New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Directed by 12-time Emmy-winner and Grammy-nominated record producer Chris Gero, The Sound of Us has been hailed as a "rousing ode to the healing power of music" (Harper's Bazaar). After winning the Movie That Matters Award during the Cannes Film Festival this summer, the documentary will make its official premiere on
September 9th, at the opening night of the BZN International Film Festival in Bozeman, MT. The Sound of Us has also announced screenings at Breckenridge Film Festival, Albuquerque Film and
Music Experience, Vail Film Festival and Calgary International Film Festival for
September alone, in addition to a series of special programming for the inaugural Rikers Island
Music Festival. All month long, The Sound of Us will stream 24/7 on 6,000 of the facility's internal tablets, offering incarcerated individuals the chance to experience and respond to the film's guiding question, "What is music, what is music to you?" Find the full list of
September festival dates below, with more events and fall screenings to be announced soon.
Watch the The Sound of Us trailer, featuring Avery*Sunshine, Ben Folds, Bettye LaVette, Francesco Lotoro,
Grace Kelly, Mercy Bell, Patti Smith, Preservation Hall Jazz Band,
Sarah McLachlan, Sekou Andrews and many others: https://youtu.be/aqWJyq7aodg
During this divided and critical point in history, The Sound of Us illustrates music's universal, unstoppable ability to unite and inspire. It gives voice to hope and courage, allows the greatest avenue to grief and honesty, and provides a universal language for the most difficult conversations, as shown through the film's nine standalone stories, shot in America, Australia, Canada, Italy and Japan during the height of COVID-19.
In between interviews and performances from the aforementioned artists, as well as
Butch Walker, Dan Tepfer, Eric Whitacre, Hiromi, Jason Mraz, Pasek & Paul, PJ Morton, Will Wells and dozens more, The Sound of Us unfolds as a sequence of vignettes that include Project:
Music Heals Us playing private concerts for hospital patients and Rikers Island inmates; a Holocaust survivor whose 70-year career persisted with the help of one melody; underserved children finding new types of families in music education; venues grappling with pandemic-spurred shutdowns; the history of jazz and African-American music evolving in New Orleans; composer Joel Thompson's riveting choral piece inspired by the final words of seven unarmed
Black men before they were killed by police; and much more.
In a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, Chris Gero says: "The Sound of Us reminds us all that we are better together, and that music-making makes us all human and breaks down the walls we all create in life. This film demonstrates the simply remarkable goodness in people through music and I am honored to bring these stories to the world."
Read more in Chris Gero's in-depth interview with Harper's Bazaar, discussing how
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, his young children and the dark history of "Amazing Grace" led to the film's inception, and his experience composing the score.
The Sound of Us - Festival Dates:
Sept 9 - BZN International Film Festival
Includes Q&A with Chris Gero, Performances from Avery*Sunshine & Elliott Skinner
Sept 17 - Breckenridge Film Festival
Includes Q&A with Chris Gero
Sept 23 - Albuquerque Film &
Music Experience
Includes Center Stage Conversation with Sekou Andrews on Sept 22, Center Stage Conversation with Chris Gero on Sept 23 and Filmmaker Q&A with Chris Gero on Sept 23.
Sept 23-27 - Vail Film Festival
Screening Virtually
Sept 25 - Rikers Island
Music Festival
Live Performance Event featuring Project:
Music Heals Us & More
Sept 25 - Calgary International Film Festival
Chris Gero is a 12-time Emmy Award winner and Grammy Award-nominated record producer, well-known for his visionary style in the music industry. An accomplished composer and director, The Sound of Us is Gero's second documentary feature film. Gero previously directed the 2014 award-winning feature length documentary, Nathan East: For the Record. Prior to his documentary directorial debut, Gero produced and directed Elton John's full length concert film The Million Dollar Piano, which screened worldwide. As founder of Yamaha Entertainment Group and Chief Artist Relations Executive for Yamaha Artist Relations Group, Gero oversees the management and branding of Yamaha's global roster, having signed more than 5,000 artists to date. Also known for his large-scale concert productions, Gero has produced live concert events for some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Michael McDonald, Norah Jones,
Sheryl Crow and John Legend. Gero resides outside of Franklin, Tennessee with his wife and four children.
