The wind. The wind that blew the day you had to leave everything behind. The wind that made the duduk, this thousand-year-old instrument that has become the symbol and the soul of Armenia, resonate. The wind that finally came through your headphones, carrying this story, so brilliantly orchestrated by Jeanne Debarsy. Immersive and poetic, With the Wind depicts the exile of three Armenians through a fragmented format that unites precious interviews and breathtakingly beautiful sound design. All three left their country behind, but made sure to take its songs and chants with them. “When I play the duduk, it tells our history. It's part of my identity.”

This “story that endlessly repeats” is about the rooting and uprooting of Virginia, Aram and Vardan. And many others.

It’s one about memory and resilience, telling the story of the sounds of the air and the sea, sounds that also endlessly repeat.

We strongly recommend listening with headphones on to appreciate every detail of the spatialization—strongly? No, absolutely.

Jenny Cartwright
Documentarian and audio artist