“Awake is an absolute treasure and should not only be watched, but experienced.”

– Randall Unger, The Movie Network

“Speaking in Strings” is an extraordinarily intimate, deeply affecting and revelatory documentary on how pain and passion can come together in a creative artist. … You don’t need to know who she is or even much care about classical music to be gripped, even flabbergasted by what’s on the screen.”
Read the full review

– Kenneth Turan, LA Times

 

…the film [Home of the Brave] reaches an emotional high pitch that’s so heartbreaking yet full of hope, the experience is unforgettable. After so many paint-by-numbers documentaries about the civil rights movement, it’s remarkable that a filmmaker could manage to bring the period and its tragedies alive through such a personal story.
Read the full review

– Heather Havrilesky, Salon.com

 

“Awake is engrossing…from start to finish.”
Read the full review

– Ernest Hardy, The Village Voice

 

“compelling… enough to make a modern soul look inwards.”
Read the full review

– Anita Gates, The New York Times

 

“…dreamy, entrancing… and while such material can be hard to pull off, directors Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman are masters of atmospherics. “
Read the full review

– Stephanie Merry, The Washington Post

 

“Speaking in Strings” is a riveting portrait of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, a first-rank classical violinist whose highly emotive style of performance invites both kudos and controversy …what “Speaking in Strings” captures most potently is the “on the brink” quality of the artistic temperament in extremis.
Read the full review

– Variety

 

How do you do justice to the twin volcanos of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the New Century Chamber Orchestra? Just follow them with a camera and show it all. The deed is done, and the result is spectacular… The work by CounterPoint Films and NSS Music is masterful every way — structure, audio and video quality, and continually engages and interests; everything is covered… The DVD has — to return to the volcanic simile — the dangerous beauty and exciting grandeur of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, except here both Mt. Nadja and Mt. Ensemble are constantly erupting; nothing is dormant here. Be sure to allow time after first viewing for a quick nap to recover from the experience.
Read the full review

– Janos Gereben, San Francisco Classical Voice