''Soundhunters'' is a transmedia musical project created by Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies (aka the Blies brothers), Marion Guth and François Le Gall, broadcast on the Franco-German channel

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

in 2015 and deployed internationally with

Native Instruments Native Instruments is a German company that develops, manufactures, and supplies music software and hardware for music production, sound design, performance, and DJing. The company's corporate headquarters and main development facilities are lo ...

and the music streaming platform

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

. ''Soundhunters'' offers the audience the opportunity to remix the world around them through a documentary, creative and collaborative process. ''Soundhunters'' is composed of a feature-length documentary broadcast on

on 19 September 2015 (directed by Beryl Koltz), a web documentary featuring international artists ( Daedelus,

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

, Mikael Seifu,

Simonne Jones Simonne Jones (born Simonne Michelle Jones in Los Angeles, California) is a producer, singer, composer, model and visual artist based in Berlin. Early life Simonne Jones was born and raised in Hollywood, California. She is of Cherokee and B ...

), a participatory mobile application and a music album sponsored by

Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

, entitled ''Zoolook Revisited''.

History

''Soundhunters'' was conceptualized by Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies (aka the Blies brothers), François Le Gall and Marion Guth of the Luxembourg production company a_BAHN. Openly inspired by the album

Zoolook ''Zoolook'' is the seventh studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in November 1984 by Disques Dreyfus. Much of the music is built up from singing and speech in 25 different languages recorded and edited ...

(1984) to which he pays tribute, ''Soundhunters'' was created to transform the world into an infinite musical instrument. The documentary approach offers the general public the opportunity to discover and explore the sampling technique: a sound technique that was at the heart of the Zoolook album's approach.

explains: "''The title "Zoolook" is what? It means observing the zoo of which we are each apart. That's the idea. So to take up this idea, to continue to develop it, is for me exactly what a creative work must generate, to make others want to continue. Once you have finished what you have done, it no longer belongs to you''".

The transmedia

''Soundhunters'' was released in 2015 and consists of several media: * A 52' feature-length documentary directed by Beryl Koltz (with the participation of Chassol,

Matthew Herbert Matthew Herbert (born 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music. Career Mat ...

Blixa Bargeld Blixa Bargeld (born Christian Emmerich, 12 January 1959) is a German musician who has been the lead singer of the band Einstürzende Neubauten since its formation in 1980. Bargeld was also a founding member of the Australian rock band Nick Cave a ...

Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...

, Kiz,

Joseph Bertolozzi Joseph Bertolozzi (born 1959) is an American composer and musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra and solo songs to immense sound-art installations. With increasingly numerous performances across Europe and the United States to ...

). Broadcast on

on 19 September 2015, the film was then broadcast in several countries, including Denmark, Holland and NHK in Japan * A web documentary featuring the creative sampling process involving 4 international artists (

, Mikael Seifu, Daedelus and

) * A participatory tribute music album whose tracks were chosen by

, entitled ''Zoolook Revisited'' * Web and mobile applications (iOS and Android) for collaborative creation

Awards

''Soundhunters'' wins the

FIPA d'Or The ''International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes'' or ''International Documentary Festival FIPADOC'' ( (FIPA)), founded in 1987 by Michel Mitrani (1930-1996), was first held in Cannes in October 1987., In 2019, the FIPA became FIPADOC,,, an ...

for the best digital work in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

in 2015. The transmedia project won also the Golden Panda "Grand Prix" and "The Most Innovative Experience" Golden Panda at the Sichuan Film Festival in 2015. ''Soundhunters'' wins the

Courrier International ''Courrier International'' ( French for "International Mail") is a Paris-based French weekly newspaper which translates and publishes excerpts of articles from over 900 international newspapers. It also has a Portuguese and a Japanese edition. '' ...

Prize for the best web documentary in 2016. ''Soundhunters'' will also be presented at the conference at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

and the NYFF Convergence (New York Film Festival) in 2016.

References

{{Reflist 2015 films 2015 television specials 2015 documentary films French documentary films 2010s French films