Song From the Forest

by Michael Obert Documentary Competition

As a young man, New Yorker musician Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies – and he stayed there. Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno is a fully accepted member of the Bayaka society and raised together with a Bayaka woman their son, Samedi. Now the time has come to fulfil his promise. Louis travels together with his 13-year-old son from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete and glass: New York City. Here they meet his wealthy brother and his old friend, filmmaker Jim Jarmusch.
While Samedi quickly adapts to this modern world, Louis’ return to the big city is more difficult than he thought. Michael Obert’s debut work is a fascinating portrait of a man whose horizon and identity is influenced equally by the mighty rainforest landscape and skyscrapers.