Monk in Pieces

Recipient of a 2024 JFI Completion Grant
Albert & Judith Goldberg Award for Jewish Arts & Culture

Like many of her Jewish-American contemporaries in the downtown art scene of the 1960s and 70s, Monk’s early work was a response to the Holocaust. But in the words of Philip Glass, "she, among all of us, was the most uniquely gifted." Vocalizing one day at the piano, Monk had revelation about the infinite potential of the human voice. From that moment, she focused on developing the unique vocal vocabulary that has come to define her music.

As Monk embarks on what may be her last major work, Indra’s Net, we see her wrestling with her legacy. What will happen to such personal work after she is gone? 

Description provided by grantee.

Billy Shebar is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker known for Dark Matter (2007) starring Meryl Streep and Liu Ye, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance; and High Noon on the Waterfront (2022), featuring John Turturro and Edward Norton, which premiered at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival and was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies and HBO. TV credits include the acclaimed docuseries DarkNet (Showtime, 2016); Doctor's Orders (Discovery+, 2021); and the Webby-winning Trump Bites (The New York Times, 2018-21).

Director(s)
Country(ies)
Language(s)
Completion Grant Year
Producer(s)
Writer(s)
Participants