New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) Moviescore Media (www.moviescoremedia.com) is proud to announce the release of the White Lion soundtrack composed by Philip Miller (Catch a Fire, Max and Mona). The beautifully shot film is a coming of age story of a young white lion cub rejected by his pack. Miller's score captures the majesty of the king of the jungle.
Philip Miller is a South African composer based in Johannesburg. Born in 1964, he first practiced law before establishing a career inmusic. His work is not easily categorized, often developing out of collaborative projects in theater, film and video. As a film composer, he has scored features such as Catch a Fire (directed by Phillip Noyce), Forgiveness (Ian Gabriel), and Max and Mona (Teddy Mattera).
One of his most significant collaborators is the internationally acclaimed artist, William Kentridge. His music to Kentridge's animated films, and multimedia installations, has been heard in some of the most prestigious museums and galleries all over the world, including MOMA, SFMOMA, The Guggenheim Museums (both New York and Berlin) La Fenice Opera House and the Tate Modern. In 2007, Miller conceived and composed Rewind, a Cantata for voice, tape and testimony, an award- winning choral work,based on the testimonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
According to the legend of the Shangaan, white lions are the messengers of the gods, but it has been years since one has been seen in their remote African valley. When a white lion is miraculously born into that valley, a young Shangaan named Gisani, finds himself destined to protect this rare and magnificent creature at all costs. This young lion, whom will be known as Letsatsi, is cast from his pride and forced to embark upon a perilous journey of survival.
Close to starvation, Letsatsi befriends Nkulu, an older lion and together they learn how to survive in the harsh African wilderness Gisani, who is watching overLetsatsi, takes a job as a tracker with a local hunter, who has his sights set on leading the hunt for this rare and magnificent white lion. Gisani, guided by fate, believes that he must find a way to prevent this tragedy from happening. When Nkulu is killed by a farmer, Letsatsi is forced once again to survive on his own. After many trials and tribulations he finally learns to hunt by himself and grows into a magnificent adult.
But before he can take over a pride of his own, Letsatsi and Gisani must face their greatest challenge - the trophy hunter- for whom legends are worthless and rare skins priceless.
White Lion...home is a journey.
Because there is very little dialog in the film, the story is told by the cinematography of the animals and through the music. Composer Philip Miller was very careful to use an orchestral palette and not to go too ethnic-African with his themes. He described, "While the story is set in Africa, we were keen not to make it sound too 'indigenous or ethnic African.' They [the director and producers] wanted me to compose a score that had several strong, classical musical themes that the audience would recognize and remember as they watch the film."
He did so by first composing themes for Letsatsi and Gisani. "I am particularly fond of my 'Gisani's Theme,'" said Miller, "which I think has a very strong melody that evokes the grandeur and magnificence of the bush."
Peru Productions presents White Lion, currently available on DVD, BluRay and on iTunes. White Lion - Original Soundtrack from Moviescore Media will be available digitally and in stores on April 26, 2011.
https://whitelionthemovie.com/
www.philipmiller.info
https://www.moviescoremedia.com
MovieScore Media is distributed by Screen Archives Entertainment
