Launching The Breath of the Bellows in 2021.

About the film.
About us.
 








Launching The Breath of the Bellows in 2021.

About the film.
About us.
 








Launching The Breath of the Bellows in 2021.

About the film.
About us.
How it began...

About 2ToneMedia

2Tone Media was founded in 2012 as a partnership between Roeland Heerema and A’lok Choy. Roeland has a background in journalism, A’lok works as a graphic designer and film productions, and together they are enthralled by the sound of the bandoneon.

Their documentary film project started when instrument maker Harry Geuns, from Belgium, showed them the mechanics that makes the bandoneon’s sound so unique, and told the unfamiliar European history of the instrument that is commonly only associated with Argentina. And so they embarked on a journey of visual storytelling through Europe, meeting the passionate protagonists who constitute the world of the bandoneon.

The project accelerated when they joined forces with Helena Rüegg, who has been playing the bandoneon since 1992. As a journalist for German public radio and TV, she made many features involving a wealth of interviews with the great musicians, composers, and other key players of bygone eras of the instrument.

Together they decided, after several years of preparation, to produce The Breath of the Bellows in 2021, during the centennial year of Astor Piazzolla.

Meet the team
Get in touch
Who we are
Film & Graphics

A'lok Choy

The Hague, Netherlands

A’lok was trained as a graphical designer, establishing his media company On/Off Media (www.on-off.nl) in 1988 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Ever since, he made a career of visual productions, specializing in the offshore industries. He produced film and photographs for companies such as Allseas, SBM Offshore, Seaway Heavy Lifting, the Dutch Tax Authorities, Heineken, and Shell. Moreover, he has been a frequent footage supplier to National Geographic and Discovery Channel, and he travelled the world on several occasions to make short films.
A’lok discovered the bandoneon listening to Gotan Project, and became passionate about the beauty and mechanics of the instrument. Through his years of experience with the industries, he is particularly interested in the craftsmanship that comes with building bandoneons.
Interview & Editing

Roeland Heerema

Paris, France

Roeland is currently pursuing his PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. His research focuses on the role that emotions play in the brain when we make decisions. Throughout multiple studies, Roeland showed that music is a powerful means of inducing emotions and provoking the brain to cause physiological responses. Roeland did his prior degrees in Delft, Leiden, and Utrecht in The Netherlands. Part of his undergraduate curriculum was a degree in journalism, during which he trained in film and interviewing.
Roeland is fascinated by culture and folklore in general, and has been dancing the Argentine tango for years. To him, the bandoneon is an instrument of a tremendous emotional wealth that transcends culture and genre.
Interview & Communications

Helena Rüegg

Freiburg, Germany

Helena has been playing the bandoneon since 1992. She also studied the bandoneon as a main subject while at the Tango department of the Rotterdam Conservatory Codarts from 1993 to 1998. As a soloist she performed with the German orchestras Bamberger Symphoniker, SWR Symphonieorchester, WDR Rundfunkorchester, and with Juan Diego Florez, she performed with the BBC Symphony Orchetra. As of 1999, Helena equally composes music for radio dramas, lectures, dance, and theatre productions.
Helena has also been working as a journalist since 1992. She wrote for several the editorial board of the German broadcasters WDR and Deutschlandfunk. In 1999, her book “Tango, Geschichte und Geschichten” (Tango, History and Stories) was published at DTV Premium. In 2008, she collaborated with SeeMoreFilm in the production of MetroMusic, a film made for ZDF/3Sat in Germany.
2Tone at work
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Contact

Write to us at:

info@2tonemedia.nl