Everything Else Is Noise

Summary

In Mexico, Tere – musician and composer – opens her home to a musician friend’s television interview. To soothe her guest's nerves, Tere tells an eccentric and charming story about how her extraordinarily acute sense of smell has inspired her compositions. But no sooner does the interview with two journalists begin than it loses the flow, falters and slips out of rhythm: outside noises seep in, machines suddenly start playing up – and Tere's daughter, a young woman armed with refreshing irony and ruthless reality checks, bursts into the scene. Mother and daughter, both razor-sharp and quick-witted, form a tender alliance that gleefully brings the hypocrisy of the art world crashing down. They expose name-dropping and snobbish posturing, mock sexism and instead celebrate an honest, unpretentious sobriety – and the clear-eyed awareness of two women living close to, yet firmly outside, the coveted power centre of fame. 

In minimalist form, this absurdly comic chamber piece proves that the extraordinary hides in the everyday – and that noise and music are inseparable parts of it.

Source: 76. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)