The History of Sound, the highly anticipated feature love story featuring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor has found a home. Oliver Hermanus who directed the historical romantic drama (adapted by Ben Shattuck from his Pushcart Prize-winning short story of the same name) in early 2024 had probably pictured-locked this sixth feature film before showcasing to it buyers and it is the MUBI folks who are making another big bet acquiring North American rights to the film. While a Cannes Film Festival selection is entirely possible (Hermanus premiered his sophomore feature Beauty in 2011 in the Un Certain Regard section) it feels like Venice and Toronto are a more probable festival strategy route as the filmmaker’s last film Living began its fest life at Sundance to then have a rare showcase in Lido that same year. Focus Features and Universal Pictures International (UPI) have acquired international rights for the film.
In the shadows of WWI, two young music students at the Boston Conservatory, who bond over their shared love of folk music in 1917. They reconnect a few years later and decide to embark on a song collecting trip in the backwaters of Maine. This brief relationship and the music they collect and preserve will come to define each of their lives.
The film was shot in New Jersey, Italy, and the United Kingdom. End Cue’s Andrew Kortschak and Lisa Ciuffetti alongside Fat City’s Sara Murphy, as well as Thérèsa Ryan-van Graan, Closer Media’s Zhang Xin, and Hermanus produced the film. Executive producers for Film4 are Ollie Madden and Farhana Bhula; Tim Headington, Lia Buman, and Neil Shah for Tango; Dennis Masel and Gabrielle Nadig for Storm City Films; and William Horberg and Richard Lewis for Closer Media. Paul Mescal, Walter Kortschak, Ryan Zacarias, and Andrea Roa are also attached as executive producers.
