Spanish-born, Amsterdam-based producer and director Carmen Cobos returns to Dutch theatres this week with her second feature-length documentary, Nelsons N° 5, centring on the figure of world-renowned Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons.

After Cobos’ debut documentary, Imperfect Harmony, which portrayed the musical clash between Holland’s avant-garde composer Louis Andriessen and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, she now follows Nelsons as he takes on Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony together with the same orchestra she had depicted in her previous film.

Nelsons N° 5 follows the whole process, from the conductor’s arrival at Schiphol Airport up until the final presentation of the work in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, without skipping over the several rehearsals characterised by Nelsons’ vitality and sensitivity. The conductor also opens up about his life and childhood in Riga, and reflects on the impact of Shostakovich’s work on his development as a musician and conductor.

The director’s own company, Cobos Films BV, co-produced Nelsons N° 5 along with Avrotros, thus adding a third music-driven title to a line-up that also includes the aforementioned Imperfect Harmony and Heddy Honigmann’s Around the World in Fifty Concerts. NPO Sales handles the international sales.