Press
Reviews from the Berlinale
“A highly engaging documentary portrait of Meredith Monk, trailblazing icon of New York City’s experimental arts and music scene… An engaging, relatable, very human story about an uncompromising female artist battling to keep her unique vision alive… It works as an accessible primer on Monk, with appeal to connoisseurs and casual fans alike…. A lively audiovisual tapestry…”
— Stephen Dalton, The Film Verdict
“The music of Meredith Monk is elegantly and simply explored in Shebar’s documentary… Suddenly, it becomes obvious that the avant-garde is not just there to impress or shock or be different for the sake of it. It’s essential for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.”
— Redmond Bacon, Journey Into Cinema (UK)
"Billy Shebar is one of the most anomalous and interesting names in the American film scene of the last decade… This year, finally, Shebar officially arrived at the Berlinale with Monk in Pieces, dedicated to the visionary composer and performer Meredith Monk. The structure of Monk in Pieces is particularly interesting as it is not a simple portrait of the artist but rather a transposition of her into cinema, which also makes use of the structure and form of the documentary itself…
– Omar Franini, ODG Magazine (Italy)
“The scenes in which Björk describes her intense feelings and amazement are among the numerous beautiful moments of the documentary film portrait Monk in Pieces…”
– Andreas Köhnemann, Kino-Zeit (Germany)
“Shebar not only honors Meredith Monk's artistic genius but also invites audiences to experience the profound impact of her work on the evolution of performance art.”
– Christina Yang, The Upcoming (UK)
“A New Yorker with an astonishing voice and the most vagabond of creative sensibilities, 82-year old Meredith Monk is the genius that few people have ever heard of.”
- Nick Cunningham, Business Doc Europe
"Shebar pays tribute to Monk’s daring with a lively and appropriately offbeat biography of the artist… The constant presence of the truly singular art Monk created gives “Monk in Pieces” a real timeless quality… the best celebration that could be offered for an artist who found so much in her own voice.”
— Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest
“There’s a compelling dissonance between the audio and visual that renders Monk in Pieces nearly experimental. It’s a creative choice that deftly reflects Monk’s own approach to her iconoclastic art, forcing us to listen with a different ear, to look closer not away.”
— Lauren Wissot, Filmmaker Magazine
"Monk in Pieces does justice to the unpredictability of [Monk’s] work while retaining a classic and very accessible form…. An ideal front door to her euphoric collective vocal experiments.
— Gregory Coutaut, Le Polyester (France)
"The composer Meredith Monk is sensitively portrayed by Billy Shebar in his documentary film… Monk in Pieces brings together wonderful material from her performances and films… You get a big desire to listen to her albums afterwards."
– Tim Caspar Boehme, TAZ (Germany)
"The film is not a staid biopic. As the title suggests, the result is more of a mosaic-like image that reflects the open and constantly changing structure of Monk's artistic work… The film finds a particularly enjoyable balance between private, intimate insights and documentary elements."
– Daniela Kloock, Art-In-Berlin
“Oh, oh! Do not let Billy Shebar and David Roberts' love letter to Meredith Monk, Monk in Pieces, pass unnoticed. A stimulating look at the singer and performer who changed the New York avant-garde. A film that makes us fans of one of the artists who has continuously rejected mainstream accessibility."
– Rui Pedro Tendinha, TSF Radio (Portugal)
“Billy Shebar and David C Roberts present the rich tapestry of Monk’s music… soaring vocalisations that swoop and loop across her three-octave range… Their approach makes it an accessible introduction for newcomers to Monk’s oeuvre and should help it attract attention beyond the festival circuit.”