Audience Comments

I was able to watch the film twice while at the according festival in Cottati Ca. It brought me up to date on the current wave of enthusiasm for this unique and magical instrument..Three of the songs were wonderful to hear. Roberta got really in touch with what is happening now. with some insights to the history of the Accordian… the Festival would surprise you too two days of non stop music….

All arrived in perfect condition. The DVD is excellent! Thank you for your skills in creating such a wonderful film about the accordion. Love the T shirts as well. Thanks again. The poster is prominently displayed and receiving many comments. Beautiful graphics…

A film well done. Very informative and entertaining. Good music, good photography/cinematography.

This is a wonderful documentation of the status of the accordion scene in the USA. A real snapshot of the squeezebox culture. It will take months for me to follow the musical tracks of the musicians in the film.

Wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful, what a beautiful film you’ve made. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and learned so much about a subject I was completely ignorant about.
                                                                  

I just saw the trailer and I think it’s really great! I ordered a copy and hope to view it with my accordion group (the Jersey Shore Squeezers) at one of our “Squeeze-Ins”. Looking forward to this documentary. Thanks in advance for a great job!

Bravo! The accordion is beloved to me. It has taken me literally all over the civilized world (and New York City)(lol) . All was well until Elvis hit the stage in the late 1950’s. Then, anyone who was “cool” jumped ship to play the guitar. I’m grateful for that, despite the years of teasing I got. I’ve made a LOT of money. I can’t wait to see this film! From what I’ve seen of the trailer, you’ve done a great job!

Congratulations, Roberta, your endless work has indeed been worth every minute, day and many months of great effort you have put into this huge project. I wish you all the success in the world and hope you will have the energy and motivation to do another one. The accordion world is very lucky to have someone like you to bring this into the eyes and ears for everyone’s enjoyment and delight.

I watched the film in its entirety this morning. I thought it was exceptional and a refreshing updated version of the present accordion market and it’s foreseeable future. We congratulate you on a film well done.

I particularly liked two of the accordionistas that were featured in your film….Pauline O. and the Lawrence Welk inspired woman, a brilliant songwriter (I forget her name). My story is so typical of the people you featured in the film….I studied and worked in the classical world for many years…..I was given an old accordion about 10 years ago…..and after I moved to the west coast found a very strange accordion band that afforded me the opportunity to play. The instrument freed something inside me as a musician….and that something was JOY. Music evolved from serious to JOYFUL. The accordion for me embodies the lighter side of life, the part that we so often forget about as we get older. When our band plays for people we transport them to the land of JOY. I found it interesting that your film centered on the Avant-garde and esoteric musical genres. I studied music at the University of Toronto in the seventies with an amazing teacher named Joseph Macerollo who at that time was also playing accordion in an experimental style. He introduced me to the twentieth century giants like John Cage and interestingly enough Pauline O. I believe that Pauline O. has a masterful understanding of the instrument as a spiritual portal. It was so very cool to see her in your film. Thank you for making this wonderful film. Good luck to you.

Accordions Rising is a mesmerizing experience in film making. This presentation grabbed my interest, listening to every note played, from the first frame to and including the full length of the credits. The transitions from live interviews to still photos was artfully and masterly done. My eyes and ears were washed with the fabulous variety of sound, movement, and emotion. The cemetery site portion brought tears to my eyes. The most gentle presentation of a subject unknown to me that I have ever experienced.

