OUR FILMS

THE BEETHOVEN HERO TRILOGY

In the Beethoven | Hero Trilogy, three deeply personal films take us on a journey through history and around the world, telling stories of the enduring power of Beethoven’s creations, the ways they live within us, and how they often transcend the boundaries that separate us. Starting with Following the Ninth, the award-winning documentary that explores the impact of Beethoven’s final symphony, followed by Love & Justice and the story of Chileans sustaining hope in the face of political repression, and culminating with Last Will and Testament, focusing on Beethoven’s powerful late quartets, The Beethoven Hero trilogy will be on a screening tour across the US in 2024-25.

Following the Ninth

This documentary explores the global impact and legacy of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, particularly focusing on its influence in moments of historical significance such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Following The Ninth also takes us to Chile to follow women who protested the Pinochet military dictatorship using Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The final story of the four-story film is how the Ninth Symphony is a massive public event in Japan each Dcember, often with a chorus of 10,000 singers.

Love & Justice

The recently unveiled Love & Justice: In The Footsteps of Beethoven's Rebel Opera follows Candaele to Valparaiso, Chile. Here, the narrative of Beethoven's sole opera, "Fidelio," resonates deeply with the story of the Butoh performer María Belén Espinosa Peña and her murdered grandfather, Jorge Peña Hen. This film becomes a poignant bringing together of Beethoven's quest for love and justice and the harrowing yet inspiring tales of those impacted by Chile's 1973 coup and the years of political repression that followed.

LAST WILL & TESTAMENT

The trilogy's concluding film, Last Will & Testament: In the Footsteps of Beethoven's Late String Quartets, is a tender and contemplative look at Beethoven's final years. Last Will & Testament focuses on the music he created when he retreated into himself after illness and complete deafness separated him from friends and admirers. The film pays homage to the intense, delicate avant-garde compositions of his late string quartets – a testimony to his ever-evolving commitment to his profound musical gifts. Currently in production, the film is set for release in 2025.

All films are available for classroom and outside the classroom use

Reviews

  • The Village Voice

    “Each anecdote builds upon the next to create that rarest of films: a documentary as VOICE ineffable and transformative as it sets out to be.”

  • The New York Times

    “Thrilling, smartly assembled and gracefully paced”

  • Bill Moyers

    “The film is beautiful and powerful.......If millions could experience its affirming and incandescent message, we might turn around the destructive dynamics that are overwhelming the earth.”

  • NPR

    Melissa Block of NPR's All Things Considered interviews npr Kerry Candaele about the enduring power of Beethoven.

  • José Blanco Jiménez

    “Love & Justice combines the musical style with the cinematographic language of the great masters. The camera handling of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, the box of surprises of Citizen Kane, the ambivalence of fiction and reality of François Truffaut’s The American, but also the narrative and scenic skill of Peter Greenaway.”

  • "A very moving film. What a journey. And thank you for remembering our tragedy and our struggles."

    Ariel Dorfman

    “A very moving film. What a journey. And thank you for remembering our tragedy and our struggles.”

  • Telluride Daily PLanet

    “Love & Justice proves that classical music can inspire and educated anyone. It’s not meant to be a rarified experience. Love & Justice is a moving film, with grand artistry on display.”