14/04/2023 - The animated co-production, which reunites the creators of Chico & Rita, is ready for festival berths with a story centring on the figure of Brazilian musician Tenório Jr

For the last few years, filmmaker Fernando Trueba (whose most recently released feature was The Queen of Spain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fernando Trueba
film profile] and who is now engrossed in the post-production of Haunted Heart – see the news) and illustrator, designer and image creator Javier Mariscal have been working on their new joint film, following 2011’s Chico & Rita [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando
film profile]. The result, They Shot the Piano Player [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], is now poised to be one of the most prominent animated titles of this season.

The story begins in 2010, as Jeff Harris, a US journalist, publishes a feature in The New Yorker magazine to mark 50 years of bossa nova. His editor, excited about the article, suggests that he write a book about this musical movement that revolutionised music in early-1960s Brazil. While conducting research for his new project, the reporter discovers a pianist that had hitherto been unknown to him: Tenório Jr. He starts to investigate, and when he finds out that he hasn’t recorded anything for more than 30 years, he deduces that he must be dead. He then travels to Rio de Janeiro to continue his work and comes face to face with musicians from all generations, from tenacious survivors to the very youngest ones… But the name Tenório Jr crops up constantly on his journey. And so, he discovers that he disappeared in Buenos Aires during a tour while he was accompanying the great poet Vinicius de Moraes, that he was tortured and murdered, and that his body was never found. He was only 35 years old and was one of Brazilian music’s most brilliant instrumentalists.

They Shot the Piano Player leads us from the present day into the past, from 21^st-century New York to Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s and Buenos Aires in 1976, during the days of the military coup d’état, amidst a jigsaw puzzle of genres and musical styles. It’s a political thriller, an animated documentary and an adventure brimming with music, through which we meet the key figures of bossa nova. In short, it’s a film about the necessity of historical memory, a condemnation of violence, and a celebration of art and life, according to the people behind it.

“Animated films are difficult to get off the ground,” remarked producer Cristina Huete a few days ago, as the team celebrated the tenth anniversary of Spanish distributor BTeam. “However, we are crazy enough to make movies out of love, slogging our guts out and disregarding our own health. Fernando enjoys both music and film, and wants to lift the lid on this pianist’s story for you.”

They Shot the Piano Player is a feature being staged by They Shot the Piano Player AIE (Spain), Fernando Trueba PC SA (Spain), Julian, Piker & Firmin SL (Spain), Les Films d'Ici Méditerranée (France), Submarine (Netherlands), Animanostra (Portugal) and Producciones Tondero SAC (Peru), . It has secured support from RTVE and the Ibermedia programme. Its international sales are overseen by UK outfit Film Constellation, while its Spanish distribution is managed by BTeam.

(Translated from Spanish)