One of the more profound and unforgettable documentaries to come out of 2023 so far is the harrowing wartime exposé, 20 Days in Mariupol. Set on the ground during the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning AP journalist, Mstyslav Chernov, documents the uncontrollable chaos of a city falling apart, a community being destroyed, and a country forever changed. Composer Jordan Dykstra provides the sonic heartbeat to these historical moments in time through his experimental, yet grounded, score.
Winner of the 2023 Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary competition, 20 Days in Mariupol demands your attention from the start. The cries of desperation from the Ukrainian survivors act as a secondary soundtrack to Dykstra’s pulsating score, furthering the feeling of dread and perpetual anxiety. No matter which way you look, it’s a haunting experience.
Cinemacy is excited to premiere “Devastation Everywhere”, from PBS Distribution’s 20 Days in Mariupol, below:
It’s not a coincidence that most of Dykstra’s score incorporates harsh noise music that has been distorted. The disorientating nature of the sound combined with the devastating events that unfold onscreen act as a mirror to the reality of war. To achieve this sound, which can at times be confused for the drawn-out wailing of an emergency alarm, Dykstra uses digital and analog synthesizers, percussion, strings, detuned piano, and filtered noise elements. This is all in addition to the more classical string section that is carefully placed during scenes with the utmost emotion.
Says Dykstra of the track: “‘Devastation Everywhere’ features haunting call-to-war-like drum beats, tense siren-like synth blasts, and dissonant trumpet screams all building toward a grand finale of epic proportions. This track evokes images of painful carnage and loss, shelled homes and apartment buildings, and the utter devastation seen from every angle in Mariupol during the invasion in February 2022 — intensely documented in the film 20 Days in Mariupol.”
Jordan Dykstra is a composer and performer specializing in both film and concert music. He was an apprentice to Daníel Bjarnason, composer and conductor of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, in 2014. In 2018 he received his MA in Experimental Composition from Wesleyan University in Connecticut where — under the mentorship of Alvin Lucier and astrophysicist Seth Redfield — his thesis explored connections between microtonality and the cosmic distance ladder. Previous film projects include the musical noir Blow the Man Down, the satanic panic doc Hail Satan?, the psychological horror film It Comes At Night, and the Emmy Award-winning investigative documentary, Documenting Hate. He is based in Brooklyn and runs his own cottage industry label, Editions Verde.
