Robert Redford’s wife coming to Sonoma County with environmental film (2024)

The audience will get a glimpse Sunday night of actor Robert Redford during the closing night of Festival del Sole at Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, but he’s not really the star of the show.

He’ll be there with his wife, German-born multimedia-environmental artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford, whose combination concert film/environmental documentary, “The Way of the Rain: Hope for Earth,” will be screened at the festival that night.

In the foreground, the film shows the Dallas Symphony Orchestra performing a score by composer Tim Janis, while images from around the Earth and from space are screened behind and above the musicians. The film includes a brief spoken passage by Robert Redford, who appears onstage with the orchestra.

The four-day Festival del Sole also includes live performances by violinist Viktoria Mullova with cellist Nina Kotova, and pianist Olga Kern, violinist Pinchas Zukerman and his trio, and tenor Joseph Calleja.

The film is one of a series of projects to come from the Way of the Rain Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2015 by Szaggars Redford. She recently took part in an email Q&A interview with The Press Democrat about the film and her work.

Question: How did the “The Way of the Rain – Reflections on Earth” video shorts project get started?

Answer: The “Reflections on Earth” series was launched in March 2020, during the time of the Covid-19 lockdown and isolation. A collaboration between music composer and filmmaker Tim Janis, environmental activist Robert Redford and myself, these video shorts were created to be a gift of hope to the world and an invitation to reflect on the beauty and wonders of our planet Earth during that challenging time of isolation. We shared these shorts on YouTube and social media during Covid-19.

Q: What prompted the creation of the film “The Way of the Rain: Hope for Earth”?

A: “The Way of The Rain: Hope for Earth” was created to recognize and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020.

Q: Why did you choose the performance film concept rather than a more conventional documentary film on the same subject?

A: As a multimedia artist, I love to work with collaborators of diverse artistic mediums. “The Hope for Earth” was created for orchestra, chorus, film, art, and spoken word. Creating a more conventional documentary film never crossed my mind.

Q: How long did the project take? When did it start?

A: “The Way of the Rain: Hope for Earth” version is the evolution of many past staged collaborations with numerous diverse world-renowned musicians, choreographers, dancers and performers who share a passion for using art to promote awareness and support for the protection of planet Earth. The first staged “The Way of the Rain” performance was presented in 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a part of the first edition of the Albuquerque Film & Music Experience, so we have been presenting these performances for over 11 years now.

Q: How did the collaboration with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra come about?

A: Founder of the international nonprofit environmental organization EarthX, Trammell S. Crow, who had invited “The Way of the Rain: Hope for Earth” to Dallas as a part of the EarthX program, approached the Dallas Symphony Orchestra about collaborating with us. Once they learned about our project and studied the music score, Dallas Symphony Orchestra was 100% committed.

Q: How many different locations were used for the visual images screened behind and above the orchestra? Where were some of them? How did you get images of Earth from space?

A: There were many different locations from all across the world. I don’t have an estimate, but the visual images are a reasonably comprehensive representation of the variety of natural landscapes found across all major continents. In terms of locations, we used images from well-known eco-regions across the globe. With the images of the Earth from space, it is an artistic layering, stitching together, and animating of multiple sources to create a unique view of Earth from space. My collaborator, Thomas McBee, deserves the credit for curating these images which express the uniqueness of Earth in the midst of all galaxies.

Q: The film addresses all of the threats facing the survival of the Earth as one theme. What led you to decide on that approach?

A: The film begins by telling the story of the formation of the universe, the evolution of all galaxies and eventually the birth of the unique and beautiful planet Earth.

The first images of the film feature artistic expressions of chaos: The state of the universe before there was any order and before stars and planets were formed. The film continues into Big Bang: A cataclysmic birth of the universe.

The storyline continues to showcase the beauty and uniqueness of our Earth: air, water, moon, sun. It expresses paradise on Mother Earth, leading to the first confrontation: the cry of Mother Earth, ultimately sharing images of abuse caused by humanity.

The narration by Robert Redford is intended to serve as words of conscience to create awareness and thought for the audience.

Finally, my closing art film “Arrival of Rain” is meant to create a moment of peace for the audience to reflect on what they just had experienced, and the film concludes with a focus on hope.

Q: Do you foresee more similar projects in the future?

A: Yes, in fact, “The Way of the Rain” team and I are currently working on “Hope for Oceans.”

Q: What has been Robert Redford’s most important contribution to your work?

A: In addition to being my inspiration and mentor throughout our life together, The Way of the Rain has been fortunate to have Robert Redford’s support and participation over the last 10 years, including providing the narration for our many performances.

Q: Will you both appear during the event at Green Music Center in Rohnert Park?

A: My husband and I are looking forward to attending the Festival Del Sole’s presentation of “The Way of the Rain – Hope for Earth – A Symphony for Our Planet”and the gala dinner and auction hosted by Buena VistaWinery & Jean Charles Boisset to benefit The Way of the Rain, Inc. Tickets for both events are available at the Festival del Sole website, festivaldelsolearts.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On X @danarts.