Marco Beltrami is central guest World Soundtrack Awards at Film Fest Gent 2019
The acclaimed American composer recently scored the critically-acclaimed box-office hit 'A Quiet Place', which was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Score and shortlisted for Best Score for the Oscars, 'Velvet Buzzsaw' for Netflix, and National Geographic’s 2019 Oscar-winning documentary 'Free Solo'.
Honoree Marco Beltrami: "It is truly humbling to be recognized by Film Fest Gent and its World Soundtrack Awards for my body of work. I am so thrilled to follow such iconic composers who have been honoured in Ghent in previous years, including Carter Burwell, Alan Silvestri, Angelo Badalamenti, Craig Armstrong and many more."
Within the framework of the upcoming World Soundtrack Awards, Film Fest Gent will host a full concert dedicated to Marco Beltrami’s film work. Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé, will perform the original scores composed by Marco Beltrami & Tamar-kali accompanied by film clips on the big screen.
Versatile composer
Marco Beltrami established an early reputation as a genre innovator with his non-traditional horror scores for the 'Scream'-franchise. Beltrami’s musical palette has since expanded to virtually all film genres. Beltrami has received accolades for his music including two Academy Award nominations for Best Score: for James Mangold’s drama '3:10 to Yuma' and for Best Picture winner 'The Hurt Locker'. In 2011 Beltrami won a Golden Satellite Award (Best Film Score of the Year) for 'Soul Surfer'. Beltrami also scored the Marvel film 'Logan', the theme for the hit video game 'Fortnite' and 'First They Killed My Father' by Angelina Jolie.
Film Fest Gent’s music director Dirk Brossé: "We are thrilled to welcome Marco Beltrami at the World Soundtrack Awards Concert in Ghent! He’s currently one of the most all-round composers whose music moves within the most diverse musical styles and genres. Marco’s extensive orchestral color palette ranges from intimate transparent tone hues, such as his music for Tommy Lee Jones’ 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada', to large bombastic orchestral indulgences such as his scores to blockbusters 'World War Z' or 'Ben-Hur'. Dedicating considerable attention to melody and obsessed by rhythms, Marco disposes of a rich palette of both acoustic and electronic colors. Very much looking forward to this edition!"
Collaborations
Next to his creative and loyal collaboration with legendary genre directors Wes Craven and Guillermo Del Toro, Beltrami has lent his voice to such unique hit films as 'Live Free or Die Hard', 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', 'Gods of Egypt' and 'I, Robot'. Other remarkable and compelling scores include 'The Homesman' and 'The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada' directed by Tommy Lee Jones, the zombie comedy 'Warm Bodies' by Jonathan Levin, 'Snowpiercer' starring Chris Evans and directed by Joon-ho Bong, the Brad Pitt action thriller 'World War Z', James Mangold’s 'The Wolverine', as well as a couple of interesting collaborations with European-based directors: 'The Drop' by Belgian Oscar-nominated director Michaël R. Roskam, 'In the Electric Mist' by internationally acclaimed French director Bertrand Tavernier and both 'L’Ennemi Public N°1' and 'L’Instinct du Mort' by French filmmaker Jean-François Richet.
Most recently, Marco Beltrami has completed the score for William Eubank’s 'Underwater' and 'Ford v. Ferrari', directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, Paramount Pictures sci-fi feature 'Gemini Man' directed by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, the Zac Efron-starrer 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Vile, and Evil', and Jordan Peele’s 'The Twilight Zone'. Beltrami is currently writing the original music to 'The Englishman'.
Discovery of the year
Film Fest Gent also welcomes Brooklyn born musician and composer Tamar-kali, who, during last year’s World Soundtrack Awards, won the 'Discovery of the Year' award for Dee Rees’ Oscar-nominated film 'Mudbound'. As an independent artist and composer, she is known for crafting her own unique alternative sound, combining classical orchestral music with post-punk sensibilities.
Her soulful, intense voice, range and versatility, allowed her to perform on a variety of international stages with a diverse list of artists from Vernon Reid and Roger Waters to Vijay Iyer and Me’shell Ndegeocello. Her sophomore film score for 'Come Sunday', starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Martin Sheen which debuted at last year’s Sundance Festival, was released in theatres and on Netflix in April 2018. Tamar-kali most recently scored Dee Rees’ newest project 'The Last Thing He Wanted'.
19th World Soundtrack Awards
With music by Marco Beltrami & Tamar-kali
Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé
18 october 2019 - Capitole Ghent
Tickets are available here.