SYNOPSIS

A film about the love of jazz, but also about the love of the saxophone, that magical instrument. "I tell something about myself by playing and putting together sounds. That's my story," says Christof Lauer. He is one of the great jazz saxophonists in Europe, was a member of Albert Mangelsdorff's quintet and the "United Jazz + Rock Ensemble". He was a soloist in the NDR Big Band in Hamburg for 25 years and has also been a soloist in the jazz ensemble of the Hessischer Rundfunk since 1970.
How can the magic emanating from the tenor or soprano saxophone be explained? Who actually makes these instruments? And how did Christof Lauer manage to rekindle his love of jazz over decades? "Talking To You" penetrates the musical cosmos of an idiosyncratic musician who rejects any routine and persistently works on new forms. The main thing is that: "it has to be intense".


"At last, here is a music portrait that takes its subject seriously and doesn't fade out individual pieces after just a few seconds. Lucie Herrmann, who already created a memorial to the Frankfurt 'trombone world champion' Albert Mangelsdorff with the portrait 'Oh Horn!', and her great camera and editing partner Bert Schmidt have not only succeeded in creating a hymn to one of the most important advocates of contemporary improvisation art with 'Talking To You'. This film is much more than a portrait of a musician. It is a passionate declaration of love for jazz."
(Peter Kemper, FAZ, 21.4.2023)
Hans Glawischnig, Christof Lauer, Silvan Strauss, Kudsi Erguner, Bruno Caillat
Hans Glawischnig, Christof Lauer, Silvan Strauss, Kudsi Erguner, Bruno Caillat
Armin Reuss, Thomas Inderbinen, Christof Lauer
Armin Reuss, Thomas Inderbinen, Christof Lauer
Kudsi Erguner, Christof Lauer
Kudsi Erguner, Christof Lauer

"Christof Lauer really gets close to you - as a musician, as a person, as a personality. I think the film has a very nice flow and a perfect rhythm - completely in keeping with the music. You learn so much from and about Christof, it seems private, but always respectful. And the music, the making of music, the working on the music and the instruments is illuminated just as much as the magical moments of making music. It is also nice that the music really gets space, which is by no means the case with all portraits of musicians."
(Bert Noglik, Jazzpublizist)

Talking to you -
Christof Lauer (sax)

D 2023, 92 min.

Production and direction: Lucie Herrmann
Editing: Bert Schmidt
Camera: Meinolf Schmitz / Bert Schmidt
Sound: Armin Reuss, Stephan Höfler, Bernhard Türcke
Production: Lucie Herrmann Film

DCP, 16:9, Sound 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround

Versions:
Original with German subtitles
Original with English subtitles


DVD order
"Talking To You. Christof Lauer (sax)"

Original with German and English subtitles

talkingfilm@lucie-herrmann-film.de
15,50 € + Shipping costs



Lucie Herrmann

After completing her studies of literature and sociology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and working as assistant director of two films for "Kleines Fernsehspiel" (ZDF), Lucie Herrmann has become a freelance author and editor in the field of culture. She has made many films for television: HR, WDR, NDR, arte and 3-Sat-Kulturzeit. With her documentary film "Oh Horn!" she created a cinematic monument to the late Frankfurt jazz trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff and now dedicated her second, self-produced jazz film to jazz-saxophonist Christof Lauer, who also lives in Frankfurt.




"Lucie Herrmann has created a cinematic portrait of the musician that can be considered exemplary for the genre. (...) 'Talking To You. Christof Lauer (sax)' not only introduces jazz fans to an immensely likeable, friendly, modest, even self-ironic person. That is not so often the case in our days of unrestrained self-promotion and a precedence for male and female scandal-mongers."
(Thomas Rothschild, KULTURA-EXTRA, März 2023)