Director Larry Weinstein nearly talked himself out of making Saturday night’s offering at Doc(k) Day, April 5, in Haliburton.
His film, Beethoven’s Nine: Ode to Humanity, will screen in the prime position and Weinstein will be on hand for a question-and-answer session at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion.
Yet, when approached by a colleague in German television about making a film to mark the 200th anniversary of the symphony, Weinstein wasn’t feeling it. He’d already done a feature length film on Beethoven. He added in an interview with The Highlander, he doesn’t particularly like the melody of Ode to Joy in the symphony, finding it “rather banal.
“I was talking myself out of a job. Whenever I reject something, that’s when it comes back to haunt me.”
He read Harvey Sachs’ The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824. It discusses what was happening in politics, aesthetics, and the overall climate of the era, at the time of the symphony’s premier in Vienna, Austria. Sachs talks about the work as a symbol of freedom and joy – bringing forth the power of the individual, while celebrating the collective spirit of humanity.
Weinstein shifted from thinking it “banal” asking himself, “what if it’s more about the enlightenment ideals that inspired Beethoven to want to do a symphony, which he incorporated Friedrich Schiller’s poem Ode to Joy in?”
No one had ever included words in a symphony before “but he thought this was so important because the world wasn’t a great place … I think Beethoven thought ‘I want to make a piece of music that is a love letter to humanity; that is about the future; where we should go and where we are not now. Maybe he was writing this piece for us 200 years later, assuming the world would be a better place’.”
It’s not lost on Weinstein that the symphony “is very relevant today.”
From saying ‘no’ to the project, he said ‘yes’, and then came up with the idea of following nine people around the world grappling with the message of hope in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, including a deaf composer, a Polish rock star, an author, a legendary cartoonist, and Weinstein himself. He spoke with members of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, about their tragedies, stories, and losses.
During the making of the film, Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Weinstein’s sister and brother-in-law were in a kibbutz two kilometres from Gaza. It was very personal. The director said he believes in humanness, and did not want to become political or embittered. “To be resolution, there has to be understanding, and empathy, and compassion. We, as people, have to embrace these higher values in order to exist and co-exist.”
Weinstein called Doc(k) Day, “a great festival.” He was here 10 years ago with Our Man in Tehran, which he said the audience responded to “beautifully and generously.
“I just want the audience to feel the message profoundly for the sake of our friend Beethoven, for the same enlightenment, for the sake of humanity, and for my sake.”
Humanity and hope
Those Other Movies will bring five documentary films (four full-length and one short) to Haliburton.
“It is an opportunity to come together as a community to learn, reflect, and consider how to move forward in this world with hope,” spokesperson Tammy Rea said.
She added, “the films have local and global connections to the arts, music, sports, and beautiful natural environments. The movies show many aspects of humanity – inspirational, challenging and hopeful.”
The lineup for the day is: 10 a.m. Diane Warren: Relentless (91 min.)
Tells the story of a genius songwriter who has written over 400 songs for iconic artists such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith. 11:45 a.m.: Save Solace (11 min.) + Q and A with the director, Matt Steeves.
Documents the work of a group advocating to stop the planned construction of a new logging road that would dissect the Solace Wildlands, the last unprotected and roadless forest in Ontario’s Temagami wilderness.
Picnic lunch. Bring your own lunch; eat and chat together in the cafeteria.
1:30 p.m.: Porcelain War (87 min.) Tells the story of a group of artists from Ukraine who persevere against all odds.
3:30 p.m.: Red Fever (103 min.) Follows Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond across North America and Europe to look at a multitude of ways in which Indigenous cultures have been reduced to stereotypes.
7:30 p.m.: Beethoven’s Nine: Ode to Humanity (85 min.) + Q&A with director Larry Weinstein
(*Timing subject to change)
Tickets can be reserved online at thoseothermovies.com under the ‘online store’ tab. Tickets are $35 for all five films or $30 for season pass holders. For more information, contact thoseothermovieshaliburton@gmail.com
