The film was released in the UK on October 16 and will have its US release on HULU on November 13 with the soundtrack releasing the same day on all streaming platforms from OONA Recordings.
‘I Am Greta,’ the intimate HULU documentary by director Nathan Grossman, tells the story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg through compelling, never-before-seen footage. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta- a shy student with Asperger’s – in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with the extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City.
“Our endless muse in writing this score has been a tremendous respect for Greta and all the children in the Fridays for Future movement. And the important work to do together.”
To musically accompany Greta and the children of the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement on their journey, composer duo Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand spent quite a lot of time searching for right balance when it comes to how much emotional triggers the music should offer:
“With the music for ‘I Am Greta’ we aimed to find a sonic counterpoint to the friction between the shy, contemplative inner world of Greta, and the unbounded energy of the natural world and climate change movement. From the start we found it useful to separate the score into three distinct voices: Greta’s voice, the voice of natural world, and the voice of the climate chance movement.”
Through the sketching process, Rebekka and Jon discovered that when they set more melodic music to the pictures it just did not meld: “It came off as too sentimental in relation to Greta as a person. Too leading, somehow. So, we choose to work with repetition and persistent musical patterns, often illustrated through energetic string arpeggios. This we felt helped underline the remarkable persistence and focus Greta has on the climate issue, as well as that of relentlessness of nature. Then we found a few places throughout the score, were more melodic aspects could be introduced and carry the score through its dramaturgical journey. It allowed the melodic aspects to shine through when they are introduced.”
The synergy between the two composers with very different backgrounds as well as the blend of classical instrumentation and usage of electroacoustic elements let to a unique, compelling score:
“The score consists of a string octet, modular synthesizers and a voice instrument built by Rebecca of 25 male, female and non-binary singers from around the world in their full range. Our soloist in the score is the cellist Linnea Olsson, whom has a very specific airy and organic tone. From the first sketch recordings with Linnea it just felt like this was the tone of the soundtrack.”
From Nathan Grossman, director of ‘I Am Greta’:
“Rebekka and Jon’s dynamic score to ‘I Am Greta’ is huge and intimate, uplifting and melancholic, and manages to carry the emotional nuance of Greta’s story. The score forms a musical parallel to Greta’s journey and narrative voice throughout the film. It’s energy, urgency and emotional depth reminds us that the time for climate action is now.”
Track List:
- Tic Toc
- The First Friday
- Riksgatan
- Depression
- Childhood
- The Wind
- Nervous Feet
- Katowice
- Fridays for Future
- Trolls
- Claustrophobia
- The Movement
- Grief
- New Chapter
- The Ocean
- The Arrival
- People Are Waking Up
- Grief (credits version)
- Fridays for Future (alternative version)
Apple Music/iTunes:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-am-greta-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1535911370
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Xrl4CK6l45ZgKU1lykvQW
About Rebekka:
Rebekka Karijord is a composer and musician originally from Sandnessjøen, just south of the arctic circle in Northern Norway. Over the course of her career she has composed music for over 30 films, modern dance performances and theatrical pieces, as well as released six solo albums under her own name. Projects in 2020 include the score to Hulu documentary ‘I Am Greta’ about climate activist Greta Thunberg, HBO doc thriller ‘Pray, Obey, Kill’ and the album ‘Complete Mountain Almanac’, a collaboration with Bryce and Aaron Dessner (The National) based upon the poems of Jessica Dessner with songs by Rebekka. Her breadth of experience and skills as a studio technician, songwriter and programmer have allowed her to work on a diverse range of commissioned projects. From film scores to theatre productions for The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and The National Opera House in Norway to sound design for The National Museum in Norway. Karijord writes for all kinds of constellations, from orchestras and ensembles to more intimate electro acoustic scores. Through the course of her career she has developed a precise, dramaturgical understanding of what a film needs musically and emotionally and many of the projects she has chosen to work have a clear humanistic and political agenda.
About Jon:
Jon Ekstrand is a Stockholm based Swedish film composer and artist. Ekstrand began his career under the mentorship of acclaimed sound designer Owe Svensson, where he sharpened his skills at understanding the power of sound and its dramaturgic importance in helping a story realize its potential. In 1998, whilst attending Stockholm Film School, Ekstrand met Director Daniel Espinosa, in which the two formed a tight creative relationship which continues to this day. Ekstrand and Espinosa have collaborated on 7 feature films, including the hit, ‘Easy Money’ Trilogy as well as Hollywood Studio Films, ‘Child 44,’ ‘Life’ and is currently scoring the Marvel film ‘Morbius.’ Jon has had a rich career within film, having worked the entire spectrum of the sound team, from boom operator, sound recordist, to sound designer and today as accoladed composer. He is a self-confessed synthesizer addict, and generally starts building his scores around electro acoustic elements.
His scores range in genre from more minimal arthouse ambient to epic thriller dramas, where he has recorded with full orchestras at both Air Studio in London, Colombia Studios and Sony Studios in Los Angeles. To date, Ekstrand has scored over 30 films and TV series, and in 2020 he has been awarded The Danish Film Institutes Robert Award, for his 2019 score to the film ‘Queen of Hearts´ as well as a Palmarés for Best Music in a TV Series at the Cannes Series Awards in October 2020 for the score he created together with Carl-Johan Sevedag to the TV Series ‘Top Dog.´
The film was released in the UK on October 16 and will have its US release on HULU on November 13 with the soundtrack releasing the same day on all streaming platforms from OONA Recordings.
