Music - Kathyn Bostic Scores 3 Films focused on social and cultural issues for the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

By Mulder, 01 june 2022

Kathryn Bostic brings her musical voice to three films premiering at New York’s 2022 Tribeca Film Festival:  The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, LIFT, and Lowndes County & the Road to Black Power.  The films all reflect her commitment to collaborate on stories of people that have fought to effect change. Kathryn Bostic is the first black female composer to become a member of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.  She continues to be an advocate for diversity and social responsibility. In addition to her Tribeca Film Festival premieres, Kathryn Bostic recently scored ABC’s limited series, Women of the Movement, which is in Emmy contention. 

The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks : 
Based on the bestselling biography by Jeanne Theoharis and executive produced by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, this crucial documentary on the “mother of the Civil Rights movement,” Rosa Parks, is a comprehensive telling of the icon’s lifelong dedication to activism. The film chronicles her historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, her work in politics alongside Congressman John Conyers in Detroit, and the many causes along the way, such as voting rights and reparations, that she fearlessly championed until her death in 2005. 

Lowndes county and the road to Black Power : 
In 1960, Lowndes County, AL--despite being 80% Black--had zero registered Black voters. This film chronicles the courageous men and women, famous and unknown, who put their lives on the line to secure the right to vote for everyone. The story here is told by the Black and white people who were there at the time, including grassroots organizers and citizens content with the status quo, who share their personal anecdotes of that tumultuous time, lending an uncommon intimacy and authenticity to this historical documentary. 

Lift : 
Homeless shelters may seem like an unlikely place to discover classical ballet dancers, but that’s exactly what the New York Theatre Ballet’s Project LIFT program has been doing for the past 30 years. Offering scholarships to homeless, home insecure and at-risk children, LIFT exposes participants to the beauty and discipline of ballet, often for the first time, and helps them develop talent they never knew they had. Serving as mentor to these impressionable young dancers is Steven Melendez, an international ballet star who was himself plucked from a Bronx homeless shelter at age 7 through the LIFT program. 

Kathryn Bostic is an Emmy nominated and award-winning composer and artist known for her work on films, TV, and theater. She is a recipient of numerous fellowships and awards including the Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellowship, Sundance Fellowship for Feature Film Scoring, Sundance/Skywalker Documentary Film Scoring, BMI Conducting Fellowship, and Best Music in Film by the African American Film Critics Association.  Bostic's scores and songs can be heard in productions with a lineup of award-winning directors and writers. She is Emmy nominated for her original music in award winning films “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir and “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.” Bostic wrote and performed the Toni Morrison film end title song "High Above the Water”, which was shortlisted for the Oscars 2020 "Best Original Song.” At the Society of Composers & Lyricists' inaugural awards in January 2020, her score for this film was awarded “Outstanding Score for an Independent Film.” Excerpts of this score have been performed by the LA Philharmonic for the 2021 Reel Change concert. Bostic’s scores also include Sundance award-winning “Clemency” (on which she also served as an Executive Producer), “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,” and HBO documentary “Black Art: In the Absence of Light.” As a solo artist, Bostic toured extensively in festivals and venues worldwide. She has also recorded and performed with many artists including Nas, Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne.

(Source : press release)