Although previous documentaries covering the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition have won Emmy and Peabody Awards, this year’s film, “The Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: In the Heart of Music,” premiering the week of October 2 on PBS (see local listings), takes a radically different approach.

“The great thing about this one is that we totally broke with the past,” says Richard Rodzinski, president of the Van Cliburn Foundation and co-executive producer of the documentary. “Director Andy Sommer focused predominantly on four contrasting competitors to try to get at the issue of how musicians find their inner voice, and, when they’ve found it, how they hone it.” Luckily, says Rodzinski, three of the four featured contestants ended up in the finals, including the gold and silver medalists.

Director Sommer brought to the film a technical approach as distinctive as his focused narrative strategy. He shot the 17-day competition (held in May and June in Fort Worth, Texas) in mixed high-definition formats using both HDCAM and HDV cameras. And he cut much of the footage onsite using two Power Mac G5 editing stations running Final Cut Pro.

The technical results, says Rodzinski, were everything he’d hoped for. “The high definition makes all the difference in the world. We were really scared about combining big HDCAM cameras with these small HDV portables that Sony had just come out with, but it was seamless. The Apple systems worked beautifully; the editing is absolutely flawless.”

More importantly, says Rodzinski, the documentary delivered on its goals. “It’s not all about who’s going to win because that’s not really what music’s about. What it’s about is being a musician, how you approach music, and how you connect with a composer and an audience.”