A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

“Why musicians travelling in the footsteps of soldiers 100 years ago? If we could go back in time and say to those on the battlefields “guess what happens here in 100 years” – would they believe us? If we said the same thing to those fighting now, would they believe us? Would we believe ourselves? We now wage war on our own species. But even at our worst, humanity and empathy continue to survive. Our story culminates in acts of kindness: soldiers from opposing sides, ‘enemies’, offering each other water, a cigarette, a shoulder to lean on. Even – incredibly – in what is surely one of the most bizarre and dangerous inventions of the human mind: a place called no man’s land.”

John Psathas - Composer

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STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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“It was a pleasure to sing for the wonderful film.  As many Indian soldiers participated in the war it was decided that my part would be live recorded at the magnificent Fort of Gwalior. Coincidentally I got an invitation to an exhibition of WWI. The heartrending pictures of death and destruction and of the warriors from all over the world including India gave me the food for thought of what I should...” — Meeta Pandit

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“Every time that John Psathas asks you to work with him in a project, you firstly have to say yes and secondly ask what is this about. That is because you are sure from the very beginning that you are going to deal with something of a great artistic depth. But no matter how well you know him and his music, I think that none of us could really imagine how powerful would be the experience...” — Sofia Labropoulou

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“In 2015 we were on tour in Denmark when John sent us an email to propose to us to participate in his film No man’s land. After reading the email we had a small Skype and agreed to cut our tour for 2 days and take a flight back to Paris to record and film in the same day. The idea of the film has touched us as we are Syrian-Palestinian who lived the war. To see all these musicians... ” — Refugees of Rap

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“Surely I can speak for many of the musicians involved in the “No Man’s Land” project in saying that this was a powerful musical and personal experience that is not easily put into words. I’m quite sure the number of goose bumps experienced by players and audience alike far outnumbered the thousands of notes and breaths we recorded. I believe we all shared the feeling...” — Hayden Chisholm
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“Park Road was approached by John and the other filmmakers to join this project early on in it’s development.  They had travelled to some of the locations around the world and played us down some of the footage while explaining the concept and their vision. We immediately felt it was a fitting project to commemorate the significance of WWI and did not hesitate to commit...” — Park Road Post

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“I will never forgot the experiences I had filming this project, from being in the largest First World War graveyard at Verdun at 3am spending all night surrounded by hundreds of thousands of gravesites as we were filming time-lapse of the stars turning over these eerie graves, or the culmination of our journey across Europe as the numbers of battlefield dead rose to incomprehensible...” — Mathew Knight / Cinematographer
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“With No No Man’s Land John invited me to sing in my mother tongue, Armenian, to some incredibly arranged world music and be a part of this huge cast of musicians and singers in this epic production. The project is a very moving diatribe of artists being lost in the epic wisdom of peace after world wars that have ravaged their peoples and cultures. John had me sing on the dunes of Muriwai...” — Serj Tankian
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“Something incredible in the common voice of music, is that, without even knowing we can break down walls, social and religious boundaries, and expectations, we can break down and strip away negative feelings and emotions, and we can for a brief moment embrace and enjoy the uniqueness of what makes us human. Our spiritual greater meaning and or understanding...” — Iraia Whakomoe
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“With its premiere in the New Zealand Festival, and Auckland Festival of the Arts, and presumption at WOMAD New Zealand, provided a strong base from which Tour-Makers extended the audience for the work into regional New Zealand. No Man’s Land was highly original, professionally presented and very well received by audiences. The combination of visuals and live performance created...” — Drew James / Senior Producer / Tour-Makers

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“No Man’s Land was a modern day testament of hope for humanity. This musical odyssey explored the themes of conflict and crisis through the voices of some of the world’s most incredible musical voices. John Psathas’ composition created a frame for the wide range of voices and styles that represented the many peoples who had been touched by the war. In bringing them together...” — Shelagh Magadza / Director / NZ Festival
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“No Man’s Land was an incredible piece of work to have at our venue and in our city.  Our vision at Baycourt is to create a programme of diverse events for our community and this production certainly fit the bill.  The talent and level of experience from all involved was outstanding and every person I spoke to who saw the production was speechless as well as incredibly moved.  I would highly recommend...” — Megan Peacock Coyle / Manager / Baycourt Theatre
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“We arrived at dawn and were left to walk around the outside of Fort de Dououmont and soak up the scene as the sun rose. I imagined waking up there day after day waiting for the enemy or indeed battling them, and how that must have felt. Being cold and wet and hungry day after day after day... Once we got inside the fort it was damp, dark and had a very solemn vibe...” — Ryan Prebble

