The amazing story of how a group of reclusive Rhineland experimentalists became one of the most influential pop groups of all time. The documentary features three exclusive live tracks filmed, at their Tate Modern shows in London (Feb 2013), interwoven with expert analysis, archive footage of the group, newsreel of the era and newly-shot cinematic evocations of their obsessions – motion, cycling, travel, globalism, communication, automation and the harmonious coexistence of man, nature and technology.
Hope on the Road – South Africa
Together with his father, Daniel Hope travels to his native South Africa. 30 years after the end of apartheid (1994), he not only explores his family history there, but also the rousing music that was part of the political transformation of the rainbow nation. Golda Schultz, Vusi Mahlasela and many others support him in his work.
Hope on the Road – Hollywood
World famous violinist Daniel Hope follows the westward journey made to Los Angeles by Jewish artists, many fleeing the Nazis following the outbreak of World War II. Its consequences are seen as seismic for the development of Hollywood, while also defining the musical language of cinema. Erich Korngold (The Adventures of Robin Hood), Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard), Miklos Rozsa (Ben Hur) amongst others, had travelled to the west coast of America with little choice – they were avoiding Jewish persecution – but they would go on to shape cinematic music as an art form. Hollywood of that time was newly invigorated by the birth of talking picture, and music moved from something used to distract audience from the silences of the movies, to becoming a key creative element that worked around dialogue. It began to be used to shape and charge emotion, the blueprint of this was created during this turbulent time. In addition to meeting composers of today influenced by the early emigre artists, it is also a chance for Daniel Hope to perform some of this music during his travels, which takes him to the house of writer Thomas Mann, the exile archives of the University of California and the old MGM soundstage where classics like Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind were recorded.
Hope on the Road – Ireland
Daniel Hope is on a very personal journey: At the wheel of an old Morris Traveller, the internationally acclaimed violinist explores Ireland, Irish music – and the history of his family. His first stop takes Daniel Hope to medieval Kilkenny, where he meets the „Queen of the Irish Harp,“ Siobhan Armstrong. She explains to him how the harp became a symbol of resistance to foreign domination. He continues on to ocean-washed Galway on the west coast, the capital of street music. This is the home of Seán Smyth, fiddler of the band Lunasa and master of Irish folk. And, of course, there‘s Dublin, where Daniel Hope premieres a piece by the long-forgotten Irish composer Ina Boyle with the National Symphony Orchestra. The emotional highlight of the trip is the violinist‘s visit to Waterford. Here, together with his father, the writer Christopher Hope, he sets out to find the last address of his great-grandfather Danny McKenna: „Without this Danny, I might never have discovered the violin for myself. Because it was only because of him that we were entitled to an Irish passport when my father had to leave South Africa because of his opposition to the apartheid regime. And it was only because of that Irish passport that we were able to settle in London, where my mother found a job with Yehudi Menuhin, the violinist of the century.“ Daniel Hope‘s journey through Ireland thus also becomes a journey to his own roots.