The events and problems to which composer Luigi Nono (1924-1990) reacted in his revolutionary musical Intolleranza 1960 are still pressing issues today: immigration and xenophobia, torture, civil upheaval, natural catastrophes, industrial accidents-situations and connections which destroy people. For Nono, who resolved to act as a witness of his time, music and political activism were inseparable. At the centre of the work is an immigrant played by African dancer Koffi Kôkô, who evolves in scenes combining dance, archival documents and images of political events. The world premiere in Venice in 1961 caused an uproar. Various audience members describe what happened, while sketching out the author's aesthetic and political positions. In attendance that night were his widow Nuria Schoenberg Nono, painter and set designer Emilio Vedova, philosopher Massimo Cacciari, and Helmut Lachenmann, a composer and former student. The uncompromising humanity of Nono is very much relevant today. In his words, "the creation of each of my works is always rooted in a human challenge: an event, an experience, a life test that spurs my instincts and my conscience to act as a witness to the world around me, as both a musician and a human being."

A film by Bettina Ehrhardt on Luigi Nono's "aziona scenica", or stage activity - a term he used to describe his operas. Luigi Nono's works are almost unique in the history of twentieth century music for the stand they took against dictatorship, bureaucratisation and indifference. INTOLLERANZA, composed in the early 1960s, expressed Nono's concerns over racial hatred and suppression. Taking Nono's opera as a basis and in cooperation with dancer and choreograph Koffi Kôkô, Bettina Erhardt has created an impressive film calling for tolerance and aesthetic resistance. The film, commissioned by German public broadcaster WDR and the Cologne Triennial, was produced by bce film and premiered on April 29 in Cologne's Museum Ludwig as part of a music festival centred on Luigi Nono's works.



Director/Script
Bettina Ehrhardt

Picture
Hans Albrecht Lusznat
Volker Tittel
Thomas Bresinsky

Editing
Nigel Timperley

Soundtrack
Luigi Nono

Narration
Ulrich Mühe

Participation
Koffi Kôkô
Nuria Schoenberg Nono
Catherine Gayer
Emilio Vedova
Luigi Pestalozza
Heinz-Klaus Metzger
Helmut Lachenmann
Daniel Charles
Massimo Cacciari
Agathe
Yoshi
Ola
Nieliti et Nelson Koffi
Manu Moginot

Producer
Bettina Ehrhardt

Production
bce film/Munich,
in cooperation with
WDR/Cologne,
MusikTriennale/Cologne

Distributer
bcefilm


Year of Production 2004

Length 58 min

Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English

Festival Screenings
FIPA Biarritz 2005