Atlas Workshops in Marrakesh | Dec 3rd 2018

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Thrilled to have participated in the Atlas Workshops, part of the 17th edition of the Marrakesh International Film Festival, where the process of composing music for films was put forward.

I presented 4 different extracts from films I worked on showing the different ways to approach film scoring, depending on each story. The workshops’ aim was to assist emerging regional directors who are currently preparing their first, second, or third feature-length narrative or documentary film, and encourage them to think ahead about the musical universe of their story.

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The Last Man, feature film by Ghassan Salhab (2005)

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Tramontane, feature film by Vatche Boulghourjian (2016)

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Beirut Hold’em, feature film by Michel Kammoun (2019)

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Village de Femmes, feature documentary by Tamara Stepanyan (2019)

Recording music in Armenia

The experience of recording a soundtrack for Tamara Stepanyan’s upcoming feature documentary Village de Femmes at the Maison De La Radio in Yerevan, Armenia was quite unique. The establishment built during Soviet era has been renovated, and the basement holds an incredible archive of historical recordings from the beginning of the century, as well as analog Studer reel to reel vintage players. To top it all, Samvel (the sound engineer) has perfect pitch and writes for the orchestra, and the piano I recorded on was an incredible bright red grand Blüthner.

This is my third collaboration with Tamara, and the second one with her mother, the incredible Nariné Harutyunyan on cello.