Throw Down Your Heart

I met Sascha Paladino and Bela Fleck at the Newport Film Festival in 2004. They were presenting the film Obstinato:Making Music for Two, which followed a tour of Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Fleck and Meyer performed after the film. It was an amazing experience, and I met these talented young men after the film. Two years ago, I ran into Paladino at Newport Film Festival again. He was serving as a juror. We had a nice chat, and he told me to keep an eye out for a film he was working on that he had filmed in Africa. I went to see Throw Down Your Heart at the IFC Film Center and was very impressed. The banjo originates in Africa, and Bela Fleck wanted to go back to these roots. He expresses such a joy in the music, the instrument and his collaborators. Beautiful camera work and enchanting music make this film a real pleasure. Thanks guys!