This is what it's all about.
Symphonic Youth is a documentary road-movie about a hundred musicians from the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra. They are aged between 15 and 25, come from all over Switzerland and meet twice a year in Grisons to play a major symphony. This year, they have chosen Mahler’s 7th symphony.
The film begins with four portraits of young musicians, each in a national language: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Instead of commentary, music and languages will be heard on the soundtracks.
We accompany our four protagonists in their everyday lives as students and musicians. Some still live with their parents, others in a shared flat. In October they meet for a week in St. Moritz for rehearsals with the entire orchestra and conductor Christoph-Mathias Mueller. We shoot on location to capture the atmosphere of this working week. Afterwards, we accompany the tour in some of Switzerland’s major concert halls, both in front of and behind the scenes.
Motivation and intentions
By visiting their concerts, the producer and director of the documentary, Béatrice Mohr, discovered the musicians of the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra and the energy they radiate. She wants to make a film that does justice to the young musicians and at the same time shows the cultural and linguistic richness of Switzerland. In an orchestra of over 100 people, everyone has to learn to listen attentively to the others. Understanding across language and cultural boundaries, thanks to a shared passion.
What is the support used for?
Every support counts ! The expenses for such a project are large, as we produce exclusively in Switzerland, where the costs are high.
So far we have received the support of the Pacte de l’audiovisuel SSR, which guarantees us broadcasting on all four national channels (RTS, SRF, RSI and RTR). We also have the support of Cinéforum, the Teleproduction Fund, the Göhner Foundation, the SJSO Support Association, the St. Moritz Cultural Fund and the Laudinella Hotel Group, which is hosting our film team in the Engadine during filming.
But unfortunately this is still not quite enough for the film’s tight budget, which includes 25 days of shooting, travel and overnight stays all over Switzerland with a team of four and two months of post-production (editing, calibration, sound design and mixing as well as subtitling) in Geneva.
