Filmscreening
Monk in Pieces
Billy Shebar / David Roberts
Meredith Monk © LNDW studio
The cultural influence of the composer, performer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk cannot be overstated. A key figure in the Downtown scene of 1960s and 1970s New York City, only later did she reach wider critical acclaim. As a pioneer of “extended vocal technique”, she influenced artists such as Yoko Ono, Kate Bush, Björk, and Rebecca Saunders. “She, among all of us, was – and still is – the uniquely gifted one,” according to Philip Glass.
Monk in Pieces is a mosaic that mirrors the structure of her own work and illuminates her wildly original vocabulary of sound and imagery. In the film’s final chapters, Monk confronts mortality. We see her entrust her masterpiece ATLAS: an opera in three parts to the director Yuval Sharon and singer Joanna Lynn-Jacobs for a new production with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For 60 years, Monk has directed and performed in nearly all her works. What will happen to such singular creations after she is gone?
Programme
Monk in Pieces (2025)
Film, 94 min
Language: English
USA / Germany / France 2025
In colour and B&W
With
Meredith Monk
Björk
David Byrne
Ping Chong
John Schaefer
Lanny Harrison
Julia Wolfe
Crew
Billy Shebar, David Roberts – Direction, Script
Jeff Hutchens, Ben Stechschulte – Camera
Sabine Krayenbühl – Editing
Meredith Monk – Music
Dominic Bartolini – Sound Design
Paul Barritt – Animation
Billy Sherbar, Susan Margolin, David Roberts – Production
Katie Geissinger, Sabine Krayenbühl – Co-Production