Video & On Demand - Argerich (DVD & Download)
The world-renowned pianists Martha Argerich and Stephen Kovacevich, two giants of classical music, are seen here under the scrutiny of their daughter Stephanie, now in her thirties and a mother herself.
Argerich is an warm, intimate and often funny family portrait that questions the relationship between a mother who is a quasi “goddess”, and a very private person, and her three daughters. Stephanie also uses the film to try to reconnect with her somewhat estranged father. Argerich explores with great subtlety the joys and difficulties of combining motherhood with an artistic career. A remarkable journey into the Argerich galaxy, with all its eccentricities, idiosyncrasies, problems, and, most importantly, love of music.
Rome Film Festival, Competition
Prix Italia, Music and Arts Documentaries section, International Competition for Radio, Television and Web, Turin 2013.
Locarno Film Festival, Swiss Section
Music Festival ‘Chopin and his Europe’, Warsaw, Poland
Golden FIPA, Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes, 2013
DVD Extra: Martha Argerich plays Chopin's Piano Concerto no. 1 in Warsaw (2010) with Encores, Mazurka op. 24 no. 2 and Schumann's Traumeswirren op. 12 no. 7
Stéphanie Argerich was born in Bern in 1975 and has Swiss, Argentine and Belgian nationality. The daughter of Martha Argerich and Stephen Kovacevich, she studied Russian in Moscow and then photography at the Parson School of Design in New York. She did several video training courses in Paris where she directed her first short films. Argerich is her first feature-length film.
| Director and voice-over | Stéphanie Argerich |
| Producers | Intermezzo Films, Luc Peter / Aline Schmid |
| Idéale Audience: Pierre-Olivier Bardet / Claire Lion | |
| Co-producers | RTS, SRF, ARTE France |
| Cinematography | Stéphanie Argerich / Luc Peter |
| Sound | Marc Von Sturler |
| Editing | Vincent Pluss |
| Sound Editing | Nicolas Lefebvre |
| Sound Mixing | Didier Rey |
| Additional Camera | Séverine Barde, Patrick Mounoud, |
| Heidi Hassan, Gaston Solnicki | |
| Additional sound | Aki Monobe, Romeo Dos Santos, |
| Marco Bielli, Jean-Luc Fichefet | |
| Assistant to the Editor | Sandra Ferrara |
| Image Retouching | Lisa Roehrich, Valentin Rotelli |
| Researchers | Amelie Sourice, Sol Castro |
| Writing advisors | John Gutwirth, Sandra Ferrara, |
| Kamal Parsi-Pour | |
| Transcription | Julie Groën |
| With the participation of | |
| France Télévisions - Unité Musique et Spectacles vivants | |
| MEZZO | |
| ERR – Eesti Rahvusringhääling, Estonia | |
| RTS – Radio Televizika Slovenija, Slovenia | |
| SBS – Special Broadcasting Service, Australia | |
| SVT – Sveriges Television, Sweden | |
| TVP Kultura – Telewizja Polska, Poland | |
| YLE – Yeleisradio Oy, Finland | |
| And the help of | |
| Office fédéral de la Culture (DFI), Fonds Regio Films, La Loterie Romande, Ville de Genève, Fondation Vaudoise pour le Cinéma - Loterie Romande, Canton de Vaud et Ville de Lausanne Fonds de production télévisuelle, Succès Passage Antenne, La Fondation Ernst Göhner - Stage Pool Focal, Cinéforom, Swiss Films, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, PROCIREP – Société des Auteurs, ANGOA. | |
| With the support of the Programme Media de la Communauté Européenne | |
| Shot in Switzerland, Poland, Japan, Italy, France, Argentina, Belgium, and England | |
| © Intermezzo Films - Idéale Audience - ARTE France - RTS - SRF – 2012 | |
| DCP, 95 min | |
| In English, French, and Spanish | |
| With Martha Argerich, Stephen Kovacevich, Lyda Chen, Annie Dutoit, Stéphanie Argerich | |
★★★★
'Evolves into something altogether more fascinating as the extent of eccentricity in the Argerich family is revealed...
Yet the real magnetic draw at the heart of the film is Martha - enigmatic, mercurial, unwilling to be defined as mother, wife, daughter or even woman - and her wild, dangerous, untamed music.'
Wendy Ide, The Times
★★★★
'A lovely, heartfelt thing.'
Tara Brady, The Irish Times
★★★★
'This stealthily absorbing documentary...This is a deft film about parents and children, soloists and orchestras, genius and the real world.'Danny Leigh, The Financial Times
★★★★
'If you liked Sarah Polley's 2012 film Stories We Tell (another voyage around a dazzling mother) this documentary will hit the spot.'
Charlotte O'Sullivan, Evening Standard★★★★
'A fascinating, caring, poignant study of genius and its collateral damage.'
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
'Argerich gives a far more intimate, offbeat and complex portrait of an artist than oculd ever have been provided by any non family member'
Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent
★★★★
'A beautiful tribute...intimate and touching. Argerich offers a profound insight into an individual's life experience, but in a refreshingly unaffected and unscripted way, free from the usual melodrama usually demanded by viewers.'
Nina Hudson, The Upcoming
"A warm, loving portrait of the relationship between the celebrated pianist Martha Argerich and her youngest daughter, this affectionate documentary invites viewers into the intimacy of their home without any restrictions."
Dan Fainaru, Screen International
"A masterpiece of intimacy and restraint...a riveting essay on what passes, and what must not pass, between mother and daughter. Acutely painful and funny, it cries out to be seen on the festival scene, in arts cinemas – and on arts TV."
Norman Lebrecht, Arts Journal
‘Martha Argerich’s daughter Stéphanie has made a touching, intimate and funny new documentary about her mother. ‘
‘This personal film explores her mother’s love, life and extraordinary talent, and exposes the challenges of combining motherhood with a glittering concert career where everyone wants a slice of ‘Martha’.
Erica Worth, THE PIANIST
★★★★"A beautiful, unique and captivating tribute."
Nina Hudson, The Upcoming
“A total artistic and intimate success.”
Jean-Baptiste Morain, Les Inrockuptibles
“Remarkable”
Eric Dahan, Libération - The whole article (in French) is here
"A warm, intimate and often funny famly portrait of internationally renownd pianist, Martha Argerich."Montreal Gazette
'An inspiring and often surprising journey into Argerich's world, complete with eccentricitites, idiosyncrasies and - most importantly - love of music.'
Barbican
"Essential for classical music fans yet just as enthralling for complete novices - in fact, it's almost more fun if the viewer has no prior knowledge."
Birds Eye View
Read an interview with director Stephanie Argerich
Pressbook
Download zip file of 6 photos
20 x 30 poster
"Why are artists so difficult to work with?" Article in The Daily Telegraph
Clip from the film: "I adore Schumann"