Of Vineyards and Shoeboxes – Filming completed

Accentus Music has wrapped filming for its documentary about the search for perfect concert hall acoustics directed by Günter Atteln.

Several major concert halls have opened their doors over the past few months, thereby making the public aware of an almost unknown guild: that of the acoustician. Without their precise calculations, architects would be lost, and prestigious buildings such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles would be doomed to sink into oblivion.

The documentary film “Of Vineyards and Shoeboxes – The search for perfect concert hall acoustics” has accompanied some of the world's most sought-after acousticians like Yasuhisa Toyota to Berlin, Moscow, Hamburg or Paris on various ongoing projects. It sheds light upon the most important stages on how a concert hall is developed: from the planning stages with the most important “shoebox” or “vineyard” question, to the model, and from the construction site to the opening ceremony.

For the first time, the complex vocational profile is presented in an entertaining and comprehensible manner. Through the different, partly opposing philosophies of the acousticians and a skillful parallel montage of the three storylines, a fascinating story of concert hall acoustics is told. A film about those who cross the borders between physics and art, who lead the way into the fascinating world of sound with passion, enthusiasm and a fine sense of humor.

With Yasuhisa Toyota, Jürgen Reinhold, Margriet Lautenbach, Martijn Vercammen, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt.

A film by Günter Atteln
52 minutes
In coproduction with ZDF/3sat
Screener available at the end of November.

Production Company Accentus Music GmbH
Co-Production Company ZDF/3sat
Director Günter Atteln
Executive Producer Paul Smaczny