PIANO SLAM 13 - The Movie

PIANO SLAM returns for its 13th year virtually in film with internationally acclaimed piano duo (Duo Duor) Yoshie & Takashi, poet Roger Robinson, DJ Anthony Laurencio from Afrobeta and Michelle Grant Murray’s Olujimi Dance Company surrounding Miami’s top teen poets, directed by documentary filmmaker Taima Hervas. Piano Duo Duor (Yoshie & Takashi) play works of William Bolcom and Rachmaninoff integrated with the beats of two DJ’s and the winning teen poets from Miami, Hialeah, Homestead, and Miami Gardens.

The music and writing theme for PIANO SLAM 13 is MIAMI MEMORIES – What’s Changed? My New Normal: Culture. COVID. Climate.

Recommended by The Miami Herald, “PIANO SLAM is a high-powered cross-genre music/poetry/dance extravaganza as a fantastically hip musical showcase for the voices of Miami‘s young poets in an extraordinary collaboration of top international and local artists.”

The theme is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom’s “RECUERDOS,” commissioned by the Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation. Miami-Dade Public School teens – poetry competition winners – write about the changes in their lives due to COVID-19 and quarantine, racial justice in Miami, and climate change. Keeping music in their lives has supported them through these changes.

Miami’s top teen poets will perform from Covid quarantine in their homes. Through the magic of film they will be transported into the Miami performance of their dreams at the Adrienne Arsht Center, the Lyric Theater, PAMM, The Betsy Hotel on South Beach and parks and beaches all over Miami Dade County seeking to win the top performance prize of $1,000.

  • Taima Hervas
    Director
  • Carlene M. Sawyer
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Student
  • Runtime:
    1 hour
  • Completion Date:
    May 13, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    80,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Taima Hervas

TAIMA HERVAS is an Emmy award winning documentary producer/writer, a Director/Storyteller and non-profit Director focused on the environment, equity and empowering youth through education in the arts. Taima’s talent is listening to people tell their own stories and making their stories come to life on film in ways that impact and inspire change for a better, shared future. Taima has produced independently for The Discovery Channel, PBS, National Geographic, TBS, and received the National Emmy Award for Outstanding Cultural Programming for Writing and Co-Producing Carrier Fortress at Sea, Discovery Channel Special.

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