The 2023 Festival de Cannes celebrates composers of music for the moving image

It is impossible to imagine The Big Blue without Eric Serra's soundtrack, A Man and a Woman without Francis Lai's melody, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg without Michel Legrand's score, The Artist without Ludovic Bource's notes, The Shape of Water without Alexandre Desplat's soundtrack, or the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho without Bernard Herrmann's music.

Sacem's main events for the 2023 Festival de Cannes…

• The Music Lesson with Howard Shore: A masterclass that will feature the famous composer looking back at key moments of his career and taking the audience behind the scenes of his creative work.
• Climbing the steps with the film score composers.
• Sacem Sunset Live: A showcase for composers for the moving image and young talents, every evening on the Nomade x Plage 3.14
• The "Spot the Composer" programme gives 10 international composers the opportunity to meet with directors and producers present at Cannes to discuss projects in development or production.

See the detailed programme for Sacem’s other activities

Original musical creations contribute to the very identity of a film. The composer is the one who tells without being seen, and writes without being read. The scriptwriter builds the story, the director brings it to life, and the composer — the third author —  provides the images with sonic soul that captivates, moves, illustrates, and sometimes drives entire scenes.

As an institutional partner of the Cannes Film Festival and the representative for creators of music for the screen, Sacem is unveiling a programme entirely dedicated to composers of music for the moving image at the heart of the world's largest film festival, with one objective: to promote their talent and give them their rightful place.

Sacem is a key player in the financing of cinema through its support for composers of original music, from short films to feature films, including animated films and documentaries. We are pleased and proud to have supported the original music of 5 of the films in the official selection and 9 in the parallel sections this year.

Throughout the fortnight dedicated to the 7th art, Sacem will join its members in presenting the films for which they wrote the music. Through various events like  The Music Lesson, Sacem Sunset Live, Spot the Composer, and for the first time this year, the Composers' Lunch, Sacem will give professionals of the silver screen the chance to meet these creators, to discover their careers and to listen to their work.

To facilitate exchanges and meetings on-site, the composers present in Cannes will have access to a dedicated space: the Jardin Sacem (Sacem Garden) at the Jardin Croisette hotel).

Among the composers present in Cannes this year are:
Irène Dresel, Amine Bouhafa, Rob, Bacha Mar-Khalifé, Clément Ducol, Audrey Ismaël, Julie Roué, PR2B, Baloji, Sofiane Saïdi, Saycet, and Gael Rakotondrabe

SACEM'S PROGRAMME AT THE FESTIVAL DE CANNES

SACEM SUNSET LIVE – Présented by Nomade
Wednesday May 17 to Tuesday May 23 from 6PM to 8PM -  La Plage 3.14 

Nomade, the travelling artistic residency created by Sacem and the founders of the Cartel and Le Perchoir agencies, confirm their collaboration and plan 7 days of showcases to highlight composers of music for the screen

Evenings until May 23 from 18:00 to 20:00, here is the scheduled line-up:

• Wednesday May 17: Léonie Pernet, in partnership with Fip
• Thursday May 18: Madjo
• Friday May 19: Flavien Berger
• Saturday May 20: Irène Dresel with the percussionist Sizo Del Givry
• Sunday May 21: TBA
• Monday May 22: Olivia Merilahti
• Tuesday May 23: Thomas de Pourquery

"SPOT THE COMPOSER" 
Friday May 19  to Monday May 22  

Organised as part of the Marché du Film with the support of Sacem, "Spot the composer" brings music professionals together (film composers, their agents, music supervisors) with feature film directors and producers.

This year, "Spot the Composer" will bring ten international composers to Cannes to meet directors and producers on site, around projects in development or in production.

Selected composers will participate in one-on-one meetings with directors or producers of projects selected by the Film Market and take part in cocktail parties dedicated to Genre Films and Animation.

Composers selected this year:

• Erwann Chandon (France)
• Darren Fung (USA)
• Valentin Hadjadj (France)
• Natalie Holt (UK)
• Michael Paraskevas (USA)
• Renaud Barbier (France)
• Emilie Gassin & Ben Violet (France)
• Jaimee Jimin Park (USA)
• Emily Rice (UK)
• Pedro Santiago (Brazil / France)

They will participate in individual meetings with directors or producers of projects selected by the Film Market.

