LEGACY
Legacy has been chosen to be be the closing film at the Glasgow Film Festival on the 28th Feb 2010. Directed by Thomas Ikimi and starring Idris Elba and Eamonn Walker, Legacy is a psychological drama about a black ops operative Malcolm Gray who returns home after a botched mission in Eastern Europe. Holed up in a Brooklyn motel room, he is torn between retribution and personal salvation as he mentally unravels. The score features an exiting blend of retro flavored orchestral writing reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's work with Hitchcock and a modern electronica sensibility applied to the writing and manipulation of acoustic ethnic instruments and percussion.
THE GRAVY STREET - TOURING CINEMA
Mark's latest album is now released. This is an eclectic blend of electronica and ethnic influences from all over the world with a cinematic feel. Featuring South African star Vusi Mahlasela, the Sohpia string orchestra and a host of ethnic vocalists and instrumentalists from around the world, it has been played on KCRW radio in Los Angeles a number of times and is available for sale at www.thegravystreet.com or for download sales at iTunes or Amazon. Click the image to be taken to the site.
NORTH BY EL NORTE
Set in Tijuana and starring Douglas Spain from 'Spanglish,' Mark Christensen's film tells the story of a young man who desperately wants to cross the border into 'El Norte' to find work and make his dreams come true. Using elements of the Mariachi tradition, classical minimalism and 'south of the border' electronica, this score is shaping up to be an exciting blend and will incorporate live musicians from North and South of the border.
LA MISSION
Peter and Benjamin Bratt's 'La Mission' premiered at Sundance in 2009 and will be in theaters in the US in March 2010.
Set in the mission district in San Francisco, it is the haunting story
of healing and transformation: the healing of a broken man, of a
Father's relationship with his son, and of a neighborhood struggling to
break the chains of violence.
TRAITOR
Written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and starring Don
Cheadle, Guy Pierce and Jeff Daniels, this thriller is about an
undercover CIA operative who infiltrates a high profile terrorist
group. Mark assembled a unique contingent of strange and wonderful
percussion instruments, then hired a few diverse and interesting
percussionists to play all the toys and blended that with an ensemble
of Middle Eastern and African instruments. An orchestra recording date
in Seattle completed the score which was then mixed in surround by
Casey Stone (who does all Mark's stuff). Click the image to buy the CD
from Amazon.
BEFORE THE RAINS
Santosh Sivan's film 'Before the rains' starring Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Jennifer
Ehle and Nandita Das is a beautiful period piece set in the south
of India in the 1930's. Mark undertook a trip to India to record choir,
violin and percussion (Sivamani) for the score, and to work with Santosh in
Mumbai. Click the image to buy the soundtrack from Amazon.
RENDITION
Mark Kilian wrote the score for Gavin Hood's new film 'Rendition' along
with Tsotsi collaborator Paul Hepker. It is a New Line film currently
available on DVD in the US. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake
Gyllenhall, Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin, it probes the highly
controversial US policy by the same name. Mark and Paul traveled to
Morocco and South Africa to do some recording and music playback work
on set. Click on the image to be taken to Amazon.
TSOTSI
Mark
Kilian and long time friend and composer, Paul Hepker wrote the music
for Tsotsi. It went on to win many festivals and awards worldwide and
was the Oscar winner for the best foreign film in 2006. Click the image
on the left to be taken to the Tsotsi website.
THE LEAST AMONG YOU
The Least Among You has just been selected by the Cinequest Film
Festival and the 2009 Palm Springs Film Festival. Starring Louis
Gossett Jr., Lauren Holly and Cedric Sanders it tells the true story of
the first African American at a seminary just following the 1965 Watts
riots.
WITHOUT THE KING
Michael Skolnik's documentary on
Swaziland 'The last king' has just received its US release. It won the special jury prize at the
Hot Docs festival in Toronto and is a Netflix production. Mark recorded in South Africa
where he worked with Pops Mohammed, Khanyo Maphumulo and a host of
local musicians. It is available on iTunes for download by clicking the
image. Look out for the film on Netflix.
THE BIRD CAN'T FLY
Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker wrote the music for Dutch theater director
Threes Anna's first feature, 'The Bird Can't Fly,' shot in South
Africa. Barbara Hershey stars in a film about finding, dealing with,
hiding and living one's past, present and future. They wrote a score
using a palette of ethnic instruments and voices in a gorgeously simple
yet evocative tapestry. The film premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
DAYBREAK
Mark scored the first season of ABC's prime time drama
'Daybreak' starring Taye Diggs. It is available on DVD - click the image to be taken to Amazon.
STATE OF PLAY
Mark was brought on at the last minute on a crazy schedule to help out
with arrangements for composer Alex Heffes' score. This Russell
Crowe/Ben Affleck corruption and love triangle story was directed by
Kevin Macdonald and is in theaters now.
Mark recently completed the pilots for ABC's 'Castle' (starring Nathan Fillion) and FOX's 'Inseparable'
written by Shaun Cassidy. Both were directed by Rob Bowman.
Mark was recently nominated for the World Soundtrack Discovery Award at the Ghent International Film Festival for the soundtrack for 'Before the Rains'.
Before The Rains also won the Special Jury Remi Award at the Worldfest Houston
International Film Festival for Best Music
DAISY CONFUSED
...is the first solo album under the name 'The Gravy
Street.' It is a subtle and sophisticated blend
of world music and electronica featuring many guest vocalists and
instrumentalists. Please click on the image to buy the album from the webstore, or go to iTunes or Amazon to download it.
