Miami Film Festival 2023 Exclusive: director Benjamin Millepied and composer Nicholas Britell talk Carmen
Hitting theaters this week is director Benjamin Millepied's complete reimagining of Georges Bizet’s opera CARMEN, which tells a story through an experimental dreamscape. With music composed by Nicholas Britell, the cast includes Melissa Barrera and recent Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal, along with Rossy de Palma, Elsa Pataky, Nicole da Silva, Tara Morice, Benedict Hardie, Richard Brancatisano, and Kaan Guldur.
The film first premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival last year. At this year’s Miami Film Festival, Britell was presented with the Art of Light (Composer) Award, presented by Alacran Group
“CARMEN” follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. Carmen (MELISSA BARRERA) survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard, who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group. When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan (PAUL MESCAL)—a Marine with PTSD—become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together. They make their way north towards Los Angeles in search of Carmen’s mother’s best friend, the mercurial Masilda (ROSSY DE PALMA) and owner of La Sombra nightclub - a sanctuary of music and dance. Carmen and Aidan find both solace and their unwavering love for one another in the safety of Masilda’s magical refuge, but time is running out as the police hunt closes in.
Millepied, a renowned ballet dancer and choreographer, is making his feature directorial debut with Carmen. A former principal dancer from the New York City Ballet, he choreographed Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” which starred his wife Natalie Portman.
Britell is a three-time Academy Award-nominated, Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning composer, pianist and producer known for his critically acclaimed scores on feature films with Academy Award winning writer-directors Barry Jenkins and Adam McKay. Britell was responsible for the world-renowned score for Barry Jenkins’ Best Picture winner Moonlight and his follow up If Beale Street Could Talk. He wrote the score for McKay’s much-nominated The Big Short as well as his Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up. Other recent film work includes Disney’s box office hit Cruella, Netflix’s The King, and Universal’s She Said.
Britell served as an executive producer on Carmen, and created an original score, and co-wrote a number of original songs and dances.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales sat down with Millepied and Britell as they spoke about their collaboration on Carmen.