Sounds of the South

Dutch musician Ruben Hein’s love for nature and wildlife has always been central to his creativity. But when he decided to visit Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic, some of the wildest regions on the planet, he had no way to know how deeply the experience would impact him.

From February to March of 2020, Hein embarked on a 22-night voyage to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula. Known for their colossal seabird colonies and abundant marine life, monstrous glaciers and ruggedly beautiful coastlines, these still-untouched areas allow visitors to see a side of the planet few of us are ever lucky enough to experience.

As creatures who spend much of our lives plugged into a near-ceaseless succession of laptop screens and smartphone apps, the stresses of society are all around us and the sounds of civilization almost always in our ears. What does this do to us and at what cost? How often do we really get the chance to break away, to harken to sounds more natural than those that surround us every day?

Join Hein as he attempts to do just that, searching for inspiration for his next album as he ventures among some of the far south’s most surreal landscapes and iconic creatures. Overlaid with his own original music, this documentary seeks to capture some of the magic of his journey into this wondrous other world, in whose presence the most immediate response is awe.