The Cinematic Journal

03/06/2024

We recently had a conversation with Drum & Lace aka Sofia Hultquist to discuss her background, her work on media projects such as Cobweb, Rosaline, The First Monday in May, and Red, White & Royal Blue, as well as her upcoming album titled ONDA, set to be released in June of 2024.

Sofia deglia Alessandri, aka Sofia Hultquist, who also records under the moniker Drum & Lace, is an Italian-born composer who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the United States, and post-Covid shutdown, is now based in London. She has several media composition credits, including The...

16/05/2024

London-born and Scottish-raised composer and musician Anna Meredith has torn down the boundaries between popular, “classical,” and film music, proving to be an exceptional musical force in all genres. In her conversation with The Cinematic Journal, she discussed shaping film cues, the need for visual sketches for musical compositions, and using bumper cars to signal musical shifts.

London-born and Scottish-raised composer and musician Anna Meredith has torn down the boundaries between popular, “classical,” and film music, proving to be an exceptional musical force in all genres. A classically-trained musician, she received her master’s degree in composition from the Roya...

28/03/2024

We recently sat down with Russian-born composer Anna Drubich to discuss her path to composition, her most recent work for The Master and Margarita and Desert Road, as well as selecting significant projects that have the power to affect positive change in the world.

Anna Drubich is a Russian-born composer of both concert and film music, and has studied across Europe and North America. A student at the illustrious Screen Scoring program at the University of Southern California, she began working in Hollywood film as an assistant to composer Marco Beltrami. In ou...

23/02/2024

Erik Heine sat down with the London-based composer and sound designer, Adam Janota Bzowski, to discuss his recent work on Out of Darkness, which was released in the US earlier this month, and Femme, coming to Netflix UK on 29 February and hitting the US theatres on 22 March.

Adam Janota Bzowski is a London-based composer and sound designer who has been working in film and television music composition for over a decade. Adam’s music is featured in two upcoming and recent films, Out of Darkness, which premiered at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival, and earned another BI...

22/12/2023

Songs of Earth is Margreth Olin’s critically acclaimed nature documentary which is both an intimate and an eye-opening experience. The director’s own father takes us on a breathtaking existential journey through the seasons of the vast Norwegian landscapes.

Described as ‘The cinematic nature experience of the year.’ and ‘A magnificent existential journey.’ by CPH:DOX, the film is already collecting accolades and is Norway’s Oscar submission.

By employing a unique scoring process, Rebekka Karijord crafted a beautiful symbiotic relationship between the sounds of nature and those produced by instruments.

Songs of Earth is Margreth Olin’s critically acclaimed nature documentary which is both an intimate and an eye-opening experience. The director’s own father takes us on a breathtaking existential journey through the seasons of the vast Norwegian landscapes. Described as ‘The cinematic nature e...

24/07/2023

The 17th edition of Fimucité will conclude this weekend with its grand symphonic concerts - 'Excelsior: Stan Lee’s Legacy' and 'Gods and Detectives' - dedicated to Marvel and DC comic book characters and will feature a few world premieres.

The concerts were introduced during this morning's press conference with the presence of Lo**ta Ritmanis (Dynamic Music Partners), Diego Navarro (director of FIMUCITÉ), Salvador Vázquez (guest conductor), José Carlos Acha (insular councilor of culture), and Rosa Dávila (president of the Cabildo).

24/07/2023

Earlier today took place the press conference for the 17th edition of the International Film Music Festival of Tenerife (Fimucité). The event introduced the first round of guests who will participate in this weekend's concerts in La Laguna.

The press conference was attended by the artists Ben Watkins (Juno Reactor), Jesper Kyd, Joseph LoDuca, Jan Sanejko, Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak, Benoît Grey, Liliana Yzik, Agata Grabowiecka (manager of Sinfonietta Krakow), Karoline Pyetira (director of the Krakow Film Music Festival), Esther Ovejero, and Carmen Acosta, as well as the mayor of La Laguna Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, the Culture manager of the Cabildo de Tenerife José Carlos Acha, and of course, the director of the Festival Diego Navarro.

