On Blu-ray and Digital

 

Eat that Question

Frank Zappa in his Own Words

On Blu-ray and Digital

"Eat That Question collects disparate concepts and perceptions
and unifies them into a riveting film, delivered in my father's own words.
It's a remarkable history lesson and serves as a gateway into his musical mind."
Dweezil Zappa

Synopsis

Born in 1940, FRANK ZAPPA - self-taught composer, musician, bandleader, producer and independent thinker -first transcribed his avant-garde, Varèse-influenced compositions onto paper at fourteen. He only began to write lyrics in his early twenties. Nevertheless, upon the '66 release of his debut album, FREAK OUT! (with THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION), he swiftly became the most quotable voice of dissent in popular music.

A subtle, skillful montage constructed solely from historic footage, EAT THAT QUESTION- FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS is an energetic celebration of this outspoken maestro. Zappa died far too early, in 1993, of cancer. How important then, that such unforgettable Zappa interviews and performances across three decades have been painstakingly gathered by director THORSTEN SCHÜTTE from the obscure vaults of TV stations around the world to create this unique 90 minute feature documentary.

Following Zappa from clean-shaven, besuited youth, to fearless chief freak, to his relentlessly productive final days before his death at 52, Eat That Question-Frank Zappa in His Own Words seats us right up front from the start; close enough to Zappa to read the flickering emotions in his eyes.

"There was rock and roll before Zappa,
and rock and roll after him.
While he was here, however
there was no one like him."
Jason Gorber, TWITCH

Filmmakers

"Just what I love
about the foul-mouthed,
mustachioed freak."
Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian
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THORSTEN SCHÜTTE

Director

German documentary filmmaker THORSTEN SCHÜTTE has worked for over 20 years as a writer, director and producer. He has produced and directed numerous TV films and series including WORLD JAZZ (1998); TRIP TO BRAZIL (2001); THE CACTUS OF KNOWLEDGE (2001); I WAS THE KING OF PORN-THE ADVENTUROUS LIFE OF LASSE BRAUN (2002) and NAMIBIA GENERATION X (2005), for broadcasters including ZDF, Arte, VPRO, Discovery, NBC and One Africa TV. His thought provoking and well- reviewed films have been widely shown at international festivals including Sundance, IDFA and Berlinale.

Parallel to his passion for music documentaries, Schütte dedicates a substantial part of his work to environmental and labor activism in Southern Africa through film. Some of his other documentaries, like LAND MATTERS (2008) and DWAAL NET ROND / THE FORGOTTEN (2015), deal with subjects like land ownership, affirmative action and farm workers' rights.

As a founding member of the Stolen Moments-Namibian Music History Untold Research Group, Schütte and his team members have been exploring the Namibian music culture that was almost forgotten, suppressed under apartheid for several years now. He is currently running a digitalization campaign in cooperation with the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation and co- curating an international exhibition that is going to open in fall 2016.

Since 2002, in Germany, Thorsten has also coordinated documentary and fiction studies at the internationally renowned film school Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

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ESTELLE FIALON

Producer

ESTELLE FIALON is Associate Producer at LES FILMS DU POISSON, an acclaimed French production company founded by Yaël Fogiel and Laetitia Gonzalez in 1994 which has won a string of international awards. Among the company's accolades are the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Prize and Best Director (Mathieu Amalric) at Cannes Film Festival for ON TOUR (2010); the Camera d'Or at Cannes for JELLYFISH (2007) by Shira Geffen and Etgar Keret; and five César awards (French Oscars) between the films SINCE OTAR LEFT, directed by Julie Bertuccelli; and VOYAGES (Emmanuel Finkiel, 1999).

In 2006, Fialon founded the documentary branch of Les Films du Poisson and has since led a number of noteworthy international co-productions. In 2013 she received nominations for the Academy Awards, the Producers Guild of America Awards and many others for Dror Moreh's celebrated documentary feature THE GATEKEEPERS (2012), winner of the Best Non-Fiction Film award from the National Society of Film Critics Awards among many other major wins. Fialon also produced Blaise Harrison's celebrated documentaries SUMMER GROWING UP (2011)-which premiered at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes-and HARMONY (2013), presented in the official competition of the Locarno Film Festival. She is currently developing the new documentary feature by Dror Moreh, CORRIDORS OF POWER. Fialon is also the producer of THE SETTLERS (Shimon Dotan) which premiered at Sundance 2016.

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JOCHEN LAUBE

Co-Producer

JOCHEN LAUBE studied film production at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. In 2006 he founded sommerhaus filmproduktionen which produced the German Film Awards-nominated debut feature by Christian Schwochow, NOVEMBER CHILD (aka NOVEMBERKIND, 2008), as well as the Grimme-Preis-awarded documentary SONBOL (2008). Laube then began managing the Ludwigsburg office for UFA in 2008, where he produced THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN (2010) by Florian Cossen, which won two awards at the Montreal Film Festival and two at the German Film Awards; as well as DIE UNSCHTBARE (2011) by Christian Schwochow, awarded a Lola at the German Film Awards 2012 and twice decorated at the Karlovy Vary International Festival. In 2013 Laube produced STATIONS OF THE CROSS by Dietrich Brüggemann, which was took the Silver Bear for best script at the 64th Berlinale. His theatrical fiction feature WE ARE YOUNG, WE ARE STRONG (Burhan Qurbani, 2014) screened at Tribeca and won a Lola at the German Film Awards. After seven years at UFA, Laube left to dedicate himself to producing through his own company sommerhaus filmproduktionen once again.

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WILLIBALD WONNEBERGER

Editor

WILLIBALD WONNEBERGER was born in 1982 in Berlin, Germany. He graduated in editing studies from the prestigious Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg school in 2015. Among his previous works are INTO MY DREAMLAND (Mai Seng, 2015) and Dwaal Net Rond-The Forgotten (2015) by Thorsten Schütte. Eat That Question-Frank Zappa in His Own Words is the first international release Wonneberger has edited.

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