Film
Festival Opening Night - Conny Plank: The Potential of Noise

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with the co-director Reto Caduff and will be hosted by Olaf Furniss (Born to be Wide/Music Tourist)

Thu, 22.11.2018
6:00 PM - 20:00 Filmhouse Edinburgh

Reto Caduff, Stephan Plank / Germany 2017 / 92min 

Konrad “Conny” Plank is undoubtedly one of the most innovative sound designers of his time. The recordings realized in his sound studio near Cologne between the 60s and 80s, revolutionized the music world. He was the pioneer of “Krautrock”, “Neue Deutsche Welle” and paved the way for the revolutions of electronic and pop music respectively.

Bands and artists who were fathered by the sound wizard (mostly before they became world famous) all agree that their careers would have been different without the talents of Conny Plank; David A. Stewart (Eurythmics), Annette Humpe, Michael Rother (Neu!), Les Rita Mitsoukou, Daniel Miller (Founder of Mute Records), Whodini, Scorpions, Midge Ure (Ultravox), Karl Hyde (Underworld), DAF and Gianna Nannini are just some of those featured on screen.

This is a story that begins 25 years on, with Stephan Plank embarking on a journey to rediscover his father’s impact and his importance in music history. Because of the family connection, this film brings an unusually intimate and emotional insight to the artists and their work with Conny Plank, and all that defines music production.

Reto Caduff is a Swiss born director. He has made several music documentaries on Jazz legend Charlie Haden or 80’s hard rock sensation Krokus. Originally trained in typography and graphic design, he started a record label while still in his teens.

Shooting music-videos for the bands on the label he discovered his love for film.Together with Stephan, the son of Conny Plank, he directed the documentary about the legendary German producer. In 2018 they won the "German Documentary Award" for best music documentary.