Jazzed Out, Berlin

"It's not easy to talk about the history of Jazz and Berlin because Berlin has such a split history" ... this edition of the Jazzed Out documentary series, directed by Mathieu Mastin, takes place in one of Europe's most imposing and iconic cities. By taking the living, breathing entity that is jazz music and dragging it out of the clubs and into the streets, we see its natural versatility in a new space, interacting with the sky and the concrete, the history and the daily bustle. 

Between performances we see music journalists like Wolf Kampmann describe the evolving and contradictory role of Berlin-based jazz, from its 1920s boom to its ban during World War Two, and from its Cold War divide to its subsequent, blooming revival. The musicians themselves are juxtaposed with diverse iconography – Samuel Blaser plays the trombone at the famous Holocaust Memorial while Silke Eberhard plays saxophone surrounded by barking dogs on Karl Marx Street. 

In this dynamic and captivating film, modernity and history clash and resolve in a sequence of shots that describes the city's relationship to the music that simultaneously lives in it and reflects its energies.