PIECES OF LIVES is a 70-minute documentary which examines the music therapy work carried on by Rajery in the Madagascar capital's psychiatric hospital. Rajery is one of the most popular Malagasy musicians, with an international reputation. He lost his right hand at the age of nine months and now plays the valiha using the stump, together with the fingers of his left hand. As a socially aware person, committed to playing a part in improving living conditions for his fellow citizens, Rajery is a generous Malagasy personality and a remarkable man in various ways. But the documentary PIECES OF LIVES is not focused on the career of this fine musician, his handicap, or his engagement in social projects. The film follows Rajery as musician and above all as the man who brought music into the hospital. Rajery visits the Anjanamasina psychiatric hospital two or three times a month to hold music therapy sessions for the patients. There are various reasons behind his efforts to do something for the inmates of this ageing establishment. His sister was admitted to the hospital for a period, but the care she received there did anything but improve her mental health. She died only a few days after being discharged.
This experience left its mark on Rajery, leading him to wonder how he could contribute towards improving living conditions for sufferers from mental illness. Through the one-on-one and group therapy sessions conducted by Rajery, we are taken to the heart of the Antananarivo psychiatric hospital and meet its patients, who live in dreadful sanitary conditions. We follow Rajery's work in his therapy sessions and see how music opens a window of hope and happiness for the men and women who have been confined there, sometimes neglected by their families. The film is an exposure of the abandonment of these patients, the apathy of the authorities and the failure of public health policy in Madagascar. Music is at the film's core. It introduces us to the valiha and to Malagasy traditional music in general, the place of music in society and in the daily lives of Malagasy people. The film also shows us a day in the hospital. Pieces of patients' lives. Touching and generous encounters with various patients who talk about the role of music, and the therapy sessions, in their lives.

A film by Laza

Madagascar · Color · 70'

Director''s note

I met Rajery in 2010 at a music therapy session in the Antananarivo psychiatric hospital in which my cousin was taking part. He had been hospitalized because of substance abuse. Meeting Rajery changed my life. I saw the power of his music for patients and the fire that lit up in my cousin's eyes. I realized that we can all do something for these fragile people who have lost their way in life, and that every citizen can engage on behalf of their community. As a musician, Rajery brings his music to the patients. As a filmmaker, I take my camera….

Directing
Laza Razanajatovo

Production
Rozifilms
Vr 57e mahazoarivo ambohidraserika
Antananarivo
101
dir@rencontresdufilmcourt.mg

Based on
original script

Shooting place
Madagascar

Shooting start date
05/2011

Expected completion date
11/2012

Production status [July 2012]
Post-production

Budget
53'334 Euro

Financing in place
37'134 Euro

Production Company''s Profile
The priority mission of Rozifilms, which was set up in 2000, is to produce full- or short-length documentary and fiction features. Assisting the structural and professional development of the Malagasy film industry is also part of the brief for Rozifilms, which is one of the organizers of the Madagascar short film fest Rencontres du Film Court.

Filmography
The pianoman (2010)
L''idiot du village (2011)
Même instant de vie (2012)


2012 |65ème Festival International de Cinéma de Locarno 2012 | Suisse | 01> 11/08/2012
* Open Doors selection
* Grant Open Doors for post-production (10.000 CHF)

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IT
Madagascar · Colore · 70'

Regia
Laza Razanajatovo

Produzione
Rozifilms
Vr 57e mahazoarivo ambohidraserika
Antananarivo
101
dir@rencontresdufilmcourt.mg