We Are the Thousand

We Are the Thousand (Anita Rivaroli, 2020) It started as a dream, really. Fabio Zafagnini had this dream of seeing the Foo Fighters, but thought they'd never show up in his little town in Cesena, Italy. So, he and a few friends came up with an idea to get noticed—create (literally) the World's Biggest Band of 1000 players to play one song for a video, hoping to get noticed. 

 

For the song, they chose something they thought would be easy to play—"Learn to Fly" Then, they formed a corporation, got a web-site, announced their intentions, and asked for auditions of people who could play...drums, bass, guitar, or vocals. They get thousands and they invite their favorites to a racetrack in Cesena for July 26th in 2015. 

 

Then they have to figure out how to make it work. One thousand players? Spread over several meters? How will they stay in sync, without sounding mushy? They come up with a lighting system that counts out the beats...make sure they have enough audio equipment, cameras, microphones, electricity, etc. The players are bringing their own instruments, so...

 

But...is it going to happen?

Sì! Certo! People from 14 to 60 years arrive, toting their gear. Everybody is checked in and assigned their spots (remember, distance is a factor in their syncing) and, after a shaky first rehearsal of drums only, the sync is established...and it's amazing. The rules are: keep the beat; no solos; no riffing during the breaks. Other than that, have fun.

Director Rivaroli is in on the process from near the beginning and her incessant camera serves as a fly-on-the-wall for meetings, discussions, doubts, and kvetching in the year-long process to set the thing up, and during the performance, it's like there are cameras everywhere, cranes, drones, hand-helds, all the while capturing the crazy joy of all walks of life being a band.

 

The tale of Zafagnini's crazy idea and how it ballooned out of a personal quest and turns into its own Next Big Thing is extremely inclusive filled with talking heads with a vast number of participants and only really drags when it concentrates on a single individual and doesn't see the whole collective as not just a means to an end, but the means have more meaning than anyone might have realized.

In a way, it reminds me of Sad Hill Unearthed, the 2017 documentary of a few movie zealots who made it their mission to recreate the iconic cemetery location in Burgos, Spain where the final act of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was filmed. The same crazy passion is in full display, but the rewards are so much richer than even when their goals are achieved, it brings a cock-eyed smile to your face.

Plus, the music is amazing.

As the line from a contestant on AGFT sang last week "Don't quit your day-dream."

The video that started it all...