Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

In 2005, Gavin Hood’s dramatic narrative feature TSOTSI won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. I’ve written about this fantastic film in the past. I positively adored that film. First and foremost, it was a GREAT story. Teenage thug carjacks a luxury vehicle and discovers that he has inadvertently kidnapped an infant. Ultimately, the thug becomes a young man as he takes responsibility for the child and his actions. So, obviously, the story is powerful.

Director Gavin Hood augmented the story with equally powerful elements. Of course, the acting is terrific. The visual aesthetic is stunning. The cinematography, art design, production design, costuming and make-up were woven into a symphony of compelling beauty. And, one of the most amazing and powerful elements of all is the music, the score. I absolutely love the music. A bit of research revealed that the composers were Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker.

Mark Kilian was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Kilian’s biography says he helped launch the jazz band SHADES which helped break the color barrier in his native South Africa. He played with Shirley Bassey and Ladysmith Black Mambazo among others. While pursuing his advanced degree in composing, he taught disadvantaged kids. WITHOUT THE KING, a documentary about the absolute monarchy in Swaziland, was a passion project for Kilian.

Paul (PawLee) Hepker was born in Zimbabwe but raised in South Africa. He toured and recorded with Johnny Clegg and Savuka (I have two of their CDs), Miriam Makeba (I have two of her CDs, too) Vusi Mahlasela, and Shirley Bassey. In 1997, Hepker was given a “green card” for being an “alien of extraordinary ability.” INTO THE LIGHT, a documentary about the AIDs crisis in Tanzania, was a recent passion project for Hepker.

In the more commercial realm, Kilian and Hepker also did the music for RENDITION (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon), in addition to TSOTSI. They also worked together on THE BIRD CAN’T FLY (something about ostriches) and a film I saw at Sundance many years ago, CLOCKWATCHERS.

We’re almost ready for PICTURE LOCK on the feature. At that point, it’s simply a matter of doing the sound mix, the score and the color grading. Pamela Jo’s been putting in temp music before we screen it for folks (so they get the feeling we’re going for). We’ve been using a lot of the TSOTSI score as a placeholder and it makes such a difference. It gives the film a lot more depth and resonance. So, today, we contacted Mark Kilian’s manager about the possibility of having them do the score for the Zambia films. Of course their fees are quite high but … we’ll see ….