Lomax the Songhunter (2004)

Directed by: Rogier Kappers | 90 minutes | documentary

Alan Lomax is a music collector and above all an archivist and has risen above himself in name and fame. The special thing about this documentary is that the director Rogier Kappers shapes Lomax’s life and actions exactly as Lomax pursued his own life project: from city to city through many countries in the world and from person to person. As the director carefully unfolds the way Lomax is viewed, the viewer is struck by the magnificence and efforts of the archivist. Lomax did not just collect and record original local songs, he gave a voice to those who were not heard, thus creating a picture of their customs, environment, language and culture. Recordings of prisoners having to cut down trees, miners singing in the mine or women working the wool and singing beautifully. It is a soulful sketch of a time that will never return.

The film also creates a beautiful and poetic image of the old song hunter who was affected by his brain haemorrhage. He can barely speak, but the legacy he left behind is impressive. Sometimes it is difficult for the director to find the people and their music. Some of them have since passed away. At other times he finds true gems and almost a party breaks loose in such a small farming hamlet. This is mainly shaped by the magic of his early field recordings and his unwavering love for people and his music. A wonderful balance has been created of a mix between old recordings and images and the new images that the director makes. Sometimes toothless old men or women turn out to be very much alive again when they hear the old recordings and spontaneously burst into a ballad.

The director has mixed this story without throwing cheap sentiments into the fray – nicely in a plea for the preservation of old folk cultures that are rapidly being lost in an era in which the major channels unilaterally determine what is broadcast. A documentary road movie that far exceeds the qualification more suitable for lovers of folk music in terms of design and execution. A little gem.