VOICE – SCULPTING SOUND WITH MAJA S. K. RATKJE
Ingo J. Biermann | Norway, Germany 2015 | 93 Min. | OmeU
Voice is a cinematic feature documentary about the charismatic composer and performer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (born in Trondheim, 1973), who also speaks up regularly about environmental issues in her home country, Norway. Voice is not only the first documentary about Norway’s most renowned contemporary female composer and a radical experimental musician – a portrait of a singular musician and artist, but the film explores and pays homage to sound and to the nature of the human voice in all its facets and questions deep-seated perceptions about our individual role in society: Why do we make art? How do we decide to live? How do we balance our personal life and our innermost dreams with being creative, earning money, travelling the world, having a family and raising our children?
The film follows the artist during three years through the seasons and all over Europe, presenting the variety and universalism of her work. Performances, sound recordings and intimate personal scenes are composed into a complex portrait of an uncompromising artist challenged between conflicting poles of family and vocation. On several levels, a film about an individual’s voice whose vigor and enthusiasm are increasingly passed on to the viewer. A film about finding your individual voice and intuition, Voice deals with the power of individuality, boundary-crossing, the strength within being true to oneself despite all obstacles, and of a sharpened awareness of our surroundings through making art.
