upsammy — Paris, Texas (filmconcert)

Paris, Texas is an iconic film by German director Wim Wenders from 1984. This neo-western is set in the town of Paris in the American state of Texas and follows the road trip of Travis (Harry Dean Stanton), who suffers from memory loss. The film won the Palme d’Or in Cannes that same year. Equally famous as the film itself is the haunting soundtrack by guitarist Ry Cooder. It is therefore almost sacrilegious to put one of the most beloved soundtracks of all time on mute and replace it with a completely new — and radically different — one. Goodbye Ry Cooder’s slide guitar, hello to the minimalist electronica of Thessa Torsing, a.k.a. upsammy. This Dutch composer is known for her minimalist micro-electronics full of crackling sounds and trippy melodies. The tension between nature and technology runs like a thread through her work. With her electronic soundscapes, upsammy gives Paris, Texas a twist entirely her own, one that grips you from beginning to end.

This filmconcert was commissioned for VIDEODROOM 2024, in a coproduction with VIERNULVIER and Film Festival Gent for the Videodroom series.