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READ THE LIVE SHOW REVIEWS

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“…I just want to say the experience is still so ‘present’ and it is a wonderful work. The capacity/willingness of the onstage performers to be present, to be inside this work was just beautiful to experience. There is something curious about the transporting or transcending element within music that is possible that you gave us. You were able to touch the place of ‘telling’ what you were ‘hearing’ in the ‘place’ that was linking you all. Finally, you reminded me there are many ways to make a stand for peace and unity. Embodying it through music is a powerful one.” — Audience member 12th March 2016

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“I can barely begin to tell you what an incredible experience you have created. I loved every note - every image - every part of the story you told. The way the musicians created family through their universal language of music took my breath away. I was moved and mesmerized in a way I haven’t been for so very long.” — Audience member 8th March 2016

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“Amazing No man’s land show tonight!!! Truly inspiring! So moved by the whole experience... so much emotion framed by very beautiful music... Thank you for your vision and for your commitment to bring it to life. I know you have an amazing team who made it all possible! Great people! Big thanks and lots of love to all of them!” — Audience member 4th March 2016

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CREATIVE TEAM

John Psathas (Composer/Producer)
Jasmine Millet (Director/Producer)
Mathew Knight (Director of Photography)
George Kariotis (Sound Engineer)
Roger Grant (Editor)

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LIVE BAND

Joe Callwood (Guitar)
James Illingsworth (Keyboards)
Vagelis Karipis (Percussion)
Jolanta Kossakowska (Violin & Voice)
Sofia Labropoulou (Kanun)
Stratis Psaradelis (Lyra)
Caleb Robinson (Bass)Jack Hooker

(Guitar) 2020

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LYRIC CREDITS

Original Lyrics Concept (Part 2) - Jenny Bornholdt
Translation - Marco Sonzogno
Hungarian Lyrics (Part 2) - Marta Sebestyen & Lackfi Jάnos
Hindi Lyrics (Part 2) - Meeta Pandit
Arabic Lyrics (Part 2) - Oum El Ghait Benessahraoui
Te Reo Maori Lyrics (Part 2) - Ariana Tikao
Armenian Lyrics (Part 6) - Serj Tankian
Arabic Lyrics (Part 3) - Refugees of Rap

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PRODUCTION TEAM AND CREW

Line Producer - Pamela Cain
Project Supervisor - Victoria University of Wellington - Euan Murdoch
Post Production Supervisor - Roger Grant
Second Camera - Jeff Avery
Visual Effects/Projection & Concept Design - Creature Post & Lakshman Anandanayagam
Set Design - The Show Business & Pak Peacocke
Production Coordinator - Eric Millet
Production Assistant - Victoria University of Wellington - Debbie Levy, Emily Argyle
Production Assistant  -  Angela Cudd
Camera Assistant - Daniela Conforte, Vasconcellos
Creative Sound Design/Additional Percussion Arrangements - Dave Downes
Recording Engineer - John Neill, Graham Kennedy, Lee Prebble, Toby Lloyd
Recording Engineer & Production Assistant - Jack Hooker
Production Assistant & Music Production -  Kenyon Shankie, Steffan Paton
Vocal Consultant - Briar Prastiti

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EARLY DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Marie Jones
Mike Wallis
Inge Rademeyer

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RESEARCH

Jasmine Millet
Eric Millet
Heather McKay
Charlotte Clech
Lemuel Lye

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FIXERS

Poland - Krzysztof Szczuchniak, Tomasz Idzikowski, Andrzej Trzeciak
Belgium – Freddie Declerck
France - Andrei Brauns
India - Mahesh Pillai, Amit Vachharajani

PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Story Shop, Conbrio Media, Creature Post, Sierra Recordings, The Surgery Studio, Radio New Zealand, Park Road Post Production, Te Koki New Zealand School of Music

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ARCHIVES

Archives New Zealand, Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka o Hākena – University of Otago, National Army Museum NZ, AP, Library of Congress, Imperial War Museums, British Library, ECPAD, National Library of New Zealand, National Library of Scotland, Sir George Grey Special Collections Auckland Libraries, AFP, San Diego Air & Space Museum, DPA, German Federal Archives, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Roger Viollet, Mary Evans Picture Library, Library & Archives Canada, Canadian War Museum, Australian War Memorial, New South Wales State Library, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra - Shapoor Bhedwar – Not titled [group portrait of a family], c.1910.