COMPOSERS CLIMB THE STEPS
Sunday May 21 at 6:30 PM

The composers of music for the screen present at Cannes will climb the steps with Howard Shore, honoured this year by The Music Lesson and Irène Drésel, winner of the 2023 César for best original music.

THE MUSIC LESSON WITH HOWARD SHORE
Monday May 22 from 4:30 PM to 6PM - Salle Buñuel
Hosted by Stéphane Lerouge
with special guest Martin Scorsese, who will talk about their collaboration

This "Music Lesson" will be an opportunity for Howard Shore to share his experiences and look back on the great moments of his career.
The multi award-winning author of nearly a hundred film scores, winner of three Oscars and three Golden Globes, conductor, orchestrator and Canadian saxophonist, Howard Shore is known for being David Cronenberg's official composer, but also for having collaborated with Martin Scorsese (After Hours, Gangs of New York, The Infiltrators, Aviator, Hugo Cabret, The Wolf of Wall Street), and David Fincher (Panic Room, Seven, The Game). In France, his music has been in films by Arnaud Desplechin (Jimmy P., Esther Kahn) and Michel Hazanavicius (The Forgotten Prince).

JARDIN SACEM: THE MEETING POINT FOR FILM MUSIC
Hôtel Jardin Croisette – 7 rue Molière, 06400 Cannes

For the duration of the festival, meet the Sacem teams at the Jardin Sacem, with daily breakfasts in the presence of composers and a roundtable of the 50/50 collective on Sunday May 21 in the presence of female composers.

And after the Festival de Cannes…

"Certains L'Aiment Fip" - May 28 at 8PM

To mark the Festival de Cannes, the radio programme will put composers of the 7th Art in the spotlight! With a focus on the works of Howard Shore, among other master arrangers of music for the screen, highlighted by Sacem.

Through its "Original Music Creation" programmes, Sacem supported and promoted fourteen films in the selection.

• Linda veut du poulet, music by Clément Ducol, directed by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach (ACID selection)
• L'amour et les forêts, music by Gabriel Yared, directed by Valérie Donzelli (Official Selection - Cannes Première)
• Le temps d’aimer, music by Amine Bouhafa, directed by Katell Quillévéré (Official Selection – Cannes Première)
• Les filles d’Olfa, music by Amine Bouhafa, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (Official Selection – Competition)
• Jeanne du Barry, music by Stephen Warbeck, directed by Maïwenn (Official Selection - Opening film)
• Los colonos, music by Harry Allouche, directed by Felipe Gálvez (Official Selection - Un certain regard)
• Conann (She Is Conann) music by Pierre Desprat, directed by Bertrand Mandico (Quinzaine des cinéastes - Feature film)
• Le livre des solutions (The Book of Solutions) music by Etienne Charry, directed by Michel Gondry (Quinzaine des cinéastes - Feature film)
• Le syndrome des amours passées, music by Julie Roué, directed by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni (Semaine de la critique - Special screening)
• La fille de son père, music by Julie Roué, directed by Erwan Le Duc (Semaine de la critique - Special screening)
• Le Dodsing, music by The City (Thimothée Aymard and Amoria Draoua), directed by Claudia Tabo (Talents Adami Cinema)
• Nos urgences, music by Audrey Ismaël, directed by Linh-Dan Pham (Talents Adami Cinema)
• Jackpot, music by Rekoba (Ryad Abkar), directed by Ahmed Sylla (Talents Adami Cinema)

Press Contacts

Ophélie Surelle • 06 28 51 42 70 • ophelie.surelle@gmail.com

Mathilde Gaschet • 06 87 74 23 04 • mathilde.gaschet@sacem.fr

Service de Presse • 01 47 15 45 24 • service.de.presse@sacem.fr

Meet with Sacem at Cannes

Jardin Sacem (Hôtel Jardin Croisette) situé 7 rue Molière, 06400 Cannes