Brasslands

Balkan blowout.

BRASSLANDS

Like the beer-soaked jamboree it depicts, Brasslands is a loud and colorful experience. Produced by the communal filmmaking society Meerkat Media Collective, the documentary follows hundreds of bands and thousands of fans into the hills of Serbia for the 50th anniversary of the world's largest trumpet festival, a high-stakes music contest that attracts listeners of all ages to soak in the guttural horn blasts and frantic tango-esque rhythms of Balkan folk music. In particular, the filmmakers follow two bands: The defending Serbian champs, who train all year for these musical Olympics, and a ragtag group of New Yorkers who are just happy to be there. The documentary also briefly checks in with a band of Roma up-and-comers. The filmmakers hint throughout at the complicated politics that underscore the entire event: The 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in particular, is a haunting presence, occasionally coming to the fore in a conversation or a newsreel. Given less prominent attention are Serbia's internal politics, with tensions between races hinted at yet frustratingly underdeveloped. But as at the festival itself, the music is the film's true focus, and Brasslands works best as a catalog of fluttering trumpet solos and screaming fans. Indeed, many of the handheld camera shots look eerily like archival footage from Coachella—except all those teenagers in tank tops are waving Serbian flags and gyrating to hundreds of oompahing tubas.

Critic's Grade: B

SEE IT: Brasslands opens Friday at the Clinton Street Theater. 

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.