22/06/2023

Canneseries-winning composer Giorgio Giampà dialled in all the way from Guatemala a few weeks back to talk to us about his latest project, the TV series The Good Mothers. He waxed lyrical about the brilliant team behind the project, his strategy in scoring the British/Italian production, as well as his process of writing music for a multimedia project.

Canneseries-winning composer Giorgio Giampà dialled in all the way from Guatemala a few weeks back to talk to us about his latest project, the TV series The Good Mothers. He waxed lyrical about the brilliant team behind the project, his strategy in scoring the British/Italian production, as well as...

14/04/2023

Belgian composer Hannes De Maeyer discusses his newest projects, the soundtracks to psychological thriller Noise and season 2 of crime procedural Professor T, how he kept himself busy during the pandemic, as well as his upcoming projects.

08/04/2023

We've had the pleasure of chatting with Jon Ekstrand and Carl-Johan Sevedag about their newest project, Opponent, Milad Alami's new feature film, for which they’ve only had three weeks to produce a score. The film is an intense psychological drama dealing with masculinity, intimacy, and violence, and the composers have done a great job of supporting the story.

Swedish composer duo Jon Ekstrand and Carl-Johan Sevedag have collaborated successfully together on several films and series over the years, including Borg vs. McEnroe, Horizon Line, Alex, and Top Dog. The composers admitted having felt a special connection ever since their first collaboration and f...

30/03/2023

This week, we sat down with the renowned Belgian composer Michelino Bisceglia to discuss his latest project, the soundtrack for ‘My Sailor, My Love, a powerful tale of a second chance at love and the power of redemption, directed by Golden Globe-nominated director Klaus Härö.

This week, we sat down with the renowned Belgian composer Michelino Bisceglia to discuss his latest project, the soundtrack for ‘My Sailor, My Love, a powerful tale of a second chance at love and the power of redemption, directed by Golden Globe-nominated director Klaus Härö. We had a look at so...

30/08/2021

In Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds plays a video game character who doesn't realise his world isn't real. The film uses CGI, especially when Guy puts on glasses that reveal the video game world he lives in. However, did you know that much of the film also relies on practical effects? Like the big action sequence, included in the film's trailers, is all practical effects minus the Apache helicopter crashing into a building.

27/08/2021

'Lorelei' is director Sabrina Doyle's first-time feature. It tells the story of a high school couple who reunites over a decade after parting ways. After 15 years in prison, Wayland (Pablo Schreiber) reconnects with Dolores (Jena Malone), a single mother of three kids named after different shades of blue. About the film, Doyle said that it is the result of her desire to 'make a film about working-class people that shows their resilience, their inner lives, and their hidden dreams.'

26/08/2021

Happy birthday Mark Snow! The legendary composer is behind the music for hit shows 'Blue Bloods', 'Smallville', 'One Tree Hill', 'Kojak' and 'The Twilight Zone'. He is also responsible for one of the most popular and recognisable TV show theme tunes of all time, 'The X-Files'.

24/08/2021

We wish Jean-Michel Jarre a happy birthday! The electronic pioneer will release his groundbreaking NYE show 'Welcome To The Other Side' in September, which combined the magnificent visuals in virtual reality of the majestic Notre Dame cathedral with real live performance.

23/08/2021

Jane Campion's 'The Power of the Dog' excavates the emotional torment experienced at a Montana cattle ranch in the 1920s. Did you know that the drama is adapted from the 1967 book by Thomas Savage? The film that stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons was recently selected to screen at this year's Venice Film Festival and will stream on Netflix later this year.

23/08/2021

Happy birthday Alexandre Desplat! His work has garnered huge critical successes and has earned him several accolades. About his latest work in 'The French Dispatch', the composer called the film and his score 'very Dadaist,' a reference to the 20th-century artistic movement that defined itself in its rejection of convention or normalcy.

21/08/2021

Basil Poledouris was born on this day in 1945. The Emmy-winning composer is best known for his powerful music for action-adventure films of the 80s and 90s. His orchestral and choral scores are today considered high points in the genre of music for fantasy films. Did you know that his six-minute piece for opening the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta drew on his study of ancient mythology and Greek philosophy?