Amber Films
The Bamboozler - DVD Release 13 November
Both funny and moving, The Bamboozler is a film about percussion, its traditions and the endless pursuit of knowledge that it inspires; about love and death, legacy and regeneration. It’s a film about the much loved and fondly remembered Tyneside percussionist Bruce Arthur.
When Bruce died in 2002, he left behind an Aladdin’s Cave of instruments gathered from the four corners of the Earth – drums, gongs, wood blocks, marimbas, squeaky hammers, sound sculptures and much, much more. The collection occupied the whole bottom floor of his house and he left it all to his friend and ex-pupil Brendan Murphy. Amber’s film explores the story and how it led to the setting up of The Rumba Palace on Newcastle’s Ouseburn, a place for rehearsals, workshops and the sheer joy of hitting things well. It follows Bruce’s friend, the sound sculptor Adrian Sander as he begins to make Bruce’s last ‘commission’, a thing of brass and bamboo: The Bamboozler. As Bruce’s wife Sue says, ‘Bruce liked to bamboozle people.’
The DVD is being launched with free screenings at Side Cinema on Tuesday 13 November from 7pm. It will then be available from Side Gallery or from the Online Shop.