What do you get when you cross a live performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) with a nature doco narrated by Willem Dafoe and didgeridoo by the legendary William Barton? An awe-inspiring live documentary experience that traverses the sublime of all the earth’s rivers, that’s what you get.
The release of River in 2021 followed the creation of Mountain, a box office record-breaking documentary that intertwines storytelling with live orchestral music and reflections on human interaction with the environment. It may be the stunning visuals of River that pull you in, but the accompanying live orchestra summons so much hope and desperation that it might just pull you under.
While the soundtrack of environmental documentaries may generally come as an afterthought to directors, Jennifer Peedom worked with ACO artistic director and composer Richard Tognetti to incorporate a score that would be played live for audiences around the country. The film experience is touring Australia in February, where the ACO is performing in front of a screening of the film accompanied by musician and proud Kalkadunga man William Barton, one of the country's leading didgeridoo players. The whole one-of-a-kind experience has a knack for captivating audiences.
“You can turn existing films into bespoke concerts, but actually making a film like that, with the intention that it will be performed live, is a rare, if not unique, occurrence in the world of film andconcert making,” said Tognetti.
Kicking off in Newcastle on February 1, the concert will then hit Melbourne for two almost sold-out performances on February 3 and 5. Next up are Canberra and Sydney, before the tour heads up to Queensland and finishes off in Perth.
You can grab your tickets for River here, or settle for the next best thing by streaming the documentary at home on Amazon Prime.
