Often at the bottom of the credits, the composers of film music, in search of recognition, climb the steps of the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, an appointment of the 7th art which does not reward them unlike the Oscars.
“Let’s bring the music to Cannes.
The rest, it will come by itself”
, advances to AFP Patrick Sigwalt, composer and chairman of the board of directors of Sacem (Society of authors, composers and music publishers).
To discover
Discover the “Best of the Goncourt Prize” collection
Read alsoCannes Film Festival: time for confidences
This instance is behind this passage of around thirty composers on the red carpet announced for 6:30 p.m.
"This is an opportunity to show that composers are essential in the development of a cinematographic work"
, underlines Mr. Sigwalt.
And an award at Cannes, is that on the agenda?
“I spoke about it with
Pierre Lescure
(president of the Festival)
and
Thierry Frémaux
(general delegate)
during a recent lunch.
It would put an end to an anomaly that has lasted too long, but relations with Cannes are very positive today,”
he adds.
Read alsoBoarding for Cannes: Clara Luciani and music in broad daylight
Valentin Hadjadj, a composer who works with the Belgian Lukas Dhont (
Girl
, Golden Camera at Cannes in 2018,
Close
presented this year in competition), is part of the delegation that climbs the steps on Sunday.
“An award for film music at Cannes is a debate that has been going on for a long time.
I claim the power of music over the film”
, explains the musician to AFP.
“Perhaps Cannes, by rewarding music, is afraid to open the door to an evening that would reward everything, which would be just as good, as for the Césars, the Oscars.
It would highlight the composer's work, which can sometimes be set aside, even if it hasn't happened to me very often
.
Read alsoCannes in the retro: when Alain Delon tells
Rocco and his brothers
in 1959
Bad experiences exist.
"Sometimes a director only retains a few minutes of an entire score in the end, to put it next to songs that already exist, it's frustrating
," Macha Méril, president of the association awarding the prize, recently told AFP. Michel Legrand prize, named after the creator of the themes of Les
Demoiselles de Rochefort
, of which she was the last woman.
Read alsoBoarding for Cannes: a feminist happening and a dose of humor
"Film is a key to meaningful contemporary music"
Valentin Hadjadj, composer
Valentin Hadjadj unearthed the rare pearl with Lukas Dhont, whom he met in 2013 when they were both students, during a week-long screenplay workshop organized by Sacem.
“What interests Lukas is not placing an order and having a finished rendering.
What he likes is the creative process, that we exchange ideas when I play him songs on the keyboard next to him
, ”describes the musician.
In
Close
, a character plays the oboe and, given the nature of this instrument, Valentin Hadjadj suggested that the idea of breath be put forward.
As a result,
“there are a lot of scenes in the fields, a lot of wind, we have remodeled a whole part”
, welcomes the composer.
"But that's normal.
After all, the composer is one of the first to receive a script, to provide reader feedback,”
he adds.
Read alsoRuben Östlund: "Haneke and Houellebecq are great humanists"
Coming from the National Conservatory of Lyon, Valentin Hadjadj quickly turned away from
"contemporary classical music"
, which he considers
"sclerotic"
, to lend an ear to original film music.
He thus
“rediscovered a more accessible orchestral music, via blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings or Matrix at 15-16 years old”
.
“Film is an entry point for contemporary music that makes sense, like that of Jonny Greenwood
(Radiohead)
.
I also rediscovered classic works on films by Gray Ou Tarkoski who uses Bach a lot»
.
Read also
R.MN
, by Cristian Mungiu: Romania, land of pitfalls
“Valentin arrives with a bit of an academic touch at the start, but he was able to get noticed very quickly by the originality of his scores. He is in the process of becoming a composer who counts”
, greets Patrick Sigwalt.
The 30-year-old composer is teeming with desires and no longer quite closes the door to the idea of a solo album.
