Tales from the Heart
73 mins | 2021
Lila Schmitz
The Job of Songs
On the west coast of Ireland, a community of musicians seek connection and joy through music as they face a modernizing world.
About
This music documentary gets at the heart of community. In the tiny Irish town of Doolin, an ensemble cast of musicians plays in the pubs every night. Travelers from all over the world come together to hear the music. The warm pubs invite good company and intimate bonds amidst a world that struggles with isolation. Music has the power to bring people together. In an age where everything is speeding up and everything is instant, we miss the person right beside us. These musicians explore what it means to exist in the old music, the long-standing tradition, and find community through the strumming of a guitar, beating of a bodhran, and sharing of a song.
The Job of Songs is an intimate film about the musicians of County Clare, Ireland. At the ends of the earth, teetering on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher and the first to break the stormy Atlantic winds is the small village of Doolin. Travelers from all over the world gather in the local pubs, hoping to connect with their Irish heritage through traditional music. But things are changing: facing rapid modernization at the hands of tourism, confronting depression and mental health issues, and grappling with a history of colonization and oppression, the people of Doolin turn to music to find solace.
Christy Barry shares the rich history of place and music while bemoaning the changes that tourism so quickly brings to this idyllic village. Luka Bloom seeks a legacy while passing his adoration of music onto his sister Anne and friend Kieran. Katie Theasby longs to vitalize her music yet struggles with self-doubt, single motherhood, and depression. Each of them battles their own personal demons, fighting their fears of putting themselves out there, coping with the changes that tourism has brought to their community, and dreaming of writing the next ballad that will fill the pubs for hundreds of years.
Music has the power to bring people together. In an age where everything is speeding up in life and everything is instant, we’re missing the person that walks right in front of us. We’re lonely and we don’t know why. We’re depressed and we don’t see a solution. In this community of musicians, the artists explore what it means to exist in the old music, the long-standing tradition, and find community through the strumming of a guitar, beating of a bodhran, or sharing of a song.
FILMMAKER BIO
Lila Schmitz
Lila Schmitz is a filmmaker with experience making independent films from scratch and working on big-budget projects as a part of a huge team. Her first feature THE JOB OF SONGS, an Irish music documentary that she directed, produced, and edited, premiered at DOC NYC in 2021 and premiered internationally at the Galway Film Fleadh, winning Best International Documentary. Her short documentary JAIEL aired on Rocky Mountain PBS, as did her short fiction film QUEER QAFÉ, which has since gotten 50k+ views. Schmitz recently directed three music videos for the titular artist of her short documentary: Jaiel. Her latest short film LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONA has played LGBTQ+ festivals all over the United States and will premiere internationally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She has been producing in the documentary world (for PBS, CBS, Richard Linklater, Bill Guttentag) and spent the last year working at Anonymous Content.
CREDITS
Director
Lila Schmitz
Writer
Lila Schmitz
Writer
Anika Kan Grevstad
Producer
Fengyi Xu
Producer
Lila Schmitz
Producer
Anika Kan Grevstad
Cinematographer
Anika Kan Grevstad
Executive Producer
Bill Guttentag
Soundtrack for a Revolution, Sublime, Nanking, Crime & Punishment, and more
Consulting Producer
Doug Pray
The Defiant Ones, Art and Copy, Hype!, Scratch