PLAY YOUR OWN THING
"With Play Your Own Thing the Munich filmmaker realized an outstanding, affecting film. ... Benedikt’s intention is not an intellectual one, but an emotional. He approaches the subject musically, visually, and sensuously – never theoretically."
Klaus Härtl, clarino.print, November 2006
"PLAY YOUR OWN THING is an exceptional and surprisingly entertaining film."
Thorsten Bednarz, Jazzthetik November 2006
"PLAY YOUR OWN THING is a wonderful piece of jazz to look at: quick photographic fragments that appear to be improvised, suspenseful and affecting stage shows, and quiet solo parts of talking. As colorful as jazz in Europe presents itself to the novice, the film travels the European map full of sounds, pictures and dense atmospheres, covers moods and stories and astonishingly manages never to be incoherent or boring ... On its journey through the different habits of dealing with this musical inspiration, PLAY YOUR OWN THING illustrates in a wonderful way that jazz is rather an attitude than just a musical genre."
LAF, Der Yorcker, 26.10.0206
BLUE NOTE
"The Blue Note story has rarely been probed with such a deep eloquence."
Chicago Tribune
"This documentary swings like the propulsive sounds that made the famous label."
USA Today