(FINALIST)
Red Carpet & Award Ceremony 🎫 Get Your Tickets
Original Film Title: Birth of a Pipe Organ
Director’s Name: Dana Plays
Writer’s Name: Dana Plays
Producer: Dana Plays
Country of Origin: United States
Country of Filming: United States
Language: English
Runtime: 19 minutes 20 seconds
Film Description:
Exploring the world of the pipe organ, through a bio pic of the organ builder, Lynn A Dobson, and performance of virtuoso organist, Haig Mardirosian.
While watching the construction of his Opus 89 (a team project), organ builder Lynn A Dobson takes us through a journey not only his career and early affinity for the organ, but also through the history of the organ, and its inner mechanical workings and structure as a musical instrument driven by wind and pipes. We also learn about the architects he has worked with including Rafael Vinoly at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, and Rafael Moreno of the Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles, and about the transformation of the Washington National Cathedral, and St Thomas Church and their need for entirely new organs.
Filmmaker Dana Plays visited the organ shop, captured interview over dinner with Dobson (at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Lake City, Iowa), and followed the installation by climbing 50 scaffolds to get inside the organ, and birds eye views of wind chests, bourdon pipes, being installed, and more. The camera brings into view macro cinematography of all of the intricate parts of the organ, we see them being installed, while also explained. Interweaving through this narrative we hear the organ performances of Haig Mardirosian, (performed on Opus 89) of works of Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg and Mozart, we hear what is being built.