EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY NEVE CAMPBELL, THE ALL-ACCESS PROJECT FOLLOWS BALLET LEGEND KAREN KAIN AND A GROUP OF DANCERS AS THEY MOUNT KAIN’S FAREWELL PRODUCTION OF SWAN LAKE, AND EXAMINES THE IMPACTS OF THE CULTURE OF BALLET ON THOSE WHO LIVE AND WORK INSIDE IT
ORIGINAL SCORE COMPOSED BY KATIE AUSTRA STELMANIS
WATCH / SHARE THE SWAN SONG TRAILER HERE
DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CBC, THE FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY WILL BE EXPANDED TO A FOUR-PART SERIES AIRING ON CBC GEM AND CBC TV IN NOVEMBER
Photo Credit: Virginie Khateeb
Producer, songwriter, and creative force Austra has added another dimension to her talents as she composes the original score for Canadian documentary feature, Swan Song. Swan Song is Stelmanis’ first film score and sees her taking an entirely different approach to music making. Drawing upon her classical upbringing, the synth-based score was composed using only a Juno-106, a Mellotron and her voice, providing dissonant textures and complementary melodies that interpolate Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
Speaking about her work, Stelmanis said, “Scoring Swan Song has been a dream project. My first ever experience performing was as a kid singing in the orchestra pit for the National Ballet of Canada's Nutcracker sometime in the 90s and my love for Tchaicovsky has sustained ever since. For this project, I was influenced by artists like Vangelis and Oneohtrix Point Never to compose a deep, textured, almost entirely electronic score that traverses the spectacular music of Swan Lake.”
Katie Austra Stelmanis has been better known by her middle name for four albums, twelve years, and countless tours. The vivid music of Austra is born of the creative force that is the producer, songwriter and composer with the most powerful instrument at her disposal - her voice, one that is capable of effortlessly evoking moments of personal and universal drama.
In 2011 Austra was nominated for a JUNO Award and made the Polaris Music Prize shortlist for her debut album, Feel It Break. In 2013, she made the Polaris Long List for her second album, Olympia. Her music has been lauded by publications like Pitchfork, NME, New York Magazine and Exclaim!.
MORE ABOUT SWAN SONG
Swan Song, a feature documentary that immerses viewers inside The National Ballet of Canada as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement, will make its world premiere at TIFF on Saturday, September 9th. Executive producer Neve Campbell will attend the Festival in support of the film, which will screen as part of the Gala Presentations program.
SWAN SONG is directed by Chelsea McMullan (Ever Deadly, My Prairie Home), who wrote the film with producer Sean O’Neill (Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, LIDO TV). Distributed in Canada by Blue Ice Docs, with international sales handled by Dogwoof, the feature documentary will be released theatrically in Canada on September 29, 2023. The project was developed with CBC and it will air as a four-part limited series on CBC Gem and CBC TV, premiering November 22, 2023.