Berlin-based composer and artist Maya Shenfeld has been nominated for a Cinema Eye Honor for her work composing the score for the film Cover-Up, a documentary co-directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus centered on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh. Hersh is best known for breaking controversial stories about the US Military, particularly its actions in the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and will be distributed by Netflix.
On the score, music supervisor Dawn Sutter of AGORAPHONE notes:
“Maya Shenfeld was my first choice when suggesting composers for Mark Obenhaus and Laura Poitras’ Cover-Up. Their aesthetics match perfectly. Maya’s score deepens the tense and haunting nature of Cover-Up”
Shenfeld notes on her process crafting the score:
“It was such an honour to work with Poitras, whose films I’ve admired for so long, and with an incredible team. I was interested in finding a sound that could hold the breadth of the story, moving between intimate interviews, decades of archival material, and moments that deal with sensitive and often difficult histories. This is what led me to record analogue synths, electric guitar, and strings, all processed through a 4-track tape recorder. Much of the work was about finding the right balance between propulsion and reflection, while also giving the audience space to process what’s being revealed and the profound impact of Hersh’s reporting.”
Rooted in analogue sound, the score for Cover-Up weaves Eurorack modular recordings, guitar feedback, typewriter samples, organ, brass, and live strings processed through tape into an evolving sonic landscape. The analogue textures converse with the film’s archival language, while the interplay between analogue and digital mediums mirrors the temporal reach of the story, from the My Lai massacre to the present day. These elements echo the moral tension and investigative rigor at the heart of Seymour Hersh’s reporting, as the film uncovers decades of concealed violence and state power. The music oscillates between restraint and propulsion – deep drones, tactile string textures, and percussive momentum – in dialogue with the film’s movement between revelation and reflection.
Enjoy this clip from Cover Up
