Experiencing Interruptions?

Haugtussa

Veslemøy, a sensitive young woman, lives alone with her mother in the forests and mountains of Norway and looks after cattle. More and more isolated from society by her special clairvoyant abilities, she becomes a loner with bipolar traits. In the music film, which is devoted to an excerpt from the epic, she meets the already dead sister, to whom she feels attracted in her loneliness and whom she finally follows into the realm of the dead.

The short music film Haugtussa focuses on the literary figure Veslemøy from the volume of poetry by the Norwegian author Arne Garborg and is based on Edward Grieg’s song cycle of the same name. Music, action and dance stimulate equally on all levels to get closer to Haugtussa’s inner world. Through improvised dance, electronic music and classical song art, this art film brings the essence of the epic into the present.

------------------
Dancer: Katrin Geller, Yuko Kaseki
Music: Efa Hoffmann (voice), Haruka Izawa (piano), Eglof Berger (synthesizer)

I.
Edward Grieg, Haugtussa, Op. 67, 2, Das Kind Der Berge (Veslemøy)
Efa Hoffmann, Haruka Izawa & Eglof Berger
Composer - Edward Grieg
Lyricist - Arne Garborg

II.
Morton Feldman, Piano Piece 1952, Edward Grieg, 12 Songs, Op. 33, 2. Letzter Frühling (Våren)
Efa Hoffmann, Haruka Izawa & Eglof Berger
Composer - Edward Grieg
Composer - Morton Feldman
Lyricist - Arne Garborg

III.
Morton Feldman, Three Pieces For Piano (I), Edward Grieg, Haugtussa, Op. 67, 7. Böser Tag (Vond Dag), 8, Am Bergbach (Ved Gjætle-Bekken)
Efa Hoffmann, Haruka Izawa & Eglof Berger
Composer - Edward Grieg
Composer - Morton Feldman
Lyricist - Arne Garborg

------------------
Director: Efa Hoffmann
Camera, lighting, sound & editing: Marcel A. Mayr

  • Efa Hoffmann
    Director
  • Efa Hoffmann
    Producer
  • Marcel Alexander Mayr
    Producer
  • Katrin Geller
    Key Cast
    "Veslemøy (dancer)"
  • Yuko Kaseki
    Key Cast
    "Veslemøy's sister (dancer)"
  • Efa Hoffmann
    Music
  • Haruka Izawa
    Music
  • Eglof Berger
    Music
  • Marcel Alexander Mayr
    Cinematographer
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 30, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    Norwegian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Efa Hoffmann

Since her singing education and master classes at the State University for Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart, with Shong-Ho Shin, Helene Schneiderman, Montserrat Caballé and Brigitte Fassbaender, she has been working as a freelance singer and improvisation musician/performer. She took part in several international singing competitions. In 2003 she was a finalist and winner of the audience prize at the International Korean Song Singing Competition in Berlin and traveled to Korea for the subsequent concert tour. In her own projects, Efa Hoffmann has been working on the redesign and reconstitution of song art in a contemporary context for many years. Since 2015 she has been working on the detachment of classical music from ritualizations in scenic or performative performances. A cross-border interweaving of experimental musical design, free visual and performing art forms demands a new experience and access to emotional, human liveliness and drama. In recent years she has participated in solo performance workshops with Andrew Morrish and David Moss. Working with visual and performing artists has become an important part of your work. Efa has been designing interdisciplinary music and film projects since 2019, most recently the dance and music film Haugtussa based on songs by Edward Grieg, with the Japanese pianist Haruka Izawa, the electronic musician Eglof Berger, the dancer Katrin Geller and the Japanese Butoh dancer and dramaturge Yuko Kaseki. A song and dance opera is planned as part of this project.
In April 2021 she received a grant from the German Music Council to promote her artistic ideas.
She lives and works in Berlin in the art space APOTHEKE - Neukölln.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The focus of my work is to bring art songs into new contexts. Working with dancers and contemporary musicians and composers enables a universal interdisciplinary language for poetic themes to be brought into a timeless framework.