Half Moon

An elegiac documentary following virtuosic clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh, a Damascus-born musician living in exile, as he attempts to find meaning and purpose after the outbreak of war in Syria. A profound exploration of the role art can play in forging identity and community.

What is the role of art in times of great suffering and tragedy? Frank Scheffer’s elegant, elegiac documentary attempts to address that question through a portrait of Kinan Azmeh, a Damascus-born, New York-based clarinetist and composer and his reflections on home and the Syrian uprising turned into war. Scheffer follows Azmeh over several years as he attempts to navigate this crisis of identity and purpose, travelling the world for concerts with other world-class musicians (including Yo-Yo Ma), revisiting his former mentors, and developing his own unique style of improvisational composition.

Through collaborations with fellow displaced artists, in particular the staging of an ambitious opera directly addressing the war, Azmeh makes a powerful case for the importance of Arab artists reclaiming their stories and for the potential of art, even in the rarefied realm of classical music, to address urgent current events. Electrifying live performances are juxtaposed with more intimate scenes of Azmeh working at home, spending time with his family and introducing his young son to his artistic and cultural heritage. A multi-tonal exploration of music’s potential to forge community and connection which has gained new resonance given recent events in Syria, and the resurgent hope many fellow exiles now share of someday returning home.

– Rachel Pronger

Trailer

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