HFF 2015 Interview: Big Voice Director/Producer Varda Bar-Kar

Big Voice is a musical documentary that chronicles a roller coaster year in the life of high school choir director Jeffe Huls and his most advanced ensemble. Mr. Huls’ passion for the choral arts and music literacy fuels his desire to exceed all standards and expectations. The results are hard won, yet exquisite. Following a series of competitive auditions, Mr. Huls compiles his dream ensemble – the most ideal combination of voices he’s ever had. He soon discovers that these 32 talented teenagers are also the most unwieldy group he has ever taught. Mr. Huls must convince his students to set aside their egos, conflicting styles and teenage angst to achieve the artistry he knows they are capable of. It is as much a story about the struggles of high school life as it is about choir. Big Voice interweaves slices of life, interviews and masterwork performances to engage and entertain. Big Voice is a 2015 Heartland Film Festival Official Selection, Documentary Feature, World Premiere.

We spoke with Director/Producer Varda Bar-Kar about her film:

HF: What is your film about, and how did the project come to be?

VB: Big Voice is about a a demanding high school choir director Mr. Jeffe Huls pushing his students to achieve true artistry. During the course of the year that we follow Mr. Huls and his choir we witness the push and pull between the choir teacher and his students. They feel they have done their very best and resist his demands, but he knows that they can be so much stronger as a choir and pushes them as far as he can “without killing them, of course.” Some of the challenges they face include shifting the students’ mind set from “me” to “we”, personal struggles that the students are experiencing including homelessness, girl-boy dynamics and Mr. Huls own self doubts. Ultimately, Big Voice is a story about music, community, education and love.

I was inspired to make Big Voice after experiencing one of Mr. Huls’ extraordinary High School Choir concerts. I felt transported by the students’ performances and was moved to tears. I wanted to know how Mr. Huls was able to achieve such artistry in the context of a public school. I also wanted to tell the story of this excellent teacher who instruction deepens and enriches his students lives and the community at large.

HF: What was your role in the production?

VB: I produced and directed Big Voice.

HF: Why did you submit to the Heartland Film Festival? Have you been to the Festival before?

VB: My short film Window won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival. I loved my experience at Heartland and vowed to myself that one day I would return to the festival with a feature film. I’m so grateful that my dream has come true.

HF: This year’s tagline is “Movies That Stay with You” – what lasting effect will your film have on moviegoers?

VB: I’ve been told by people who have seen Big Voice that it stays with them and they continue to reflect on the film long well after they’ve viewed it. I believe that Big Voice‘s lasting effect on its audiences will be a softening of their heart for their teachers and for all teachers who work so hard to educate and enrich the lives of students. I also think they will be left with a deeper appreciation for the breadth and depth of music education and arts education in general. The lessons I learned in my art classes will forever inform my life and my work and I am indebted to my art teachers. Big Voice is my effort to “give back” to them.

HF: What has inspired you to become a filmmaker?

VB: I have always loved to express myself through art. I have painted, choreographed, acted, directed theater and written poetry & fiction. One day I realized that filmmaking combines all these artforms when I came to this realization I felt as though I had arrived home.

HF: What is something that you know about filmmaking now, but you weren’t told when you started your career?

VB: I did not understand how challenging filmmaking really is. When I make a film I aspire to create a distilled reality so well constructed that when audience members view it they become fully engaged, emotionally & intellectually and sometimes even spiritually. Achieving this effect is a challenging task.

HF: What are some of your favorite movies? What’s your favorite worst movie (you know it’s bad, but still love it)?

VB: Some of my favorite films “A Man Who Fell To Earth”, “Blade Runner”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “Life Is Beautiful”, “Singing In The Rain”, “Stand By Me”, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Magnolia”. Most recently, I really enjoyed “Diary of A Teenage Girl”.

HF: How many film festivals has your film been a part of? What do you like the most about the festival experience?

VB: This will be our World Premiere screening of Big Voice. I have had other films in festivals and always enjoy them for the opportunity to be with an audience during my films’ screening and also to meet and hangout with my tribe (other filmmakers).

HF: Heartland Film Festival moviegoers love filmmaker Q&As. Let’s say a Festival attendee wants to earn some brownie points—what is a question that you’d love to answer, but haven’t yet been asked?

VB:I think it would be really cool to hear how Big Voice effected her/him. Hearing from audience members directly is quite fulfilling.