In Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt, Luis (Sergi López) and his son Esteban (Bruno Núñez Arjona) show up at the site of a rave in southern Morocco, desperate to find Esteban’s sister Mar, who has been missing for months. As they try to hold onto some hope that they may find her, they soon find themselves embedded with a group of ravers seemingly in eternal transit in search of their next wild adventure.
Awards Buzz spoke with composer Kangding Ray about what appealed to him about this project, only his second-ever film:
“This project came because Oliver contacted me because he knew my music before and he thought I would be the right composer to convey his vision. He had a very specific idea of what the music should be, or at least what place it should have in the film, and he thought I was the right one to do so. I read the script and then decided to embark on this journey with Oliver for a few years now. It was a really long process. I came onto the project pretty early on, about two years before they started shooting. I had the time to conceptualize and also to work with Oliver so that the music would fit his vision. The first phase with Oliver was a lot more about finding common ground and finding a common vocabulary together. We listened to a lot of music together. We came to Berlin, stayed at my place, and we were just drinking coffee and listening to music all day. I made him listen to a lot of music from my vinyl record collection, and he made me listen to things that he liked.”
Watch the video above to hear about his collaboration with the sound design team and the experience of getting to see the film with audiences and note how they respond to the music.
Sirāt is Spain’s official Oscar submission for Best International Feature and will open in theaters this January.
