New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Lakeshore Records will release the DEAR WHITE PEOPLE - Original Motion Picture Score EP digitally on November 11, 2014. The EP features the film's original score by Kathryn Bostic (MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO).
In describing her score, Bostic said, "We hear classical, hip hop, electronic, jazz, etc. and it all makes sense and really serves the storytelling. I got to play around with many different textures alongside orchestral instrumentation. And of course, as a pianist I loved being able to add this to the score particularly in the 'love theme' I created."
Winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE is a sly, provocative satire of race relations in the age of Obama. Writer/director Justin Simien follows a group of African American students as they navigate campus life and racial politics at a predominantly white college in a sharp and funny feature film debut that earned him a spot on Variety's annual "10 Directors to Watch."
The unexpected election of activist Samantha White (Tessa Thompson) as head of a traditionally black residence hall sets up a college campus culture war that challenges conventional notions of what it means to be black. While Sam leverages her notoriety as host of the provocative and polarizing radio show "DEAR WHITE PEOPLE" to try to prevent the college from diversifying Armstrong Parker House, outgoing head-of-house Troy Fairbanks (Brandon P. Bell), son of the university's dean (Dennis Haysbert), defies his father's lofty expectations by applying to join the staff of Pastiche, the college's influential humor magazine. Lionel Higgins (Tyler
James Williams), an Afro-sporting sci-fi geek, is recruited by the otherwise all-white student newspaper to go undercover and write about black culture—a subject he knows little about—while the aggressively assimilated Coco Conners (Teyonah Parris) tries to use the controversy on campus to carve out a career in reality TV.
But no one at Winchester University is prepared for Pastiche's outrageous, ill-conceived annual Halloween party, with its "unleash your inner Negro" theme throwing oil on an already smoldering fire of resentment and misunderstanding. When the party descends into riotous mayhem, everyone must choose a side.
"Justin has a great instinct for music not only carrying a scene but being its own character playing off the actual characters in the scene," said Bostic. "He wanted the music to be able to stand on its own and not have a presence that was exclusively tangential and in the background. At first I thought this would get in the way of the dialogue and emotional momentum already there through the characters, but the way he places the music really helped to further define these moments."
Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions present DEAR WHITE PEOPLE currently in theaters. The DEAR WHITE PEOPLE - Original Motion Picture Score will be available digitally on November 11, 2014.
ABOUT KATHRYN BOSTIC
Composer and singer/songwriter Kathryn Bostic is known for her work on film, TV and live theater. She is a recipient of many fellowships and awards including the prestigious Sundance Fellowship for Feature Film Scoring, BMI Conducting Fellowship, and a 2013 Sundance Fellowship for Documentary Film Scoring that took place at the renowned Skywalker Ranch.
Bostic was awarded Best
Music in a Film by the African American Film Critics Association for her work on the film MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, from award-winning director Ava DuVernay. She also created the score for Ava's previous films VENUS VS and I WILL FOLLOW. Her upcoming projects include the upcoming PBS American Masters piece AUGUST WILSON - THE GROUND ON WHICH I STAND (directed by Sam Pollard) which will air in early 2015.
In addition to her work in film, Bostic has written for Broadway, most notably collaborating with the award-winning playwright August Wilson on GEM OF THE OCEAN and various productions of his last play RADIO GOLF. Her work on Broadway also includes BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO starring
Robin Williams, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph. She is an Ovation Awards nominee and a
Drama Desk nominee for "Outstanding
Music in a Play" and her score of music and ambient textures in BENGAL TIGER garnered a win in the Sound Design category for this collaboration as well as a Tony nomination.
Kathryn has toured and/or recorded with many renowned artists including Nas, k.d. Lang, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and
David Byrne.
