Jana Winderen

This 12-part landmark Apple TV+ series, narrated by Tom Hiddleston, uses audio technology and cinematic 360 sound design to reveal the unexpected, unfamiliar and untold natural stories on every continent of the planet. Packed with extraordinary never before heard behaviours, this series redefines our understanding of animal communication in the natural world.

EARTHSOUNDS travels to spectacular habitats, including the Queensland rainforest, the Antarctic ice shelf, the Namibian dunes, tropical coral reefs and more. Discoveries and rarely heard recordings from the series include snow leopards singing love songs, the intimate chatter of ostrich chicks from inside their eggs, musical spiders, walrus’s underwater courtship calls and more. But it’s not just animals that make unusual noises; the series also captures the mesmerizing secret sounds of our planet, including the hum of deserts, drinking trees, and the mysterious buzz of the Northern Lights.

Jana has contributed underwater sound recordings of walrus and bearded seals for episode 6 and an interview for episode 12.

Find the trailer here.

Planktonium is a short film by Jan van IJken about the unseen world of living microscopic plankton. It is a voyage into a secret universe, inhabited by alien-like creatures. These stunningly beautiful, very diverse and numerous organisms are unknown to most of us because they are invisible to the naked eye. However, they are wandering beneath the surface of all waters around us and they are of vital importance for all life on earth.

Jan van IJken filmed the plankton through his microscopes, revealing the beauty and delicate structures of the minute organisms in the finest detail. The film is without any voice-over or explanation.

Renowned Norwegian artist Jana Winderen made a sound composition for the film. She is recording audio environments and creatures which are hard for humans to access, both physically and aurally – deep under water, inside ice or in frequency ranges inaudible to the human ear.

Phytoplankton (small plant-like cells) are producing half of all oxygen on earth by photosynthesis, like plants and trees do on land. Zooplankton are forming the base of the food chain of aquatic life. Plankton are also playing an important part in the global carbon cycle. The plankton are threatened by climate change, global warming and acidification of the oceans.

Filmed, directed and produced by Jan van IJken
Sound composition by Jana Winderen
Edited by Jan van IJken and Metje Postma

Film Festivals:
2022 Environmental Film Festival in the nation’s capital, USA
2021 Short Cutz, Amsterdam, NL
2021 Inscience Film Festival, Nijmegen, NL (Dutch Premiere)
2021 Riom Scientific Film Festival, FR
2021 Braunschweig International Film Festival, special program The Netherlands, DE
2021 Message 2 Man Int. Film Festival, In Silico competition, St. Petersburg, RU
2021 Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Short Joy competition, CZ (World Premiere)

Disappearance is directed by Boudewijn Koole. Jana made recordings on set and delivered ice and snow recordings for the soundwork by Alex Simu and Mark Glynne.

Jana is composing a new piece for the theater / dance / concert production Membran, premiering at the Norwegian Opera House on 6 June 2013. Directed by Sølvi Edvardsen. Made for a hearing and a not hearing audience, with actors, dancers and musicians both hearing and not hearing.

The Floating World – HDV, 15 minutes. Premiering 26 April 2013 at Kino der Kunst, Berlin. The film was shot in collaboration with award winning cinematographer Robbie Ryan BSC. Music for The Floating World is composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Soundworks by Jana Winderen. View a trailer on vimeo.com

Directed by Lynne Ramsey (UK). ‘Aquaculture’ from Jana Winderen’s Energy Field album is used in the film. Further info: imdb.com

The Network is a documentary film directed by Hege Delhi. Jana worked on the sound design for the film. The Network is an exclusive group of the most professional and fearless corruption hunters in the world. It is twenty public prosecutors and investigators from Europe, US, Africa, Asia and Latin America that meet in order to support each other and find new tools in the struggle against corruption. They investigate some of the wealthiest, greediest and most influential leaders and enterprises in the world. The members have faith in a just world even if many corruption hunters have been killed. “Fighting corruption is a dangerous, difficult and lonely road for every corruption hunter”. mechanixfilm.net / View a trailer on vimeo.com

Together with James Clapperton and Sven Erga, Jana is making the soundworks for the performance Passing Place which had its premier the 1st of June at Stamsund International Theaterfestival.

Heima directed by Dean DeBlois, documentary film for cinema and DVD release. Jana did hydrophone recordings from Iceland used in the film. Further info: imdb.com