SSD x IMZ: the official selections

1. Swan Song

Dogwoof

Synopsis: SWAN SONG plunges viewers inside a world-leading ballet company as it mounts a momentous new production of the legendary Swan Lake. Staged by ballet icon Karen Kain, this legacy-defining production marks both her farewell to the National Ballet of Canada after 50 years and her debut ballet as a director. We will follow a group of characters from the company - the new face of ballet - telling their personal stories as the suspense builds toward opening night. Combining an intimate verité eye with an elevated cinematic approach, SWAN SONG is an all-access, immersive view of the new face of ballet, as a company of artists put everything on the line to achieve the pinnacle of their careers.

2. Sanctuary of Butterflies

Caminante Films

Synopsis: Musician and folk hero Luis Perez-Ixoneztli takes us on a journey to explore the ancient musical traditions of Mexico’s Indigenous Peoples. In this visually striking, character-driven docuseries, Perez-Ixoneztli brings us face to face with shamans, elders, and communities who practice the rituals, songs, and languages of their ancestors. The characters he meets are sometimes the last living links to their traditions, while others persist in preserving their heritage in today’s rapidly changing world. Luis’ fascinating life and career, defined by the study of pre-Colombian culture and creating groundbreaking music, informs and compliments this journey.

3. Fatma Said - Reviving a Forgotten Treasure

3B-Produktion – Büro für bewegtes Bild

Synopsis: The film follows acclaimed soprano Fatma Said on her relentless mission to save and pay tribute to a powerful treasure of Arabic culture that is threatened to disappear: the astonishingly creative work of Mohamed Abdelwahab. The singer, actor and composer, a legend in the Arab world, shaped the golden age of the Egyptian film musicals of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. But many of his works risk being lost because they were not written down or have come into the hands of speculators bent on exploiting copyrights. With her own artistic talent, Fatma Said uses unusual ways to track down Abdelwahab's music, save it from possible disappearance, celebrate it anew and rediscover it for new generations.

4. Breaking Music Series

AMC Networks International – Latin America

Synopsis: Classically trained artists go on different research trips to places of their choosing, financed by a patron that puts the condition that they have to return to their country and tell their trip with music in a live concert. In Breaking Music 01, the German baritone Benjamin Apple traveled to Buenos Aires to dive into Tango and compared it with the German Lied. In Breaking Music 02, the Latvian violin and cello players Kristine and Margarita Balanas fly to Brooklyn to immerse themselves in the world of Klezmer music. In Breaking Music 03, Sergio Trujillo - a Colombian choreographer living in New York – decides to investigate Bahian music and dance in Brazil guided by the musician Carlinhos Brown.

1. Mountain Symphony

sounding images

Synopsis: The film deconstructs the well-known postcard world of the Alps by approaching them through sounds. We experience a symphony of sounds; an expedition into a wonderful world of sounds; a concert of wind, rain, thunder, and the most diverse creatures; beauty - but also vulnerability. And destruction: cracking, rhythmic sounds of trees in drought stress combine to form a percussion concert, a soundtrack of climate change. The sounds of melting glaciers are a lament that creeps under the skin.

2. Erwartung - Mono Opera as Single - Player VR Game

3. The Air Loom

4. Cave Music