IFFR x BMIM – Masterclass: Howard Shore

Howard Shore, born in Canada in 1946, can justifiably be called one of the most important film composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He broke through in the late 1970s with his compositions for the dark, alienating, controversial horror thrillers of Canadian director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome, Naked Lunch). With his score for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he determined the sound of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth for countless film lovers across the generations. He also wrote the music for classics such as Se7en, The Silence of the Lambs and Martin Scorsese's The Departed, The Aviator, Hugo and Gangs of New York.

Shore's oeuvre is as extensive as it is diverse, consisting of more than 90 titles spanning a huge range of styles and genres. What's more, he is also known as a conductor and composer of classical music and opera. He has been nominated for four Oscars, winning three, and received the prestigious Order of Canada.

During the 2020 edition of IFFR, this panel paid homage to Shore's groundbreaking talent for composition with a special screening of Cronenberg's Crash (1996) in 'de Doelen', accompanied live by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Howard Shore attended the festival for this exclusive masterclass, in which he discussed his way of working and oeuvre, his collaboration with directors such as Cronenberg and his views on film music.

• Howard Shore (Film Composer, CA)

• Kaleem Aftab (Producer and Actor, UK)