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Play It by Ear: Hildur's Musical Intuitions

Play It by Ear: Hildur's Musical Intuitions

Date
Feb 23rd 2020
With
Hildur Guðnadóttir moderated by Anas Sareen
Whether to match the mind of the ultimate social misfit or the fallout of a nuclear catastrophe, Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir keeps an ear out for the eccentric. A challenge to the predictable stirrings of television and film drama, her Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe awarded scores are born out of a self-avowed need to apprehend narratives “physically” and approach collaborations intuitively. This is particularly true of the elegiac soundtrack she produced for the drama series Chernobyl, composed solely out of mechanical noises recorded in a Lithuanian nuclear power station. Hildur’s ability to stir things up is undaunted, even facing classical narratives like that of Joker, leading director Todd Phillips to take the atypical step of shooting footage in response to her orchestral score.

Hildur Guðnadóttir

Hildur Gudnadóttir is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, 2x Grammy-, BAFTA-, and Emmy-winning Icelandic artist, who has been manifesting herself at the forefront of experimental pop and contemporary. Her work for Film, Television, and Video Games includes "Battlefield 2042", "Joker", and "Chernobyl". Hildur was named Television Composer of the Year and Film Composer of the Year by the World Soundtrack Academy. Her latest projects are the critically acclaimed films "TÁR", directed by Todd Field, and the Sarah Polley film "Women Talking".
© Camille Blake

Anas Sareen

Born in Dubai in 1992 to an Iraqi-Turkish mother and an Indian father, Anas studied literature and film history at the universities of Lausanne and Oxford, then collaborated as a screenwriter before moving onto directing. He is a feature-film programmer for the Berlinale (Generation) and co-editor of the magazine Talking Shorts. Anas will be shooting his second short film, "The Gods," this summer, and is beginning to think about a first feature, provisionally titled "Swansong."
© Shane McMillan