Teak Leaves at the Temples 2008

The camera of Garin Nugroho (Opera Jawa), cinelaureate of Indonesian culture, is a crucially choreographed participant in this strange encounter between traditional Javanese music and European free jazz. The fusion of ancient architecture, song and dance traditions that have remained unchanged for centuries, and improvised jazz yields a succession of amazements, both dissonant and harmonious. — BG

"A free-jazz trio, made up of Heinz Geisser (percussion), Guerino Mazzola (piano) and Norris Jones (bass), enter into a project with Nugroho and local musicians, singers dancers, at and around the famous Borubudur temple. The performances respond first to everyday life, then the tragedies of life (here with a focus on the earthquake at Yogyakarta) and finally, spirituality, with the film linking these three movements using commentary by a local sculptor, strangely in the guise of Superman!" — Clare Stewart, Sydney Film Festival