- A magical journey to the heart of Bali's rich artistry. Bali: Beats of Paradise is an impressive revelation of modern ethnomusicology featuring Grammy Award Winning Artist Judith Hill and Indonesian composer Nyoman Wenten.
- Love - it's more than a relationship between two people. It is a connection between two souls that embodies a passion for music and culture. Bali: Beats a Paradise is a story of this profound and irreplicable love. This film explores the story of Indonesian couple Pak Wenten and Bu Nanik - two artists who bonded over their love for traditional Indonesian dance and its accompanying musical style of gamelan. When they moved to the U.S. from Bali in the 1970's, Pak Wenten and Bu Nanik gained acclaim as ambassadors for their respective crafts. As the sun is beginning to set on this aging, yet ever energetic couple, they wanted to share gamelan and Indonesian dance one more time in an inspiring way before their retirement to Indonesia. They decided to break the paradigm and teamed up with Grammy winning musician and songwriter, Judith Hill and filmmaker, Livi Zheng. Their ambitious project is unlike anything else in the music industry: the creation of a music video that bends the rules of gamelan and Funk to create an awe inspiring music video set in Joshua Tree National Park. This film is the story behind the art and the music video. It is an unforgettable blend of documentary, love story, and genre shattering music.—Sun and Moon Films
- Music documentary, featuring Grammy Award Winning Artist Judith Hill (20 Feet From Stardom) and Indonesian composer Nyoman Wenten, pulls back the curtain on Gamelan music.
Gamelan, Indonesian traditional music, has been used in the film Avatar, the TV show Star Trek as well as the Nintendo game Mario Bros. Nyoman Wenten is one of Bali's most accomplished and versatile dancers and musicians. For the past 40 years he has devoted his life to teaching others. He is also known for his creative East-West fusions. Wenten has composed musical works that include a unique fusion of gamelan music and Western elements, collaborating with artists such as David Rosenboom, Morton Subotnick, Sardono Kusumo, Vinny Golia, William Miranda and Larry Reed, among others.
Wenten currently teaches in the department of Ethnomusicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and CalArts School of Music. Gamelan music has spread to 49 out of 50 states in the US, but is sadly shrinking in its homeland. Wenten wanted to leave something special behind before retiring to Bali so he set out to pay homage to the sacred yet fading tradition of Balinese music and dance.
Coincidentally, Grammy Award-winning singer Judith Hill was looking for a distinctive sound for a new piece of music she was composing. She was intrigued by Gamelan music and approached Wenten to discuss the blending of musical styles.
As Hill and Wenten worked in the studio on "Queen of the Hill," a song blending funk and Gamelan music, they decided to take their collaboration one step further - a music video. With the fusion of two musical styles, Hill and Wenten wanted the stark contrast of the desert with the beautifully colored traditional Balinese costumes. Shot in Southern California's Joshua Tree Desert, the music video is a kaleidoscope of funk and traditional Balinese dance and costumes showcasing Hill's ethereal vocals.
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By what name was Bali: Beats of Paradise (2018) officially released in Canada in English?
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