Binti

Slowclub presents a soundtrack album for Binti composed by Le Motel

In her first feature-length fiction Binti, director Frederike Migom manages to perfectly show children's eagerness to live and dream in a world they understand being complicated.
Binti was born in Congo but has lived with her father Jovial in Belgium since she was a baby. Despite not having any legal documents, Binti wants to live a normal life, and dreams of becoming a famous vlogger just like her idol Tatyana.
While fleeing from the police with her father, she meets Elias,who is hiding from his new family situation in his tree-house.
When both parents meet shortly after, Binti quickly sees the perfect solution to all her problems. If she would be able to match her dad to Elias’ mom, they could get married and stay in Belgium.

Le Motel about composing for Binti :
“The movie itself was the trigger point for my inspiration. I created several themes, for each one of the characters. For Binti, it is the world of innocence, childhood and nostalgia, linked to urbanism, hip-hop, Internet and its technologies.
For Elias, we can also sense a touch of innocence and nostalgia, but his character is also very much linked to nature, woods, tree houses, and okapis. As Elias is so passionate about okapis, we decided to have his theme being influenced by African music, rather than the theme for Binti, since she, despite her personal story linked to Africa, is much more into the latest 'technology' and media and how it allows her to communicate with the outside world.
Therefore, for Elias' theme, I decided to work with Youri Botterman, who specializes in Congolese Rumba, and added the African mood even more thanks to guitar sounds.
Next to working with Youri, I was able to collaborate with other artists I admire for the composition of the film's score: Brice Thieffry, guitar player and Martha Da’ro and Miss Angel, both talented solo urban artists.”

About the collaboration with director Frederike Migom :
“Frederike gave me all freedom and trust I needed for the composition of the film's original score. For most of the time, we worked in a strong team of three people, including Clémence Samson, the film's editor.
She has a true sense of rhythm and Frederike precise ideas concerning the emotions and the narration. Through the music, I brought my own understanding, which were often what Frederike had in mind. For the more personal scores, we tried them out directly on screen.
Following the premiere and after taking some distance, I now realise that all elements go together in perfect harmony which allows the audience to really identify with the film's characters. I am glad and honoured that I was able to create the film's original music and choose the artists to interpret it.”

Le Motel is a producer and graphic designer based in Brussels. His love 
for ethnic music combined with elements from footwork, hip-hop, jazz and techno, leads to a beautiful collage between electronic and organic elements. This love for eclecticism is also reflected in the people he collaborates with such as Roméo Elvis, YellowStraps, Clap! Clap! or recently Veence Hanao.
After having released on TAR (Los Angeles), his last stop was the New Zealand-based Cosmic Compositions for the eclectic Voodoo inspired album ‘OKA’. The album became 'album of the week' on BBC Radio 6, hand-picked by Gilles Peterson.
He already showcased his composition talent for the feature film Rosie & Moussa by Dorothée Van Den Berghe, released in Belgium in March 2018.

More info at: Official movie website LevelK