Documentary Inspiration: Genghis Blues and Roko Belic

Just watched this 1999 movie by the idealistic and raw Belic brothers, starring the late genius musician Paul Pena who having hit hard times following his wife's death found some salvation and glory in learning throat singing which leads him to a competition in remote Tuva with an eclectic cast of supporters and film crew documenting a blind man's trip to one of the most beautiful, remote parts of the world.



Above is a promo video that was made before the movie's release, which went on to get an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, losing out in 2000 to, One Day in September about the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which also beat out, Buena Vista Social Club, another, if much more polished, but less personal, musical travelogue.

Roko Belic, one of the two brothers behind the Genghis Blues movie, who always wanted to make a movie about Tuva, and found out about Paul Pena's story while doing research on the place, is now working on an opus about happiness ...



He explains some of his thought, life, work process here, as he teams up with Creative Visions, an incubator for artists and big positive idea visionaries such as himself.