This Oscar-nominated documentary defies simple synopsis, being the chronicle of a remarkable journey taken by Paul Pena, a blind San Francisco blues singer who played with the likes of John Lee Hooker and Jerry Garcia (and also wrote "Jet Airliner," which Steve Miller covered). One night while listening to his shortwave radio, he became enthralled by a Radio Moscow broadcast of throat-singing, which is peculiar to the upper Mongolian region of Tuva. Becoming a master of this obscure cultural art form, Pena traveled to Tuva in 1995, sponsored by Friends of Tuva (a curious group that included Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman), to participate in an annual competition and festival that is as triumphant as the Buena Vista Social Club's Carnegie Hall concert. Along the way, we are exhilarated by the company of such real-life characters as Kongar-Ol Ondar, a legendary Tuvan singer whom the locals idolize as "John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Michael Jordan rolled into one." A wonderful film that will cause a bit of a lump in the throat, Genghis Blues is highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)
Genghis Blues
New Video, 80 min., not rated, VHS: $24.95, DVD: $29.95 Vol. 15, Issue 6
Genghis Blues
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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