Nodas. Launeddas at the Time of Crisis

Abstract

Dating back to 3000 years ago, Launeddas are a wind instrument from the Nuragic civilisation (Sardinia, 18th century BC/2nd century AD) bearing the marks of contaminations from all over the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. Nearly vanished between the 1960s and 1970s, Launeddas are extraordinarily alive and ever more widespread today. In today’s "time of crisis", they found levels of artistic excellence that just some decades ago looked no longer attainable. This documentary portrays five talents from the new generation of Launeddas players, exploring through their eyes the interstitial spaces between folklore and ethnicity, traditions and experimentation, identity and globalization. At the same time, the film exposes a harsh (but not resigned) aperture on the conditions of an entire generation, in an island such as Sardinia – among the poorest regions in Europe - which struggles with structural socioeconomic problems, whose solutions are still far away.