Writing
Dementia, a diagnosis that changes everything for those who are affected and for their relatives. Accepting the disease can seem just as difficult as finding an appropriate approach. But perhaps it is much more about compassion than about understanding? In an observational way, The Inner Light explores the everyday lives of people with dementia and focuses mainly on positive situations and encounters. The film tries to offer a poetic interpretation of this special state of being and aims at reducing fears in dealing with people with dementia and at accepting each person's humanity.
Helge Schneider's extraordinary talent is his ability to improvise which shows his unfailing creativity. "I paint the everyday-life in the brightest colors myself", he says about himself. Reality and fiction are tough to tell apart in his life. How does a man like him, who doesn't want his audience to know too much about himself, react on a documentary portraying him as a person?
The film observes the everyday lives of four girls in a residential group run by child and youth welfare services. Separated from their parents, they struggle for recognition, self-love, self-determination, and security. Always with the fervent desire to return home someday.
The film goes far beyond the concert stage and delves into the tension-filled space of rehearsals – where the sound is not yet fixed, but alive, fragile, and in the process of becoming. We experience a wealth of musical encounters in which a shared musical language begins to breathe. The focus is on works by influential composers such as Rebecca Saunders, Heiner Goebbels, and Mark Andre, alongside the vibrant voices of a younger generation, including Brigitta Muntendorf and Milica Djordjevic, in collaboration with conductors such as Vimbayi Kaziboni, Bas Wiegers, Ingo Metzmacher, and Enno Poppe. Each year, Ensemble Modern premieres around 70 works, continually venturing into uncharted sonic territories.
