‘After Love’ Scored by SMA Talent’s Chris Roe Selected for Cannes Critics Week

Aleem Khan’s ‘After Love,’ scored by SMA Talent’s Chris Roe, has been selected for Cannes Critics Week, the strand dedicated to first and second films which usually runs alongside Cannes Film Festival.

Set in the port town of Dover in the South-East of England, ‘After Love’ follows Mary Hussain who suddenly finds herself a widow following the unexpected death of her husband. A day after the burial, she discovers he has a secret just twenty-one miles across the English Channel in Calais.

Despite the cancellation of the physical event due to the ongoing global health crisis, artistic director of Cannes Critics Week Charles Tesson has pressed the importance of a continued programme of support for filmmakers. Of this year’s Critics Week choices, he said: “In contrast with our usual 11-film selection, this 'off-premise' programme supports 5 films for which we wish to take on an actual editorial role, especially during theatrical releases. This assistance is the opportunity for us to assist films differently, to encourage them to blossom among those who thirst for them: the audience.”

On his work for ‘After Love,’ Roe said: “I’m so proud of this score, and it was a truly collaborative projects for all involved. Aleem had such a clear vision for the soundscape of the film and brought the sound designer, Joakim Sundström, and I together early on. The film being set in Dover and Calais led to the sound of the wind, waves, seagulls and distant ferry horns feeding into the soundtrack, and I had the chance to work with the brilliant improviser and cellist Alice Purton again to push the limits between score and sound design.” 

Listen to highlights from Roe’s score here. Find out more about Chris Roe via his website, or by following him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.