Sonic Mirror

Percussionist and composer Bill Cobhan was born in Panama in 1944 and his ancestors are from Nigeria. He himself learned jazz in New York from the legendary Thelonious Monk and Stan Getzo. He later worked with musicians such as Miles Davis and John McLaughlin. He is now an international music star. The film tells the story of a musician and his work with children with autism. This narrative is accompanied by variations of jazz, Brazilian melodies, and African rhythms performed by Bill Cobhan himself and other musicians.

Mika Kaurismäki says: “I wanted to show that rhythm and music are important to people. To that end, I filmed several scenes in Switzerland, where Cobhan lives and works with children with autism in a psychiatric hospital. I shot other scenes in El Salvador, where Cobhan beats drums with an African band. This is a very poor country. With that, I wanted to show the role of music in such living conditions. And then another - Cobhan plays with a big band in Finland. But this is not a film about Bill Cobhan. It's more of a scientific expedition with Bill Cobhan. "