Mobile Etoile

Sitting alone in a music archive, Hannah (Geraldine Pailhas), listens to the rarely performed and almost forgotten sounds of Night Song - a classical piece by 19th century French-Jewish composer Fernand Helpan. Living in Montreal, the soprano leads a choir with her husband, Daniel, a pianist, with whom she shares her passion for these treasures of music. Dedicated to keep alive an underappreciated and sacred art form, the couple and their tee n age son, a talented violinist, live a modest life as they struggle to keep the choir Les Cantiques afloat. A new recruit, Abigail, offers new hope – with her youth comes a voice and freedom that transcends time. But the arrival of Hannah's former teacher with the discovery of a sacred piece of music thought to have been lost will threaten their survival and force them to confront the values that define their life's work. Fascinated by the split between tradition and modernity, Nadjari presents a beautifully composed portrait of the ever-present debate about artistic freedom- sticking to the rules or creating new ones. And as his last note lingers on screen, the hearts of the musical masters of the past resonate in our own. (Internationales Filmfest Oldenburg)