I had the honor to compose music for this beautiful intimate documentary of an Arnhem/ Brussels based artist Mirthe Dokter
The Hardened Back – A documentary road movie about perseverance and the answer to the question of why the sea turtle is of such unparalleled value… About How a small story can be big. In the film, you travel with Arnhem artist Mirthe Dokter to Ghana, where she meets Ghanaian seaturtle protector Uncle Raf. We end up in his fishing village and join him in his fight for the giant leatherback seaturtle, the only one of its kind. In The Hardened Back, film is combined with analog animation through woodcuts, drawings, and overhead animations. The Hardened Back is the first collaboration between Arnhem filmmaker Rian van den Boom and Mirthe Dokter, supported by the Municipality of Arnhem and the Province of Gelderland and in collaboration with composer Miguel Boelens. The film also shows a crossover between Mirthe (artist) and marine ecologist Dr. Marjolijn Christianen (WUR). Together they investigate how storytelling can make a relevant contribution to research on migratory animal species. The film sheds light on West Africa, an often-overlooked region in global discourse. It also provides insight into how climate change is a daily occurrence in places far away.
https://www.npodoc.nl/documentaires/2023/01/de-geharde-rug.html