AFI Fest will feature a lot of music by John Williams.
Laurent Bouzereau’s new documentary, Music by John Williamsis set to make its world premiere on opening night of the 2024 Los Angeles Film Festival, which will be presented by new exclusive sponsor Canva with additional support from Fiji Water. The 38th AFI Fest kicks off October 23 and runs through October 27 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.
Coming from Lucasfilm, Amblin Documentaries and Imagine Documentaries, Music by John Williams is billed as a comprehensive overview of the life and legendary career of the prolific composer who was nominated for 54 Academy Awards and won five. In 2016, he received an AFI Life Achievement Award, making him the first composer to receive the honor. Williams, now 92, has so many credits on his resume (hundreds) that there isn’t enough room to include them all here. But he won his Oscars for Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, ET the Extra-Terrestrial And Schindler’s List.
“Growing up in France, I discovered soundtracks that I would buy on vinyl before most American films that were released months after their American release. John Williams is the composer I immediately identified with; his scores made me fall in love with music and made me realize at a very young age the power a score had on cinematic storytelling,” Bouzereau said. “It was an important story to tell, not only because it is about one of the greatest composers of all time, but also because of the message it conveys about the survival of orchestral music and musicians.”
The documentary crew was able to interview many collaborators and admirers, including Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Kate Capshaw, Gustavo Dudamel, JJ Abrams, Chris Martin, Ron Howard, Chris Columbus, George Lucas, Itzhak Perlman, Lawrence Kasdan, Yo-Yo Ma, Ke Huy Quan, James Mangold, Alan Silvestri, David Newman, Thomas Newman, Seth MacFarlane, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Branford Marsalis. Spielberg, Howard, Kennedy, Marshall, Brian Grazer, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Meredith Kaulfers and Bouzereau produced the project, with Markus Keith and Michael Rosenberg serving as executive producers.
“John Williams is an American icon with a real and timeless global impact,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “You could say we are ‘over the moon’ to host the film’s world premiere, but that feeling would be scarcely stronger without the music of AND the alien.”
After its world premiere, Music by John Williams will have a limited theatrical release before premiering on Disney+ on November 1. The full AFI Fest lineup will be revealed on October 1.
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