[click “Play”, Susan and Nick Sherman are NOT silent]
Mountainfilm in Telluride waxes eloquent on the subject of silence with the inclusion of “Soundtracker” in this year’s lineup. The documentary, the intersection of science and poetry, was written and directed by Nick Sherman.
The Sounds of Silence were first immortalized in lyrics that propelled folk duo Simon and Garfunckel to fame back in 1964. Forty-six years later the sounds of silence are celebrated once again in “Soundtracker,” as Sherman pursues sound recordist Gordon Hempton pursuing the few remaining quiet corners of the Earth, where deer cross a quiet country road and tall grass waves in the wind. In a way, the two media events are related: both the hit single and the documentary are responses to an assault, the first on an American president; the second, on our senses. Both tributes argue for an awakening.
Gordon Hempton, once described by USA Today as “America’s foremost guru of quiet.” has produced more than 60 albums of natural soundscapes. The American Museum of Natural History, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Rolex Awards for Enterprise, and the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund have all honored his work. Hempton lives at the edge of Olympic National Park where the world’s first sanctuary for silence, One Square Inch.
“This is a remarkable journey: a quest for imperiled Nature by an artist who never stopped listening,” said Mountainfilm board member/documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
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