Genghis Blues (1999) on Netflix
NR19991h 28mDocumentary
Blind San Francisco bluesman Paul Pena hears Tuvan throat singing on shortwave radio and teaches himself to sing two notes at once. Kongar-ol Ondar then invites him to Tuva.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.7/101,496 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Paul Pena is a blind blues musician in San Francisco and a Cape Verdean American whose career and health faltered after his brush with success in the 1970s. While listening to shortwave radio he hears Tuvan throat singing, the art of shaping overtones so that one voice seems to carry two notes at once, and over several years he teaches himself to do it. At a concert of Tuvan singers he impresses Kongar-ol Ondar, who invites him to Tuva, a republic in the Russian Federation, to sing at its triennial throat singing festival. Supporters who call themselves the Friends of Tuva help Pena make the journey to Kyzyl.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Genghis Blues (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Roko Belic and his brother shot Genghis Blues with two Hi8 camcorders and edited it themselves, only allowed to work at a professional editing facility at night.
- It took the Belic brothers three and a half years to finish Genghis Blues after shooting it, and the whole time they lived on $500 a month in an apartment above an auto repair shop.
