Synopsis

Jazz, Cats and Monk tells the remarkable story of the friendship between Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter and Thelonious Monk. Coming from an aristocratic British-Jewish family, Pannonica and Monk lived in entirely different worlds. This film portrays a bond that transcended their differences, revealing the power of music and human connection.

Program Note

Jazz, Cats and Monk reinterprets the extraordinary friendship between jazz patron and enthusiast Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter—often known as the “Jazz Baroness”—and legendary jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk. Dutch visual artist Gabriel Lester invites the audience into a dreamlike and poetic jazz universe, combining animation, photography, and re-enactment to create a lyrical essay film inspired by Monk’s composition “Pannonica,” named after the baroness. (Choi Eun-young)

Director

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  • Gabriel LesterGabriel Lester
  • Born in Amsterdam in 1972, Gabriel Lester has lived and worked in Brussels, New York, Shanghai, and Stockholm, and is currently based in Amsterdam. He works across installation art, performance, and film, and is active in public art projects. He also teaches at the Sandberg Institute and the Master’s program at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.