: www.singingrevolution.com
To Breathe as One website coming soon!
