NEWF fellows in Paris to record film scores

The project, funded by Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers, brings together musicians from across the continent to diversify the soundscapes of African wildlife documentaries while celebrating their uniqueness as creatives.

The fellows have been taking part in collaborative workshops and composing music for wildlife film and conservation under the tutelage of award-winning French-Lebanese composer Samuel Safa.

The fellows include Mozambican music producer Muhamago, Kenyan singer and instrumentalist Labdi, South African creative Marcia Buwa, Nigerian musician Michael Ezomoh, and French-Lebanese composer Neil Darmon.

They first took part in online sessions for three weeks and then met in Durban, South Africa, for a week in November last year. They later regrouped for another week in February and are now set to record the music they have created together.

Safa has been taking the fellows through the basics of scoring a film and providing insights on the compositions they have created during the lab.

The NEWF Compose Yourself Lab is a partnership between NEWF, Samuel Safa and Ouragan Films. It is made possible with support from the National Geographic Society and the National Film and Video Foundation in South Africa.

More information about the programme and the five participants is available here.