Deutsche Welle (DW) was once again recognized for its documentary “The Beethoven Project” – this time from the “Hot Bird TV Awards 2011”. “The Beethoven Project” won in the category “Best Program” at an award ceremony in Venice on November 25. More than 150 stations from 10 countries submitted entries for the awards in 10 categories. This is already the 14th award that DW has picked up for “The Beethoven Project”. The documentary is now also available on DVD from Sony Music.

“The Beethoven Project” focuses on star conductor Paavo Järvi and selected members of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. They show their enthusiasm for music – in rehearsal, in concert and behind the scenes.

At the WorldMediaFestival in Hamburg, DW was recognized for several of its productions over the last year. DW’s documentary The Beethoven Project was awarded the Grand Prix at last week’s event. The 90-minute documentary from Christian Berger was broadcast in 2010. Berger and his camera team accompanied the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and its conductor Paavo Järvi for several weeks as they performed some of Beethoven’s works.

The documentary has been awarded several prizes over the last year, including the “Creation Award” from “Eyes and Ears of Europe”, and at the film festivals in Montreal (Canada), Ghuangzhou (China), Rhode Island and Cincinnati (USA).

Find out more about The Beethoven Project or see a complete list of winners from the WorldMediaFestival.

 

The Scorpions, the most successful German rock band of all time, announced in 2010 that they were going to leave the stage forever and wanted to go out loud with a three-year international farewell tour. But somewhere along the way, the magic of rock and roll inspired them to keep going and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2015 with a new album, a world tour and the release of a documentary film co-produced by DW. Directed by Katja von Garnier, Forever and a Day is a must-see for any Scorpions fan. It follows the band on their farewell tour and delivers an intimate portrayal of the musical passion which has sustained them for 50 years. The film premiered on February 7 in Berlin and will be released in Germany on March 26 with international release dates to follow. The film is sure to become another one of DW’s acclaimed musical productions like The Highest Level, with Chinese Pianist Lang Lang or The Beethoven Project, featuring star composer Paavo Järvi. Work on the film began in 2011 and von Garnier used her expert sensitivity and insight to find meaning behind the music. Besides chronicling the challenges and triumphs of the three-year tour, Forever and a Day also reveals secrets of the Scorpion’s history, including never-before-seen footage of super 8 films from the band’s archive. The show must go on and after being inspired by audiences from Thailand to the USA, the Scorpions are going back on tour in 2015, with Forever and a Day being shown in theaters at every stop along the way. After the German release at the end of March, the film will be broadcast worldwide on DW in English, German, Spanish and Arabic. A DVD will also be released.  DW partners on the project were the distribution company Tempest Film, producers DOKfilm ,  German broadcasters ZDF and Arte, Nordmeida Film Promotion and the German Federal Film Board, FFA.

Classical music is one of the most coveted aspects of German culture and DW has always been in tune with this, taking global audiences behind the music with documentaries like Schumann at Pier 2 and the Beethoven Project.  DW’s latest classical music film production, The Highest Level, recently premiered to much acclaim in Berlin. The film was directed by DW’s prize winning director, Christian Berger. It follows the Chinese pianist Lang Lang and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle as they put together a stunning performance of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and Piano Concerto No. 3 by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The two pieces are considered to be some of the most intricate and complicated for pianists.  A sneak preview is available now on Euromaxx on DW.  You can see the film on DW television in English, German, Spanish and Arabic from Saturday, November 30 to Monday, December 2 as part of the In Focus documentary series. On December 1 it will be available on-demand in DW’s media center. For those who can’t wait Sony Classical will release the film on October 25, 2013, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. You can buy the audio CD now online.

Following in the footsteps of “The Beethovn Project”, DW’s new classic music documentary “Schumann at Pier2” will run at the 2012 Montreal World Film Festival. The festival’s committee chose the 98-minute concert film directed by Christian Berger for its “Documentaries of the World” category. The festival will take place from August 23 to September 3.

“Schumann at Pier2” follows Estonian-American conductor Paavo Järvi and the musicians of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as they offer a modern take on all four of Robert Schumann’s symphonies in Bremen. The concerts are staged at a converted shipyard.

Viewers in Europe will also have the chance to watch the film on the European cultural television channel Arte in November, following the official premiere of the film at Berlin’s film theatre Kino International. In addition, Label C Major Entertainment will sell a DVD box set featuring the documentary and recordings from the concerts.