Local Composer Scores Soundtrack for Acclaimed Film Black Field

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Manitoba audiences finally have their chance to see writer/director Danishka Esterhazy's acclaimed feature debut, Black Field. Premiering in Winnipeg on May 28 and Brandon on June 16, the film has already screened in Europe and was awarded Best Canadian Feature at Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival in March. Filmed and produced in Manitoba, Black Field features a score by local composer Joe Silva.

Known for his work as a DJ and electronic music producer, Silva has been doing more work in film and television in recent years. Silva's music can be heard in HGTV series House Poor as well as three of Esterhazy's short films. Last year, Silva also teamed up with PO-MO Project's Meghan Athavale for an animated video of his song "I Don't Remember," featuring vocals by expat Sherry St. Germain.
 
A historical drama set in 19th century Manitoba and inspired by the gothic novels of the Brontë sisters, Black Field is the story of two sisters who find themselves left without any help to support their farm following the death of their father. The young sisters’ lives are forever changed when a mysterious and charming man  arrives at their isolated farm. As the mesmerizing French Canadian trapper starts to win the sisters over, love, lust, desperation, and – finally – tragedy unfold, all surrounded within the cinematography of Winnipeg’s Paul Suderman and Silva's haunting soundrack. Click here to watch the trailer.

Film website Row Three said of the Black Field soundrack: "The film is notable for both its visuals and [Sara] Canning’s performance but also for its score composed by Joe Silva which, in the opening credits alone, beautifully sets up the sorrowful story. It makes a quiet appearance from time to time throughout the film but it never feels intrusive or overbearing; it’s simply beautiful."

Engineered by Mike Petkau and mastered by Allen Hunnie, the soundtrack features musicians Jennifer Thiessen (viola), Carlo DeOliveira (guitar), Simon Mayor (mandolin), Paul James (uilleann pipes), Julie Murphy (vocals), and Silva himself on piano and bodhran.
 
The Black Field soundtrack will be available for sale on Silva's bandcamp.com site during the two-week Winnipeg premiere of the film.

Black Field will be showing at Cinematheque from May 28 through June 
10, 2010. Click here for the complete schedule. The film will be screened in Brandon at the Empire Capitol Theatre on June 16.

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