…the beauty of the instrument itself; seeing the young people playing and increasingly females amongst them. I’d never thought that the guitar had displaced it as a major pop instrument. Angels and Accordions looks beautiful and adds a context for accordions different from anything else in the film. I liked seeing people dance to the music, the father-son playing the duet, the husband who played and wife who “danced.” The jazz accordionist; neat! The description of the guy’s teacher hugging the instrument, breathing with it. Tradition and innovation. Breathe in, breathe out. The kind of folk accordion. The extremes that people use to describe it are neat—square/debauchery. The bath house music party with accordions was a fun surprise. I didn’t know Pauline Oliveros played accordion. That was a very rich component, with the images of the tree leaves, the meditative aspect. I think I recognize where some of it took place – that community garden in the east village? I really like Rachel Garniez. Her sound, look, comments. I like the poetic imagery you go for with the fish, underwater, etc, when she is singling on the Staten island Ferry.And by the end when that graphic reappeared I felt you had achieved what you the narrator told me the viewer you were setting out to do re: a larger recognition of all that the accordion is. Bravo!

Congratulations. This is all good stuff. I think you are going to be flowing in the glow of this film in the not too distant future. Get the filmfest elitists on the train And send them back to their millenial snootfaires. Time to get down with the real folks who know what can come from a good squeeze…carry on!

Keep going. The film is a winner. – (New England Accordion Museum).

What a wonderful poster! It certainly deserved an award. Glad, but not surprised, that the documentary is gaining support and has been selected in Festivals. I hope that you don’t have to work too hard to convince those who are stuck in their silly prejudices and that your enlightening film gets the exposure it deserves. Bonne chance.

Thank you for that very special treat!!! Enormously engaging! What an epic job! – but totally successful – a great balance of entertainment and information – on a perfect curiosity. It’s an instrument that always rouses people yet it’s in very select events. And how lucky you were to find those talents who are so devoted to their accordion. Congratulations for all your efforts – I can see why they’ve been so well received.

Congratulations Roberta, your endless & tireless work has indeed been worth every minute, day & many months of great effort you have put into this huge project. I wish ‎you all the success in the world & hope you will have the energy & motivation to do another one. The accordion world is so very lucky to have someone like you to bring this into the eyes & ears for everyone’s enjoyment & delight. Warm regards, Howard

Wonderful trailer on the accordion. I look forward to seeing it all. How can I get a copy?

Thank you for doing this Roberta. I have been playing the accordion for 60 years and still love it and love making people happy with its music.

This film is SPECTACULAR. I laughed, I cried, I got goosebumps,I am inspired…There is not an accordionist alive who would not love this film. I think it is great that you showcased accordionists who are doing individual musical journeys that are personal and virtuosic.

What an effort–to find all those people, gather all that material, pull it together in a story about the great tradition of accordion music. My feeling is that you, as a filmmaker, are most in your groove in those impressionistic sections where the music is playing and you explore a variety of nature images. Or those are the sections that resonate most for me, where I felt so very moved by the beauty of the languid images and their details.

Gorgeous images, right rhythm, interesting and challenging testimonies to celebrate a versatile instrument which, as you say at the end, offers infinite possibilities to musicians. Your film certainly shows that after being poorly understood for a long time, it has now regained its “lettres de noblesse” while remaining also a very popular instrument. Bravo Roberta! You should receive positive reviews.

Your latest film is a gem. It opens a world and tells a story that surprises and pleases. I was amazed at how far afield you went to get all your interviews, events, etc. Bravo! I never thought there was so much to say about accordions, but I am most impressed both by the passion and diversity of the musicians, and the tenacity and craft of the filmmaker. You really put so much into this film, and you have created a thing of beauty, again!

The Maine Squeeze Accordion Ensemble is pumped about this movie. We know you can squeeze out some success and awareness for accordion culture. We’ll push any buttons we can to help.

That video is simply beautiful . . . simply beautiful.

The pace is right-on and the cast of characters is eclectic, intelligent and fun, and of course the music is the big payoff. I was amazed at how you managed to jigsaw it all together and sift it down to a nice flowing tale of the perky and diverse accordion community.

Congrats Roberta! 
You did a great job evoking the spirit and range of the music and the players.

Loved the preview. It captured, in ways I didn’t know, why the accordion is often “looked down” on and regarded as low art. Not a deserved honor but unfortunately an acquired one.