Director: Elena Negriolli, Production company: Decima Rosa, Producer: Aurelio Laino, Country: Italy, 46′, 2011, Rights: World
A documentary by Elena Negriolli. In the last 2000 years, no one has heard the sound of a Karnyx. This Celtic trumpet remains a mystery. A tool for religious rituals or a war instrument, to scare the opponents? To understand more, the option is to build a new Karnyx using the technology available for Celts and hear how it sounds. Alessandro is a blacksmith from Venice. When Rosa, a young archaeologist, discovers the remains of a Karnyx in an ancient Alpine Celtic village, she asks him to build a new Karnyx, using the tools that Celts may have used 2,000 years ago. Hearing the sound may help in understanding its purpose. They team up with Louvre labs, with Paolo, from the Metallurgy Department of Genoa University and Ivano, a professional musician. They inspect the other fragments ever found of this instrument, to understand its shape. They study the original bronze alloy of those fragments. Will they be able to work it as the Celts did? Will they be able to understand how to play it? Will the sound of a Karnyx be heard again?