The Cream Will Rise

Singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins was discovered in 1992. No less than seven record companies fought for the rights of her debut album, that contains the hit single Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover. A few years later she has grown into a true pop star. The Cream Will Rise follows Hawkins during the preparations of a big tour along thirty American cities. What starts out as a conventional rockumentary develops into a highly personal portrait of a complicated, creative personality. In interviews and conversations with her best friend, her younger brother and her mother, Hawkins divulges secrets the existence of which she has denied for years. With staggering honesty, she tells about her childhood years, her love for music, the difficult relationship with her family, anorexia, and how she left the parental house when she was fourteen to go and live with a Nigerian percussionist. An important theme in the film is the hate-love relationship with her mother, whom she sometimes does not speak to for months, but with whom she also undergoes therapy for a few days during the shooting period of this documentary. The film contains over twenty songs, showing Hawkins in her sensual stage performance. In an interview, Hawkins asserts that the artificial intimacy with her audience, incident to her star status, is a continuation of the lack of real intimacy in her youth. It becomes increasingly clear that the singer is translating her life story into her lyrics, and that she employs her musical talents to chase away the demons from her past. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)