‘I Am Greta,’ the intimate HULU documentary by director Nathan Grossman, tells the story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg through compelling, never-before-seen footage. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta- a shy student with Asperger’s – in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with the extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City.
“Our endless muse in writing this score has been a tremendous respect for Greta and all the children in the Fridays for Future movement. And the important work to do together.”
To musically accompany Greta and the children of the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement on their journey, composer duo Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand spent quite a lot of time searching for right balance when it comes to how much emotional triggers the music should offer:
“With the music for ‘I Am Greta’ we aimed to find a sonic counterpoint to the friction between the shy, contemplative inner world of Greta, and the unbounded energy of the natural world and climate change movement. From the start we found it useful to separate the score into three distinct voices: Greta’s voice, the voice of natural world, and the voice of the climate chance movement.”
Through the sketching process, Rebekka and Jon discovered that when they set more melodic music to the pictures it just did not meld: “It came off as too sentimental in relation to Greta as a person. Too leading, somehow. So, we choose to work with repetition and persistent musical patterns, often illustrated through energetic string arpeggios. This we felt helped underline the remarkable persistence and focus Greta has on the climate issue, as well as that of relentlessness of nature. Then we found a few places throughout the score, were more melodic aspects could be introduced and carry the score through its dramaturgical journey. It allowed the melodic aspects to shine through when they are introduced.”
The synergy between the two composers with very different backgrounds as well as the blend of classical instrumentation and usage of electroacoustic elements let to a unique, compelling score:
“The score consists of a string octet, modular synthesizers and a voice instrument built by Rebecca of 25 male, female and non-binary singers from around the world in their full range. Our soloist in the score is the cellist Linnea Olsson, whom has a very specific airy and organic tone. From the first sketch recordings with Linnea it just felt like this was the tone of the soundtrack.”
From Nathan Grossman, director of ‘I Am Greta’:
“Rebekka and Jon’s dynamic score to ‘I Am Greta’ is huge and intimate, uplifting and melancholic, and manages to carry the emotional nuance of Greta’s story. The score forms a musical parallel to Greta’s journey and narrative voice throughout the film. It’s energy, urgency and emotional depth reminds us that the time for climate action is now.”
Track List:
- Tic Toc
- The First Friday
- Riksgatan
- Depression
- Childhood
- The Wind
- Nervous Feet
- Katowice
- Fridays for Future
- Trolls
- Claustrophobia
- The Movement
- Grief
- New Chapter
- The Ocean
- The Arrival
- People Are Waking Up
- Grief (credits version)
- Fridays for Future (alternative version)
Apple Music/iTunes:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-am-greta-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1535911370
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Xrl4CK6l45ZgKU1lykvQW
About Rebekka:
Rebekka Karijord is a composer and musician originally from Sandnessjøen, just south of the arctic circle in Northern Norway. Over the course of her career she has composed music for over 30 films, modern dance performances and theatrical pieces, as well as released six solo albums under her own name. Projects in 2020 include the score to Hulu documentary ‘I Am Greta’ about climate activist Greta Thunberg, HBO doc thriller ‘Pray, Obey, Kill’ and the album ‘Complete Mountain Almanac’, a collaboration with Bryce and Aaron Dessner (The National) based upon the poems of Jessica Dessner with songs by Rebekka. Her breadth of experience and skills as a studio technician, songwriter and programmer have allowed her to work on a diverse range of commissioned projects. From film scores to theatre productions for The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and The National Opera House in Norway to sound design for The National Museum in Norway. Karijord writes for all kinds of constellations, from orchestras and ensembles to more intimate electro acoustic scores. Through the course of her career she has developed a precise, dramaturgical understanding of what a film needs musically and emotionally and many of the projects she has chosen to work have a clear humanistic and political agenda.
About Jon:
Jon Ekstrand is a Stockholm based Swedish film composer and artist. Ekstrand began his career under the mentorship of acclaimed sound designer Owe Svensson, where he sharpened his skills at understanding the power of sound and its dramaturgic importance in helping a story realize its potential. In 1998, whilst attending Stockholm Film School, Ekstrand met Director Daniel Espinosa, in which the two formed a tight creative relationship which continues to this day. Ekstrand and Espinosa have collaborated on 7 feature films, including the hit, ‘Easy Money’ Trilogy as well as Hollywood Studio Films, ‘Child 44,’ ‘Life’ and is currently scoring the Marvel film ‘Morbius.’ Jon has had a rich career within film, having worked the entire spectrum of the sound team, from boom operator, sound recordist, to sound designer and today as accoladed composer. He is a self-confessed synthesizer addict, and generally starts building his scores around electro acoustic elements.
His scores range in genre from more minimal arthouse ambient to epic thriller dramas, where he has recorded with full orchestras at both Air Studio in London, Colombia Studios and Sony Studios in Los Angeles. To date, Ekstrand has scored over 30 films and TV series, and in 2020 he has been awarded The Danish Film Institutes Robert Award, for his 2019 score to the film ‘Queen of Hearts´ as well as a Palmarés for Best Music in a TV Series at the Cannes Series Awards in October 2020 for the score he created together with Carl-Johan Sevedag to the TV Series ‘Top Dog.´