Screening:
Friday, Sept 10 at 4:00pm (Muvico Baywalk 20)

Runtime: 96 mins

Country: Hungary, USA

Synopsis: A young pianist battles with his past as well as his fellow competitors to try to win a major international piano competition.

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Medium Synopsis
Ivory details the turbulent lives of two young classical pianists – Andreas Goodman & Jake Solocheck – at a major American conservatory, as they confront personal and professional rivalry during the rigors of training for an international piano competition.

Date of Completion
February 2010

Production Budget
1300000 (in U.S. Dollar)

Long Synopsis
Andreas Goodman and Jake Solochek are two young, twenty-something pianists who meet at a competition in Kansas City. Jake is the smooth professional who shines under pressure. Andreas who comes from a long line of concert pianists, has played runner-up at competitions for years. As a result, Andreas decides to enlist the help of a hard-nosed Russian piano professor, Olga Primakova, who teachers at the highly competitive Western Conservatory. It is only a year until the International Liszt Competition in Budapest, Hungary – the competition that launches careers – and Andreas must work to satisfy not just his own ego, but also the demands of his family.
At Szell, Andreas is introduced to a lonely, isolated world; a cold atmosphere where musicians spend entire days in the practice rooms, and evenings pursuing cathartic, self-destructive rituals of debauchery. He makes a few friends: with his primary competitor, Jake, and his girlfriend, a beautiful soprano named Alicia, who becomes smitten with Andreas’ vulnerability. But, like everyone else at school, Alicia is unable to compromise her solo career aspirations for true intimacy and companionship. Andreas finds a similar coldness with his enigmatic professor, Olga, but soon realizes there is real wisdom in her teachings, that affects both his musical and personal development.
As the competition approaches, Andreas begins to feel that Olga’s influence has stripped him of his individuality, and rebels, fracturing their relationship on the eve of the competition. As a result, he enters Budapest a powerfully captivating pianist, but one with a long list of enemies, for both Olga, and his teacher before her, sit on the jury.