A rare wood, a disappearing forest, and the music that could vanish with it.
18 min · A film by Iona Horton & Luisa Barone
Pernambuco returns to the CITES table in 2028. Until then, the most useful thing a film can do is reach the rooms where decisions get made.
Where the film is screening next, what I'm making now, and the stories behind the work.
We love bringing the film to new audiences. The usual package is the film, a conversation with the directors, often a participant or expert, and a Q&A — about an hour total.
Universities, conservatories, orchestras, festivals, museums, companies and community groups all welcome.
The Final Bow follows master bow maker Christophe Landon, celebrated cellist Coleman Itzkoff, and Brazilian conservationists united by a struggle over pernambuco — an endangered tree found only in Brazil's Atlantic Forest and essential to classical music.
Filmed in New York and Bahia, Brazil, it moves between rarely seen worlds: a master craftsman's workshop, the behind-the-scenes life of a world-class musician, and the last fragments of the Atlantic Forest, home to pernambuco trees over 600 years old. At their convergence sits an urgent question — can the species survive, and what happens to classical music if it doesn't?
Winner of the duPont / Judy F. Crichton Award. Top 10 Finalist for Best Short at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Reported with support from a Pulitzer Center Post-Graduate Reporting Fellowship.
More about Iona →Also streaming on Yahoo as part of the inaugural Yahoo × Nonfiction Hotlist collection. Watch the full collection here.
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