Julia Holter: The Passion of Joan of Arc - Melbourne International Film Festival (2025)
Presenter
Melbourne International Film Festival
Concert Lab Role
Producer
Artistic Direction
Featuring
Julia Holter composer, vocals, keyboards
Hugh Brunt conductor
The Consort of Melbourne choir
Sarah Belle Reid, Tashi Wada and Corey Fogel band
Date & Venue
Monday 11 August 2025
Tuesday 12 August 2025
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre
About the Performance
Acclaimed LA singer, songwriter and composer Julia Holter comes exclusively to MIFF to present a special live score to one of cinema’s all-time visionary works.
Julia Holter’s music brilliantly crosses elements of art pop, chamber pop, baroque, experimental and ambient, with her six studio albums to date – along with her soundtracks for films like Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always – earning comparisons to Laurie Anderson, Joanna Newsom and Stereolab. Combining Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 French silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc with a spellbinding score by Holter, this Australian premiere and Australia-wide exclusive event will see her craft an immense sonic tapestry – performed live with her band, Sarah Belle Reid, Tashi Wada and Corey Fogel, and The Consort of Melbourne choir, and conducted by renowned UK-based orchestrator and composer Hugh Brunt, known for his work alongside Johnny Greenwood, Nicholas Britell and Mica Levi, among many others.
This is your chance to experience the breathtaking sounds of one of today's most remarkable artists alongside the intensely expressive world of Dreyer’s iconic masterpiece – a haunting recollection of the French saint’s trial featuring one of the greatest ever lead performances by Renée Jeanne Falconetti.
“Five stars … The mercurial composer's brilliant score perfectly captures the raging agony and beatific ecstasy of Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent movie masterpiece.” – The Guardian