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Dutch-Antillean drama about the rise and fall of steel drum legend Harry Daniel. Through the eyes of one of his pupils, the artist's turbulent life is portrayed.
Harry Daniel used to be a steel drum legend on St. Maarten, but nowadays he plays as a background piece in a tourist hotel. What went wrong? Jacko, or Jacques, explains in the voice-over how his music teacher and hero went down and how he experienced the same problems as his master. In the early eighties, Harry Daniel becomes a famous musician. He wins competitions by playing Beethoven on the Caribbean drum and makes successful records. He also teaches children how to play the instrument. But his wife and muse gets tired of the fact that music always comes first, his brother Raf gets addicted to drugs and youngsters prefer to listen to American hip-hop. Daniel is afraid that the steel drum, 'the symbol of freedom for black people', as he calls it, threatens to disappear along with the ailing Afro-Caribbean culture. The Dutch-Antillean drama, alive with Caribbean music, clinched some international awards.

Title: Panman - Rhythm of the Palms
Year: 2007
Duration : 1 hour, 30 minutes
Category: Feature film
Edition: NFF 2008

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