HYENAZ Works: Sound Design

  • Like a Salve

    𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓢𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓮 (𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓦𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭) directed by Tereza Silon
    – a short film derived from an artistic/performance research, community queer & trans embodied storytelling workshops and exchanges with QTs in the Southern Bohemia region and beyond.

    (…)
    ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔞 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔱
    𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢
    𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔠𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢
    𝔄 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔢𝔣𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲
    ℭ𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔠𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞 𝔳𝔞𝔠𝔲𝔲𝔪.
    𝔄 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰
    (…)
    𝔓𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫 𝔦𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫
    𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔞𝔫𝔡
    ℑ𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯´𝔰 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪𝔰, 𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔰

    ℑ 𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞 𝔟𝔬𝔞𝔱 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔞 𝔴𝔞𝔳𝔶 𝔰𝔢𝔞
    𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔢𝔱
    𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔞𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱
    𝔄𝔫 𝔲𝔫𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔯𝔦𝔟𝔟𝔬𝔫

    𝔗𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰

    – 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢. 𝔉𝔬𝔯 ℑ 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔢𝔴.
    (…)

    Dates

    13 November 2025premiere screening – České Budějovice

    Credits

    Concept, DirectionTereza Silon
    CinematographyZaher Jureidini
    EditingVojtěch Kunc
    Sound Design + ScoreHYENAZ
    PerformersElis, Eugene, Geo/Jiří Pavlík, Moiza Abdul, Tereza Silon
    LightsRiyana Lama
    CostumesJustyna Tuchorska

    Production support on set by Iva Jedličková, Czech sign language interpreter on set by Zuzana Heřmanová (Tichý Svět), additional interpreter Tereza Holoubková (Tichý Svět)

    Curator: Alena Kotyza

    Special thanks for location availability: Alšova Jihočeská Galerie/Wortnerův Dům, Čajový Ateliér, Tady Kreativní Hub
    Thank you Mgr. Hynek Látall , Ph.D. for consultations on the Medieval Art collection. Thanks to Anna Davis and Lucie Boušková.
    supported by České Budějovice 2028 and Magic Carpets. 
    Special mention goes to Budqueer.

  • Damage Done // Say Goodbye To

    Dates

    21-23 February 2025Ballhaus Ost

    Welcome to a living room that turns into a smouldering scene of remembering and forgetting. Here, between a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and her daughter, worlds collide: an interplay of anger, sadness, despair and disorientation. What remains when memories fade and the past becomes an unreliable companion?

    Damage Done takes the audience on a journey through the fragility of memory and the construction of identity in a world that wants to save everything. The starting point is private video recordings from the family archive that were never intended for the public. But it is precisely this intimate closeness that challenges us to pause and ask questions: What does this material show – and what does it do to us who view it?

    Through a collaborative process, the recordings are dissected, reinterpreted and translated into images, movements and dialogues. Alternative forms of communication emerge, transforming the stage into a multi-perspective space in which remembering and forgetting are negotiated in equal measure.

    Credits

    Concept, DirectionTobias Yves Zintel
    Sound DesignHYENAZ
    ScoreHYENAZ, Daniel Murena
    PerformersJuno Meinecke, Adrienne Teicher, Anatol Käbisch, Janet Rothe, Rasmus Slätis, Karen Zimmermann, Kathryn Fischer
    Director’s AssistantKaren Zimmermann
    StageSabina Moncys, Tobias Yves Zintel
    CameraShane Mcmillan
    Produced byTobias Yves Zintel in co-operation with Ballhaus Ost

  • The Visual Feminist Manifesto

    Dates

    2, 4 & 8 February 2025International Film Festival Rotterdam (Premiere)

    Expressing desire, pursuing dreams, loving oneself, questioning the oppressive confines of patriarchy. Farida Baqi takes us on a lyrical and emotional journey through the life of a young woman from birth to adulthood in an unnamed Arab city.

    The moment of birth, the possibilities of childhood, the growing pains of teenage years, the expectations imposed by society on young women: The Visual Feminist Manifesto explores how a woman’s life is crafted by the world around her. We are witness to the ways in which she makes meaning, both from her personal experience and how she is told she must behave, both deeply shaped by patriarchal structures. Repeatedly told that women are “less than”, her behaviour is made small by the threats of shame, fear, and ostracisation. All the while, she is seeking something more emancipatory.

    Farida Baqi brings us into the fold through the life of an unnamed woman in an Arab city, homing in on the experience of a cisgender woman making encounters with heterosexual desire. But the filmmaker’s ode will resonate with many, united through universal emotions of joy, pain, love, and frustration. 

