On Sept. 16 the Olde Mistick Village held two private screenings for a documentary film entitled Sing! which featured a number of Pawcatuck, Mystic, Stonington, and Westerly residents. A project of the Chorus of Westerly, the 28-minute film documents the stories of how singing has made an impact on the lives of these residents.
Chorus of Westerly Executive Director Emma Palzere-Rae explained.
“This is not a documentary about the Chorus of Westerly but rather about how singing brings people together and builds community,” Palzere-Rae said. “Through the stories of several individuals, we see inspiring and moving examples of the role singing plays in people’s lives.”
Palzere-Rae explained that the approximately $30,000 project began as a concept in 2004, and by 2005 the Chorus of Westerly began raising funds for the project. By 2007 they had hired Chris Walsh, a professional videographer based in Westerly, and by the summer of 2007 filming began.
“The over-arching theme is really how singing brings people together and the stories in the film are all very moving. One is about getting through grief, some are about how singing can bring people back together, a husband and wife and an estranged father and his daughter. There is a story from the Korean War about how the soldiers in the trenches would sing a song back and forth over the wire to get them through their hardships. And of course there is the very moving story of Joyce Resnikoff, whose husband couldn’t speak after he’d had a stroke, but he could sing this one song so when she would go to visit him they’d sing this song back and forth to each other.”
Resnikoff, a Mystic resident and chief executive officer at the Olde Mistick Village, was originally approached to help sponsor and assist with the administration for the film. When she relayed her personal story, they knew she would be starring in the film as well.
“My husband had a massive stroke and was no longer able to speak,” Resnikoff explained, “and somebody suggested to me that he might be able to sing, and they were right. So we started singing this old song, ‘Let Me Call You Sweetheart,’ and we’d sing it with each other every day. So, to me, singing isn’t just something I enjoy, but it was a way to communicate with my husband.
“You should have seen the look on his face when we’d sing it,” she added. “He was so proud, his face would just beam. When a person can’t communicate through speech but can communicate through song it’s very uplifting, and it’s just such a very special memory of mine.”
With the initial screening complete, project leaders will now decide exactly what the future plans for the film are and where it will be marketed.
For more information, contact the Chorus of Westerly at 401-596-8663.