"When Thomas Riedelsheimer first approached Evelyn Glennie to ask if he could do a film about her, she felt unsure because a lot had been said and done before. However Thomas wanted to explore something far deeper than just Evelyn's story. Thomas wanted to create a film which would demonstrate a completely different understanding of what and how we hear. In RIVERS AND TIDES the German documentarian explored the enchanting and hypnotic "nature" art-installations of Andy Goldsworthy. Now with TOUCH THE SOUND he turns his camera on the nearly deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie who experiences sound as a kind of touching or vibration. Using Glennie's unique musical sensibilities as a jumping-off point Riedelsheimer introduces the viewer to an amazing sonic realm that we all know but rarely appreciate-a world of tapping sputtering clanging rustling rhythms. The drone of a suitcase's wheels on concrete interrupted by the periodic zing of a zipper the crackling of an icy pond the echoic clang of metal scaffolding struck by Glennie's sho--these sounds become in Riedelsheimer's skilled hands moments of revelation. Watching this film viewers will feel like they are hearing the world for the first time "Touch the Sound is beautifully shot and filled with gorgeous music, but one of the most inspiring things about it is the way it erases the idea of Glennie's deafness as a handicap. Her hearing deterioration began when she was 12, and already fascinated with the piano and the snare drum. But somehow this slight, tawny-haired lady from Scotland turned that handicap into an advantage, creating and performing powerful music even though, like Ludwig van Beethoven in his later years, she hears only a fraction of what she plays" - Chicago Tribune
Touch the Sound Website