    Contrasting shots depicting the urbanity of an Arab city and the gentle scenery of the seaside, Baqi makes a woman’s life inextricable from the spaces and places around her, all the while hinting at a more liberatory future forged through solidarity.

    Credits

    DirectorFarida Baqi
    MusicMad Kate | the Tide, HYENAZ, Lynn Adib
    Sound DesignStudio Mitte, HYENAZ
    ScreenplayFarida Baqi
    CinematographyJanne Ebel
    Principal castAmal el-Hani, Lynn Adib, Rosalie Cella, Gaël Abou Jaoude, Michelle Zallouaa, Norah Toledano, Alice Canzonieri

  • Chokehole

    One hot summer night in New Orleans a drag collective staged wrestling night. They dressed up as their vibrant alter-egos, and proceeded to beat the living daylights out each other while the audience collectively lost their shit. That night, Chokehole was born. This documentary follows Chokehole as they take the show to Germany, sharing the stories of cast members as they grapple with racism, gender conformism, queer identity and America’s suppression of the arts.

    The film depicts the artists both with and without drag, sharing their larger-than-life and theatrical alter egos while displaying the unique vulnerabilities that lie behind the character. This film explores their loud, vibrant personas alongside their heart-breaking personal stories, and the adversity they’ve had to overcome to be accepted in the US. As the documentary progresses, we learn how each character copes with love, sex, transitions, post-trauma, and socioeconomics while offering a glimpse into their fantastical, vivid world… which is as much an escape for the artists as it is for the audience.

    “Chokehole: Drag Wrestlers do Deutschland” is the story of how disenfranchised, queer performers defeated all the odds to make a compelling theatrical show.

    Chokehole screened at New Orleans Film Festival, Outfest and Chicago Underground Film Festival.

    Credits

    DirectorYony Leyser
    Music & Sound DesignHYENAZ
    Sound RecordistsAdrienne Teicher & Kathryn Fischer
    CinematographyShane Thomas McMillan
    EditorRuth Schönegge
    Sound Re-recording MixerCornelius Rapp

  • The Fourth Generation

    Premiere – Vienna Queer Shorts Festival

    The Fourth Generation, is a homage to Berlin’s vibrant underground and the communities that breathe life into the city. The film is set in a dystopian future, but the themes explored are very real. Queer identity, feminism, sexuality and the intersection of politics and art. In the near future Professional provocateur and artist Maven Shegula has returned to Berlin after a hiatus in Zürich. She’s back to celebrate her 50th birthday, and to appear on a popular German talk show.

    As she wanders the streets of Berlin with her girlfriend and friend, it becomes apparent that being an artist in this city is no longer acceptable. The humming nightlife has disappeared, and the vibrant creative community pushed to the margins of society. The film is alive with tension, both sexual and otherwise. As Maven’s story unfurls on live television, we learn about her son, her politics, her  heritage and her alter-ego Rosa who champions radical self-expression and  feminism. The interview is dispersed with beautiful and volcanic eruptions from Maven that act as both a denunciation of the city’s leadership and a love letter to Berlin.

    Packed full of vibrant fashion, queerness, dark humour and experimental visuals, The Fourth Generation depicts every artists worst nightmare – and the lengths one woman will go to stand by
    what she believes in. The film features a predominantly trans and non-binary cast.

    Credits

    Directed and Written byYony Leyser
    Sound DesignHyenaz (Kathryn Fischer & Adrienne Teicher)
    CastAerea Negrot, Gigi Spelsberg, Yvon Jansen, Daniel Zillmann, Mano Thiravong, Mathea Hoffmann, Chilly Gonzales
    CinematographyPaul Faltz
    EditingHamed Mohammadi
    Art DirectorDarko Petrovic
    Production DesignJeff Schaul, Victoria Shved
    Costume DesignAlexis Mersmann

  • Like Lovers Do

    Dates

    24 March 2022Volksbühne Berlin (Performative Reading)

    In myth, Medusa is raped by the god of the sea, after which she transforms into a winged figure with serpent hair, whose gaze turns anyone to stone. Medusa’s violent, kaleidoscopically structured memoirs in Sivan Ben Yishai’s work are a dedication to all lovers, cataloging moments of our collective memory: between desire and violence, between porn and sexual fantasies, between political attacks and familial complicity in looking away. In a seemingly contrasting scenario, five young girls collectively imagine the dream man of their future, involuntarily casting themselves as perfect attributes by his side. On a third narrative thread, the author drafts a literal reversal dynamic of traditional storytelling patterns:

    A woman picks up a knife, leaves the crime scene of the marital bed, hijacks a crowded bus, and shifts into reverse gear to collect century-old storylines and all the battered human love-flesh, decomposing them. Could it not become humus for an eco-sphere of feminist narratives?

