Schubert's Winterreise (A Winter's Journey)

A heartbroken lover wanders through a cold and magical winter. This transformational winter’s journey weaves in and out of scenes from a live Pandemic performance of Schubert’s famous 24 song-cycle, “Winterreise, Op. 89”, in a secluded barn-turned-concert hall in rural Alberta, Canada.

  • Eveline Kolijn
    Director
  • Eveline Kolijn
    Writer
  • Kathleen Van Mourik
    Producer
  • Brett Polegato
    Key Cast
    "The Wanderer/ Singer"
  • Charles Foreman
    Key Cast
    "Pianist 1"
  • Kathleen Van Mourik
    Key Cast
    "Pianist 2"
  • Jack Olszewski
    Key Cast
    "Pianist 3"
  • Cindy Zhang
    Key Cast
    "Pianist 4"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Music Video
  • Genres:
    Drama, Classical Music, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 29 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 12, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English, German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Calgary
Distribution Information
  • Eveline Kolijn
    Sales Agent
    Country: Canada
    Rights: All Rights, Internet, Pay Per View, Video / Disc
Director Biography - Eveline Kolijn

Eveline Kolijn is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker living and working in Calgary. Her foray into filmmaking started with educational videos produced for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2014. She merged her art and filmmaking in 2018 with “The Ocean Inside”, which has been internationally shown in Calgary, Santander, Willemstad and Athens. “Schubert’s Winterreise” is Eveline’s first feature-length movie.
Eveline received a MA in cultural anthropology from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 1986 and a BFA from the Alberta College of Art+ Design in 2008 including the Governor General’s Award for academic achievement. She has participated in national and international exhibitions and residencies, public art projects and community engagement. She has been published in various scientific publications. In 2019, she received the AUArts Alumni Legacy Award.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The International Festival of Song and Chamber Music Society has embarked on a journey: a Winter Journey, to be precise. This is a collaborative project connecting the performance of Franz Schubert's music with art, film, video, and the Alberta winter environment. Schubert’s Winterreise (Winter Journey) is a timeless trip, one filled with feelings found in the depths of the human heart: despair, dreams of the past, the premonition of death (including Schubert’s own), hope; as well as the presence of nature - rustling leaves, storms, icicles, frozen tears. I hope that this universal music will reach out to people in a dark time, a time when we need to connect despite the necessity of separation.

Schubert called this a “harrowing cycle of songs,” and it is especially so, during this time. This music calls out to us today, as we settle into an unknown winter, a cold prairie landscape (Alberta, Canada), a time of disease, upheaval and mystery, and weirdness that Schubert's music portrays so well, even for today's world.

Our version of Die Winterreise is set in rural Alberta. I am grateful for the collaboration with one of Canada’s finest and compelling baritones, Brett Polegato and Alberta pianists on this unique, home-grown, Alberta project. A summer festival involving Brett that was cancelled due to COVID-19, that set the stage for this secluded performance in 2020.

The Winterreise poems and music are about wandering and a transformational journey; changing feelings on love; existential explorations and change of environments. My own artistic journey explores issues concerning biodiversity and climate change. I am looking forward to wandering with Schubert in his magical, romantic, and dark Winterreise to visually transpose the song’s German town surroundings into Alberta scenery using video, photography and my art.