The Liminal Hum

Šimon Herrmann / Czech Republic / 2026 / World Premiere / 10 min.

synopsis

The first landscape we come to know is a landscape of sound. The low frequencies of a heartbeat and the flow of fluids in the womb create a world that is loud yet safe. The sounds that surrounded us before birth may remain etched within us as a memory of closeness and calm. They give us our first sense of home. Yet low tones carry another memory. For most of human history, they belonged to the forces of nature unleashed: earthquakes, storms, hurricanes, as well as large animals that posed a threat. The very frequencies that can lull a newborn to sleep can therefore also awaken unease, anxiety, and fear. The Liminal Hum inhabits the space between these two poles, suggesting that our relationship with drone sounds is ambivalent from birth. Through the eyes of innocent children, it explores moments of intense joy and imminent danger, searching for the point where these two states begin to merge.

biography

Šimon Herrmann (born 1995) is a sound engineer and composer currently completing his doctoral dissertation on drone music in film at FAMU, the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. His sound credits include Jindřich Andrš’s Nová šichta (2020), Hana Jakrlová’s Porno Para Ricardo (2026), and Martin Trabalík’s Co s Péťou (2025). He composed the score for Tomáš Elšík’s Při zemi (2025) and founded the experimental jazz ensemble Molotow Moloch Quartet.