    BuySuhrkamptheater

    Credits

    TextSivan Ben Yishai
    German TranslationMaren Kames
    Audiobook Sound DesignHYENAZ
    Performative Reading Live Sound DesignHYENAZ

  • Körper Figurationen Welten

    Körper Figurationen Welten introduces queer studies as a transdisciplinary research field in an intersectional way. The interplay of power and desire causes physical, mental and emotional movements in space and time. According to queer theory, these can solidify into domination, sometimes even take on violent forms; but they can also cause attraction, unexpected connections and movements, forms of pleasurable encounters or intimacy. Queer theory is power analysis and criticism of domination, which faces the contradicting challenge of criticizing difference as social inequality, but promoting it as uniqueness and particularity. The videos test experimental formats and queer aesthetics. Because the question of what is presented is directly related to the question of how it is presented. As is shown, in turn refers to possibilities and limits that are open to the imagination and desire or are set.

    The videos are freely available as Open Educational Resources at the following link: e.feu.de/queer-theory-videos

    The work was featured on the radio program “Gerecht Sprechen – Über die Lust auf Gendersternchen, neue Pronomen und Co.” hosted by Sabine Rolf on BR2.

    Credits

    Concept & Academic DirectionAntkek Engel
    Film ProductionFilmfetch (Magda Wystub; Tali Tiller)
    Sound DesignHYENAZ
    Produced byFernUniversität Hagen

  • Unsere Stadt aus Vogelaugen

    Eine Blutung im Dunkeln

    Dates

    3 October 2021Weltecho Chemnitz
    14-15 June 2021TD Berlin
    25 October 2020Münchner Kammerspiele

    On October 3, 1938, just before Pogrom Night, the city of Dortmund ordered the city’s Great Synagogue to be torn down. On October 3rd, 2020, just a few meters from the square of the Old Synagogue, the city theater opened its season with this text. After Munich and Berlin, the writer Sivan Ben Yishai is performing her text in a special collaboration with the duo HYENAZ: “Our city from bird’s eyes / bleeding in the dark”. The performative, musical reading is a meditation on the 35 days of repentance, which lie between October 3 and November 9, and draws an arc from the past to the future.

    Credits

    Written & Performed bySivan Ben Yishai, HYENAZ
    Sound Design & Musical PerformanceHYENAZ
    VisualsPatricia Bateira
    Production AssistanceLuise Heiderhoff
    German TranslationMaren Kames

  • Annies: ein gesangliches Konzert

    The 2020 edition of the Droste Festival features a dialogic project between authors Sivan Ben Yishai and Maren Kames. These two incisive voices of a younger literary generation interrogate war, peace, and their transhistorical entanglement with language, engaging Droste’s legacy as both interlocutor and spectral collaborator. The project is produced by and features HYENAZ, who weave sonic architecture and filmic praxis into the discourse as well as performing in the work.

    Credits

    Conceived & Written bySivan Ben Yishai, Maren Kames
    Performed bySivan Ben Yishai, Maren Kames, HYENAZ
    Sound Design & Filmic PraxisHYENAZ
    Commissioned byBurg Hüllshoff Center for Literature

  • Oder: Du Verdienst Deinen Krieg

    (8 Soldiers Moonsick)

    Dates

    8-11 November 2019Maxim Gorki Theatre, Studio Я

    Eight young female bodies are lying in a tent, breathing in unison and protecting the rifles under their mattresses, waiting for the next mission. Their nightmares during the night and the daydreams of army’s everyday life are experienced together.
    Again and again the soldiers circle the multiple possibility of their own death. What dies in a person when they operate the trigger of a loaded gun? When does the dispossession of your own body begin?
    In the fourth part of her tetralogy, Let The Blood Come Out To Show Them, writer Sivan Ben Yishai holds a ceremony of memory. Which visible and invisible traces does serving the so-called fatherland leave in a person?

    Selected for Radikal Jung – Festival für junge Regie 2020.

    Credits

    Written bySivan Ben Yishai
    Directed bySasha Marianna Salzmann
    Sound DesignHYENAZ
    Stage & CostumesCleo Niemeyer
    DramaturgyRebecca Ajnwojner
    Dramaturgic AdvisorAnna Heesen
    Lighting DesignFritz Stötzner
    Sound EngineerMiloš Janjić
    TranslationMaren Kames
    CastKenda Hmeidan, Abak Safaei-Rad, Elena Schmidt, Catherine Stoyan