From the moment I rounded the corner on Wilshire Blvd. to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the world premiere screening of Bali: Beats of Paradise, I was unprepared for the overwhelming visual greeting.

Throngs of people were forming lines that wrapped around the block next to a paparazzi-lined red carpet that exploded with the colorful attire of the Balinese couture. Upon entering the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre, the experience continued with a live performance from an eclectic group of musicians playing an array of unfamiliar percussive instruments that created beats and sounds that I would soon know as Gamelan music.

Bali: Beats of Paradise tells the story of Gamelan music through the life of Nyoman Wenten, a celebrated Indonesian composer who, along with his wife, a dancer/choreographer, have made it their life’s work to bring awareness to and appreciation for this dying tradition of Indonesian culture. With recognition largely coming through his work in music education as a professor at both UCLA and Cal Arts, Wenten is given an opportunity to collaborate with Grammy award-winning singer, Judith Hill (20 Feet from Stardom), in creating a music video that blends the sounds of his precious Gamelan with classic funk in Hill’s music video, “Queen of the Hill”.  The result is a mesmerizing explosion of sound and color.

Director, Livi Zheng (Brush with Danger) proves that she has both versatility and substance as the audience sees, through re-enacted scenes, Wenten’s earliest memories of a motherless boy who is drawn to this mystical dance movement. The cinematography allows us to almost feel the lush Balinese landscape with sweeping footage of fields and temples as well as close-up shots of current musicians practicing the beloved Gamelan sounds. But mostly, Zheng entices us to root for our protagonist, Nyoman Wenten, a man whose only goal is to expose the world to his music through the culmination of this music video collaboration as he prays for “one million likes” on YouTube.

As the final credits rolled, Nyoman Wenton emerged from the group of musicians who had been entertaining the audience earlier in the evening. Hearing him talk about the movie reminds us that Bali: Beats of Paradise is truly a labor of love and cultural pride from all involved as was evident during the film’s introduction when the producer said, “In the same way that Crazy Rich Asians put Singapore on the map, we hope that this film does that for Indonesia.”

Bali: Beats of Paradise is not rated. Opening today at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills.