Oliver Hermanus's The History of Sound to compete for the Palme d'Or
by Olivia Popp
- The South African director makes his debut in the Cannes competition with an eagerly awaited romantic drama led by Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor
Based on Ben Shattuck's short story of the same name that won the Pushcart Prize, a prestigious US literary award, The History of Sound by South African director Oliver Hermanus will be a US-UK co-production competing for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival (13-24 May – see the news).
The World War I-set period romantic drama stars Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers [+see also:
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interview: Eva Husson
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interview: Francis Lee
film profile]) as two young music students, Lionel and David, at the Boston Conservatory, who bond over a shared love for folk music. After reconnecting a few years later, they begin to fall in love as they take a journey to record the traditional songs of their fellow countrymen throughout rural New England. Hermanus penned the adapted script with Shattuck during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The History of Sound brings together Mescal and O'Connor on screen for the first time after their respective streaks of recent box-office successes. Shooting for the film took place beginning in late February 2024 on the East Coast of the USA, including New Jersey and Massachusetts, in addition to locations in Italy and the UK.
The cast also includes Chris Cooper as an older version of Lionel, Molly Price as Lionel's mother and Raphael Sbarge as Lionel Sr. Hadley Robinson, Emma Canning, Briana Middleton, Gary Raymond, Alison Bartlett and Michael Schantz round off the supporting cast. Alexander Dynan has lensed the film, Chris Wyatt serves as the editor, and Deborah Jensen is on board as production designer.
This will be Hermanus’s sixth feature, and his filmography has prepared him well for this foray into the Cannes competition. His first movie, Shirley Adams, was in competition at Locarno, while his second, Beauty [+see also:
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film profile], was part of the 2011 Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes and scooped the Queer Palm. His third feature, The Endless River [+see also:
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film profile], was in competition for the Golden Lion at Venice. His most recent effort, Living [+see also:
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film profile], premiered at Sundance and screened at Venice before notching up two Academy Award nominations.
The film is being produced by the UK's Film4, the USA's End Cue, the UK's Fat City, and US outfits Tango Entertainment, Closer Media and Storm City. MUBI has picked up the North American rights, while Focus Features/Universal Pictures International has acquired the other international rights to the feature.
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