SYNOPSIS

Meredith Monk – composer, performer, and interdisciplinary artist – is one of the great artistic pioneers of our time, yet her profound cultural influence is largely unrecognized. With Monk’s music at its center, and featuring interviews with Björk and David Byrne, Monk in Pieces is a mosaic that mirrors the structure of Monk’s own work, and illuminates her wildly original vocabulary of sound and imagery. As a female artist in the male-dominated downtown arts scene of the 1960s and ‘70s, Monk had to fight for recognition and resources. Early reviews in the New York Times were vicious and sexist: “A disgrace to the name of dancing,” wrote Clive Barnes, and “so earnestly strange in a talented little-girl way,” wrote John Rockwell. Yet as her celebrated contemporary, Philip Glass, says, "she, among all of us, was – and still is – the uniquely gifted one." In the film’s final chapters, Monk faces mortality. We see her warily entrust her masterpiece, ATLAS, to director Yuval Sharon and singer Joanna Lynn-Jacobs for a new production at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For 60 years, Monk has directed and performed in all of her music theater works; now she must learn to let go. What will happen to such singular work after she is gone?

Key Personnel

Billy Shebar (director) is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker known for High Noon on the Waterfront (2022) with John Turturro and Edward Norton, which premiered at Telluride and was broadcast on TCM and HBO; and Dark Matter (2007) starring Meryl Streep, which won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance. He collaborated with animator Bill Plympton on the viral web series Trump Bites (2018-2020) on the New York Times website; and with animator Yoni Goodman on the three-part crime series Doctor’s Orders (2021), which continues to stream on Max, Hulu, Amazon, and other platforms.

Meredith Monk is a visionary composer and performer. See her complete works: https://www.meredithmonk.org/repertory

Susan Margolin (producer) is a pioneer of digital distribution and a producer of award winning films including Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, The Rape of Recy Taylor (Starz), Paper Children (YouTube Originals). A Crime on the Bayou (Starz), A Tree of Life (HBO), and Generation Startup (Netflix).  

Sabine Krayenbühl (editor) is known for her work on the Oscar-nominated My Architect (HBO), The Price of Everything (HBO), Letters from Baghdad (PBS), Obsessed with Light, and Mad Hot Ballroom, one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time.

Sabine Bubeck-Paaz (Commissioning Editor ZDF/ARTE)

Jeff Hutchens (cinematographer) has received Emmy and ASC nominations for his extensive work in film and television. He recently directed the narrative feature Remember This (2023) starring David Strathairn. 

Paul Barritt (animator) has created animation for theater, opera (including LA Phil’s acclaimed 2017 Magic Flute) and film, garnering AFI and Sundance nominations for White Morning.   

Elliott Joseph (Executive Producer)

FESTIVALS

75th Internationale Filmfestpiele Berlin

Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival

Hong Kong International Film Festival

Festival No Convençional Bogotá

IndieLisboa

Dokfest München

Krakow Film Festival

SELECTED PRESS

“A highly engaging, very human story about an uncompromising female artist battling to keep her unique vision alive…” — Stephen Dalton, The Film Verdict

“…deftly reflects Monk’s own approach to her iconoclastic art, forcing us to listen with a different ear, to look closer not away.” — Lauren Wissot, Filmmaker Magazine

“The scenes in which Björk describes her intense feelings and amazement are among the numerous beautiful moments of Monk in Pieces…” — Andreas Köhnemann, Kino-Zeit

“Billy Shebar and David C Roberts present the rich tapestry of Monk’s music… soaring vocalisations that swoop and loop across her three-octave range…” — Amber Wilkinson, Screen International

“…the best celebration that could be offered for an artist who found so much in her own voice.” — Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest

“Oh, oh! Do not let Billy Shebar and David Roberts’ love letter to Meredith Monk pass unnoticed… A film that makes us fans…” — Rui Pedro Tendinha, TSF Radio