The fifth edition of the Meetings of the Young European Cinema Festival includes a free open-air lecture on Music and Contemporary Cinema in its program. Two arts - music and cinema - have been interacting with each other since the beginning of the history of film art. How do their relationships change, how do they evolve to affect our emotions as viewers? How is good movie music defined? What are the stages that go through its creation? What is the relationship between the composer and the director? How does music fit into the whole process - from film preparation to post production? And more: What are the requirements of contemporary cinema for music?
These and other questions will be answered by French composers Pierre Desprat and Frank Williams, as well as by film critic Arno E, the moderator of the meeting.
Pierre Desprat is the composer of the music of over 10 films, including "Wild Boys" (dir. Bertrand Mandico), part of the festival program. An educational drummer, he specialized in the High School of Cinema "Louis Lumiere" on the subject of "musical scenography" and later at the University of Montreal, majoring in "Digital Art". In addition to his career as a composer, he continues his career as a musician.
Frank Williams is a singer and musician following the path of rock and soul music from a young age. After creating the Williams Traffic duo at the beginning of 2000, he took over the management of La Fugitive's recording studio in Menilmonton, Paris. There he recorded numerous albums on the new Paris scene, as well as numerous musical compositions for films. Frank Williams is the author of the music for the movie Starry Sky above Me (directed by Ilan Clipper), also part of the festival program.
In addition, viewers and participants in the additional activities of the festival will have the opportunity to see the two films whose composers will be in the capital.
The Wild Boys
directed by Bertrand Mandico
"The Wild Boys" ("Les Garçons sauvages") - the feature debut of French director Bertrand Mandico, who participates in this year's program of "Critics' Week" in Cannes. With his latest project, he tells the story of five young people from good families, intoxicated by freedom, who commit a heinous crime in the early twentieth century. The captain takes them in his arms during a repressive sailing cruise. The boys rebel. They flee to a wild island, where pleasure and fantastic vegetation mix. If it was the Wild Boys novel, it would be a mix of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a book that a single child reads on a day when he is not at school. But the child falls asleep and the novel comes to life, and so do the characters. The film overflows with symbolism, ironizes the archetypes, escapes from complex situations with a dose of madness… There is logic in this madness. Throughout the film, Shelspeare and Arthur Rimbaud remind us of his artistic, love and political spectrum.
The Wild Boys can be seen on 23 June at the French Institute and on 24 at Odeon Cinema.
Another film in the selection is the comedy "Le ciel étoilé au-dessus de ma tête" by director Ilan Clipper. The Frenchman's full-length debut was selected at last year's Cannes Film Festival in the ACID program, known for defending, showing and disseminating the boldest cinematic experiments. The film tells the story of Bruno, who published his hot first novel in 1996. Critics in the press are promising for him. Twenty years later, Bruno is 50 years old. He is unmarried, has no children and lives on rent with a roommate - a young activist of "Femen". He only gets up in the afternoon and spends most of his days in his pants, looking for inspiration. According to him, everything is fine, but his relatives are very worried…
Starry Sky Over Me - directed by Ilan Clipper
The screening of 23's June 18 Movie: 00 Hours will be followed by a free concert by Frank Williams - music author and actor in the movie. The director himself will also be meeting the audience.
For the first year, the festival also includes a program for children and parents. It will feature three animated films: the masterpiece by Charlotte Lotte Reiniger "The Adventures of Prince Ahmed "- the first full-length animated film from 1926," The Tales of the Night "by Michel Oslo, which captures in the magical atmosphere of an abandoned movie theater and the short" Ugly Tale "by Joy Neykov - an original, hand-embroidered animation.
The project is part of the Sofia Municipality Cultural Events Calendar for 2018.
