At the beginning of the eliminations, there are 160 of them. 80 enter the competition, and only twelve will advance to the final. The heroes of PIANOFORTE are the participants of the legendary International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, which takes place once every five years in Warsaw. Young musicians from all over the world have been preparing for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity since childhood. Triumphant highs, painful lows, enormous pressure – PIANOFORTE is a film rollercoaster that shows the extraordinary power of music. Director Jakub Piątek takes viewers behind the scenes of the Competition, where pianists struggle with this special experience combining passion and joy of playing with tears of exhaustion and despair. It is also an intimate story about the maturation of young musicians who try to find their way between the demands of the Competition and intensive training, and new friendships, successes, dilemmas and failures.

Films are free to the public, but seating is limited. Tickets will be available at the front desk of the museum starting at 10 am on the day of each screening, or pre-register the day of screening at kalamazoomuseum.org.