They Shot the Piano Player

They Shot the Piano Player
Promotional release poster
SpanishDispararon al pianista
Directed by
Written byFernando Trueba
Produced by
StarringJeff Goldblum
Edited byArnau Quiles
Animation byCarlos León Sancha
Production
companies
  • Fernando Trueba PC
  • Gao Shan Pictures
  • Les Films D’ici
  • Prima Linea
  • Submarine Animanostra
  • Tondero Producciones
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 6, 2023 (2023-09-06) (Telluride)
  • October 6, 2023 (2023-10-06) (Spain)
Running time
103 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Spain
  • France
  • Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Peru[2]
Languages
  • Portuguese
  • English
  • Spanish
Budget€6,216,000[3]
Box office€509,000

They Shot the Piano Player (Spanish: Dispararon al pianista) is a 2023 adult animated docudrama film directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal.[4] Centred around the real-life disappearance and presumed murder of Brazilian bossa nova pianist Tenório Jr. in 1976, the film stars Jeff Goldblum as Jeff Harris, an American music journalist investigating Tenório's case.[5]

The film's soundtrack includes music by João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Vinicius de Moraes and Paulo Moura, with some of the musicians also appearing in the voice cast as themselves testifying about Tenório's importance and influence as part of Goldblum's character investigation.[6]

The film had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on 6 September 2023, and was released theatrically in Spain on 6 October 2023.

  1. ^ "Signed Film Rating Certification" (PDF). Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Puan, de María Alché y Benjamín Naishat, y 'Dispararon al pianista', de Fernando Trueba y Javier Mariscal, en el Cine de Casa de América". Programa Ibermedia (in European Spanish). 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  3. ^ "They Shot the Piano Player". Scriptoclap (in French).
  4. ^ Matt Grobar, "Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Animated Documentary ‘They Shot The Piano Player’ From Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal". Deadline Hollywood, 18 May 2023.
  5. ^ Michael Rosser, "Sony Pictures Classics swoops on Trueba-Mariscal animation ‘They Shot The Piano Player’". Screen Daily, 31 May 2023.
  6. ^ Laurén Alexa, "Fernando Trueba’s Animated ‘They Shot the Piano Player’ Acquired at Cannes". Animation World Network, 19 May 2023.