Listening

Directed by Mike Hoolboom

Vancouver composer and sound ecologist Hildegard Westerkamp was the only woman to participate in the original version of the World Soundscape project that not only brought new ears to city life, but laid the foundation for noise bylaws/pollution standards, radically upending traditional notions of music and the role of the composer. Hildegard has brought the art of sound walking to groups around the world, and she has formulated a deep feminist ecology rooted in the body. The film offers a place for the viewer to listen, the necessary precondition for personal and societal change.