«RAISING WAVES» - full-length documentary about the Ukrainian-Dutch modern classical music composer Maxim Shalygin. The film was made by Ukrainian filmmakers before russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Post-production was done during the war in Ukraine in 2022-2023.
Ukrainian musicologist Stanislav Nevmerzitsky has been researching the history and theory of classical music, the work of modern Ukrainian classical composers for more than 10 years. Now he decides to study the work of the Ukrainian composer Maxim Shalygin. Maxim is one of the representatives of the younger generation of composers who has been able to achieve significant success in Europe and Ukraine. His music is performed by the best musicians in Europe. Stanislav travels from Kyiv to the Netherlands to interview Maxim and find out how the composer managed to achieve success, what is the secret of his music? In the Netherlands, Maxim reveals aspects of the work of a contemporary composer. The composer takes Stas into the world of musical creativity. Together with Maxim Shalygin, Stas sees the composer's path from the industrial city of Ukraine to the picturesque places of the Netherlands. Thus, we can look behind the scenes of rehearsals and concerts, we can see the features of the creation of newly developed instruments, immerse ourselves in the thoughts of the composer, observe the writing of compositions, trace the life cycle of musical creativity: from the moment it was written to performing at a concert.
In this interview, Maxim tells stories from his creative journey. All of them are rendered with different modalities in the film. All the stories of Maxim come to life and take us to the atmosphere and experiences that the composer tells Stas about. Thanks to the fascinating story of Maxim Shalygin, the film becomes a resource for inspiration and motivation.