SOUND OF FALLING © copyright Fabian Gamper / Studio Zentral
Sound of Falling, the crossroads of lives
Making her debut at Berlinale in 2017 with her feature film, Die Tochter (Dark Blue Girl), German director Mascha Schilinski prominently features family relationships in her plots, which are both mysterious and poetic. This year for the first time, she is listed in the Official Selection with Sound of Falling, competing for the Palme d’or.
Among her three short films produced between 2012 and 2015 (Wir müssen los, Das Gefühl, and Die Katz), the first explored the relationship between a mother and her son, while the last, The Cat, presented the contentious relationship between a teenager and her mother, affected by the father leaving. In 2017, Die Tochter (Dark Blue Girl) told the story of Jimmy and Hannah, a couple, separated for two years, who tried to rekindle the flame, but was confronted by the fierce opposition of their seven-year-old daughter, who is eager to remain the center of affection.
The family and its quirks implicitly permeate the young career of the writer and director, who made Sound of Falling alongside Louise Peter. This dramatic and historic film is an ambitious saga spanning a century that follows the destiny of four young girls living on a farm, at different times, whose existence seem to be mysteriously connected. Time is stretched in the search for meaning and memory, portrayed through a sensory and poetic script that has become the hallmark of the filmmaker.
Youth, its mysteries and its contradictions, seem to inspire the imagination of Mascha Schilinski, who herself was raised in an artistic world from childhood, with a mother who was a filmmaker. When she became a young adult, she lived the life of an entertainer, following a travelling circus across Europe, where she showcased her talent as a magician and a fire dancer.
