I'm not sure there's a better time in history for a short film such as Stacey Stone's Concerto for Humanity, a nearly 13-minute tapestry of sound and imagery. It's a film where the story that unfolds isn't merely accompanied by Larry Tuttle's marvelous original score it's structured by it. 

Concerto for Humanity stitches together archival footage from the 1930s, in itself surprisingly moving, with contemporary imagery and sequences both intellectually informed and emotionally resonant. 

Yet, for me, it's Tuttle's score that is so sublime here. It's so insightful and informed and immersive that it feels as if it's telling its own story. While I opened this review noting that this was a perfect time for Concerto for Humanity, perhaps it most pointedly dares to ask "Do we progress in life and within our universe? Or do we simply repeat ourselves over and over and over again?" 

It's a fair and necessary question. 

Concerto for Humanity isn't so much a film that you enjoy as one you experience. It's an immersive meditation on human nature and the rhythms of how we live and the world around us. Concerto for Humanity is an experimental doc for sure, and I'd dare say it's not for everyone, but for those willing to surrender to it it's a thoughtful and moving witness to humanity and to the power of film to challenge, reflect, and transform. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic