English translation:

"Singing Freely is One of
the Scariest Things to Do"
In Happinez no 3 2025

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Music can heal—filmmaker Sarah Dienaar has known this for a long time. She wants to share this insight with the world. Together with singer Leonie Bos, she created the documentary Het Medicijn (The Medicine), a film about the ‘medicinal’ power of music.

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How did the idea for Het Medicijn come about?

"I’ve wanted to make a film about music since I was fifteen, but my ideas never quite came together. Then, a few years ago, I traveled to Bali, where I discovered kirtan singing and mantra chanting. Through that, I learned about the power of singing freely—one of the scariest things to do. I had to let go of my perfectionism and dared to use my voice. That’s when I told Leonie about my idea. I actually wanted to make a concert film, but as a filmmaker, I also love storytelling, and I noticed how music had played a healing role in Leonie’s life. That’s when I knew: this is the story about music I want to tell."

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The film is about Leonie, but in a way, it’s also about you.

"Yes! I recognized so much of myself in Leonie’s story. Sometimes it was almost eerie. She describes in the documentary how, as a young girl, she always felt like she had to behave in a certain way, which made her hold back a lot. That led to fears and insecurities. Music has a healing power—it allows us to feel our emotions and process them, and I think a lot of people will recognize themselves in that."
 

How was it to create this film together?

"We spent a long time working on it and went through ups and downs together. It brought us closer. It was a very intimate process to embark on this journey together."

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What did making this film bring you personally?

"A lot. Like I said, I’ve let go of a lot of my perfectionism. I learned to step into discomfort, and by pushing through that, I gained access to a creative energy that almost carried me. It made me worry less about doing everything ‘right’ on set. That helped me create more freely and trust that the story would unfold as it needed to."

 

What do you hope viewers take away from it?

"Singing means letting yourself be heard, and that makes you vulnerable. But once you break through that barrier, you gain more and more freedom, and life becomes easier. I hope the film inspires viewers to move through their own discomforts. For some, that might mean singing, but it could also be dancing, drawing, writing—any form of self-expression that sets something in motion. That’s what Leonie has taught me, and I hope it will resonate with others too."

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What’s next for you?

"I thought that after making this film, I would move on to something completely different, but I don’t think I’m done with this topic yet. Maybe this is just the first in a series about the power of music as medicine—because there’s still so much more to tell."

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