SAR is proud to present the world premiere of Voices of the Rainforest
Be the first to see this spectacular film and experience the beauty of this often-isolated world.
The ninety-minute documentary is an immersive journey into Papua New Guinea’s Bosavi rainforest region and an intimate portrayal of its people. The film was produced and directed by Steven Feld, current Senior Scholar at SAR who also received the 1991 MacArthur Fellowship and 2003 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and created in conjunction with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and sound editor Dennis Leonard from the George Lucas Skywalker Sound studio.
A conversation with the film’s creators will follow the screening. Each attendee will receive a personal CD of the audio track that inspired the film.
Seating is limited. Proceeds support the advancement of knowledge and understanding of humanity through SAR’s scholar and artist programs.
Tickets: $125 ($100 tax deductible)
For more information, contact Lindsay Archuleta at archuleta@sarsf.org or 505.954.7231
Thank you to Violet Crown Santa Fe for its generous support of this special event.
More about the project
Originally produced by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, Voices was released as an audio CD in 1991. The recording condensed twenty-four hours of sounds of the rainforest and the Bosavi people into an hour-long audio experience. It brought to life myriad connections between everyday ambient rainforest sounds and the creative practices of singing to, with, and about them by the Bosavi people. Since 2011 the CD has been available through Smithsonian Folkways.
In 2016 Feld digitized the original analog audio tapes long held in Mickey Hart’s archive, and recomposed an expanded Voices as a 7.1 cinema surround sound concert for the recording’s 25th anniversary.
In the summer of 2018, Feld and filmmaker Jeremiah Richards spent two months documenting Bosavi people and landscapes with high-resolution cameras and drones. The contents have since been edited to create Voices of the Rainforest, an immersive film experience that joins together the footage and sound.
During the trip Bosavi people suggested the film be in two parts, the first is a visualization of the Voices of the Rainforest soundtrack; the second is an update about the state of the forest and the problems of development in what remains a remote and underserved region of Papua New Guinea.
As a work of advocacy for environmental and cultural sustainability, all proceeds benefit the Bosavi Peoples Fund.