World Soundtrack Awards 2014

Francis Lai will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award

Following the 41st Film Fest Gent’s focus on France, the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to French composer Francis Lai at the 14th World Soundtrack Awards. Francis Lai (born in 1932 in Nice) became world famous with A man and a woman (1966), his first score for a film by Claude Lelouch, for whom he would compose over thirty scores the next four decades.

The Oscar winning film A man and a woman launched the career of Lelouch and made Lai a celebrated French film composer with an international career. Thanks to the chabadabada tune, the music of A man and a woman topped the music charts. In this film, as well as in the follow-up Live for Life (1967), he introduced the authentic use of both English and French chansons sung by Pierre Barouh and Nicole Croisille, which became an innovative, refreshing and romantic sound in French film music.

In 1970 Lai scored his biggest international hit with the soundtrack of the phenomenal blockbuster Love Story (1970) by Arthur Hiller. He achieved his biggest cult success with the film Bilitis (1977) by soft-core photographer David Hamilton. Other acclaimed films for which he wrote the music are Rider on the Rain by Rene Clement, Anima Persa by Dino Risi, My new Partner by Claude Zidi and Dark Eyes by Nikita Mikhalkov.

During the WSA concert, Francis Lai will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding career in film music. A selection of his work will be performed by the Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Dirk Brossé.

In addition to the oeuvre of Lai, Jeff Neve’s captivating music for the prestigious Flemish drama series In Flanders Fields will also be getting some deserved attention that evening. With this score, Jef Neve proved that he is not only a gifted jazz musician but also a very inspired composer of many talents. He will be performing a selection of the music he wrote, accompanied by footage from the series.

Confirmed central guests and performers at the World Soundtrack Awards are American composer Cliff Martinez (Drive, Only God Forgives, Contagion and Spring Breakers) and 2013 WSA Discovery Award winner Dan Romer (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

14th World Soundtrack Awards & Concert will take place on 25 October 2014 at Kuipke in Ghent. Tickets are available online and all inf can be found on the website www.worldsoundtrackawards.com.