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ALL MUSICIANS AND NATIONALITIES

Armenia/USA - Serj Tankian (Voice/Lyrics)
Australia - Joshua Hyde (Saxophone)
Bulgaria - Svet Stoyanov (Percussion)
France - Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Pierre Mea (Organ); Monsieur Claude (Gregorian Chant recitation)
Germany - Alexej Gerassimez (Percussion); Benjamin Schafer (Percussion)
Greece - Stratis Psaradelis (Lyra); Vagelis Karipis (Percussion); Sofia Labropoulou (Kanun)
Hungary - Marta Sebestyen (Voice)
India - Meeta Pandit (Voice); Himanshu Dixit (Hindu Religious Recitation)
Iran/France - Bijan Chemirani (Percussion)
Italy - Paolo Cimmino (Percussion)
Japan - Renkei Hashimoto (Shakuhachi)
Morocco - Oum El Ghait Benessahraoui (Voice)
Netherlands/Belgium - Netherlands Blazers Ensemble (Wind and Brass)
New Zealand - Tecwyn Evans (Conductor); Hayden Chisholm (Saxophone, Bagpipes); Caleb Robinson (Bass); Ariana Tikao (Voice/Lyrics); The Nudge; Iraia Whakamoe (Drums); James Illingworth (Keys); Prebble (Guitar); James Coyle (Keyboards); Joe Callwood (Guitar); Jack Hooker (Guitar)
Pakistan/UK - Shahbaz Hussain (Tabla)
Palestine - Nawras Alhajibrahim (Bass); Yanal Staiti (Percussion)
Poland - Polish Radio Choir; Zofia Kolbe-Wojdyr (Gaida, Bagpipes); Jolanta Kossakowska (Voice, Violin); Mateusz Szemraj (Guitar)
Russia - Monseigneur Job (Russian Orthodox recitation)
Saudi Arabia - The Grand Mufti of the Grand Mosque, Paris (Islamic Recitation)
Scotland - David Ross (Percussion), David Henderson (Percussion)
Senegal - Fara Diouf (Djembe)
South Africa - Gareth Lubbe (Polyphonic Singing)
Sweden - Markus Johansson (Hang Drum)
Syria/Palestine - Refugees of Rap - Yaser Jamous, Mohammed Jamous (Rap)
Turkey - Derya Turkan (Kemence/Composer); Muhammet Sadrettin Ozcimi (Ney)
UK - Danny Cudd (Hang Drum); Simone Rebello (Percussion)
USA - Russel Walder (Composer); Michael Mandel (Hebrew Religious Recitation)

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SUPPORT

Lottery Grants Board - New Zealand Lottery World War One Commemorations & Environment and Heritage Committee, Victoria University of Wellington, Park Road Post Production, Adrian Durham, British High Commission, New Zealand France Friendship Fund, New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand Festival, Auckland Arts Festival, Radio New Zealand, Womad 2016, Tourmakers, New Zealand India Research Institute – Victoria University, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Wellington, Embassy of France in Wellington, The Research Trust of Victoria University of Wellington, The Victoria University Foundation, Te Koki New Zealand School of Music.

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THANKS

Grant Guilford, Frazer Allan, Neil Quigley, Helen Clark, Chris Finlayson, Celia-Wade Brown, Dilys Grant, Catherine Galuszka, Vicki Jackways, Dean Watkins, Nigel Scott, Rob Rabel, Sotiris Beckas, Nik Zahariadis, Simon Bowden, Lesley and Michael Shanahan, Jamie Selkirk, Rosalind Plimmer, Zbigniew Gniatkowski, Raynald Belay, Anne-Christine Roussel, Joel Watson, Embassy of Poland in Wellington, The Embassy of France in Wellington, British High Commission, High Commission of India in Wellington, Embassy of Greece in Wellington, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand High Commission London, New Zealand Embassy Warsaw, New Zealand Embassy Brussels, New Zealand Embassy Paris, Goethe Institute, WW100 Project Office, ACAP Pole d’Images, Film Lorraine, The team at the Wellington Quarry, Arras, Mayor of Arras, Urszula Wojnar, Lidia Morawska, Office of Tourism Verdun, Screen Auckland, Carla Psathas, Anita McKegg, Tricia Walbridge, Cheryl Spain, Shelagh Murray, Kirsten McDonald

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