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BITTER APRICOT tells the story of a sound that mesmerizes people all over the world. The power of this music connects the whole nation of Armenians. This unique sound inspires and excites international musicians like Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel or Hans Zimmer. Like them, we’re going to search for the instrument that sparked their imagination: A flute made of apricot wood, called the Duduk (Tzirana Pogh). The man and master behind this instrument is Djivan Gasparyan. The film is a portrait of the artist who first heard the sound of the Duduk as a small boy in an open air silent movie theatre in Yerevan, who travelled through the whole of the Soviet Union as a young man and who impressed Hollywood to become an ambassador for Armenian music in the world. At Gasparyan's side is his grandson, Djivan Junior, who will take over his legacy. We're witnessing a transmission process full of love and knowledge of a tradition that is thousands of years old.
Our first journey to Armenia began with the search for the secret of the sound of the Duduk. A sound that wasn’t familiar, but stirred something deep inside of us. When we met Djivan in Yerevan we realized that the power of his music would be a spiritual journey into the heart of the Armenian culture. Ever since we feel strongly connected to the Armenian people and their culture. Through their music we experience and understand the Armenian identity and the power of a connecting sound. Our perspective as filmmakers gives us the opportunity to be ambassadors for the music on a visual layer. In April 2015 we went to Armenia the second time. We filmed the concerts by Djivan Sr. & Djivan Jr. in commemoration of the Armenian Genozide at the memorial Tzitzernakaberd and at the Spendiarov opera. We were overwhelmed by the intense mood and energy of the Armenians in this historical moment and grateful that we had the chance to be with Djivan and all those wonderful musicians.
The movie was published 2020: https://www.dudukfilm.com/.
