Composer Ronen Landa is proud to announce the debut of his film HOME at the SXSW festival on Sunday, March 9^th at midnight.  The film will also screen two other times, on March 11^th and March 14^th.

Ronen Landa first teamed with HOME’s director Nicholas McCarthy for the short film THE PACT.  The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was turned into a feature-length film, which premiered at Sundance the following year and was distributed theatrically in the US by IFC Films and in the UK by Entertainment One.

“Working with Ronen on our second feature was amazing,” said McCarthy. “He pushed himself further than ever before, writing an intensely creative score that keeps up neck-and-neck with all the unusual turns that the film takes.  I can’t imagine the movie without his great work.”

“Nick has always been supportive of my musical ideas, even– or especially– when they are pretty unconventional.  Sonic experimentation has become a hallmark of our collaboration, and I’m fortunate to work with a director who believes in the artistic possibilities of film music,” said Landa.

Landa’s career as a classically trained composer could not have been easily predicted. Aside from a few years of piano lessons as a youngster, the bulk of his initial musical training came in the form of listening to hordes of rock and jazz albums, teaching himself to play songs on his guitar, and performing with bands in his hometown outside Washington, D.C.

Upon moving to New York City at 17, Landa was reintroduced to classical repertoire, and soon thereafter began composing for chamber ensembles and orchestras. Even as he continued to perform in popular settings, his musical interests broadened to include New York’s improvisational music scene and musical traditions from around the world.

Other feature films Landa has scored include the 2014 film CAVEMEN, the international drama FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, the landmark Iraqi-made documentary THE DREAMS OF SPARROWS (Official Selection: SXSW), CITY OF BORDERS (Winner of the Teddy Audience Award, Berlin International Film Festival), the romantic drama DIVERGENCE (Official Selection: Method Fest), and the uplifting environmental documentary BURNING IN THE SUN (PBS).   He also scored PARAÌSO, awarded Best Short Documentary at both the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival. Landa’s upcoming projects include the documentary MAD AS HELL.

“The score for HOME was blessed with the talents of musicians who worked with me to explore the darkest corners of their instruments,” described Landa.  “I manipulated those recordings in the studio to craft unworldly sounds that became the foundation for the experience.    I found inspiration for our demonic themes in the ancient music and languages of the Silk Road region, and more restrained melodic gestures provide the dramatic counterpoint.”

HOME stars Naya Rivera, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ashley Rickards, Wyatt Russell, and Ava Acres. When ambitious young real estate agent Leigh (Moreno) is asked to sell a house with a checkered past, she crosses paths with a disturbed girl whom she learns is the runaway daughter (Rickards) of the couple selling the property. When Leigh tries to intervene and help her, she becomes entangled with a supernatural force that soon pulls Leigh’s artist sister Vera (Rivera) into its web — and has sinister plans for both of them.

LAKESHORE RECORDS PRESENTS CAVEMEN –
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACKFeaturing Songs by Golden State, Names of Stars, Big Black Delta, The Peach Kings and Others
With Original Music by Ronen Landa. The album features songs by Names of Stars, Golden State, We3Kings, The Peach Kings, and Mathclub.”I worked hard with music supervisor Greg Sill to find unknown songs that not only elevated the narrative, but also songs that had break-out potential in the marketplace,” said Herschel Faber, the film’s writer/director.  “Similarly, I’m quite proud of the work Ronen Landa did with the score, which I think really taps into the emotions of the main characters and captures the romance of the world we explore in Cavemen.  I think we created one of the more memorable soundtracks to come out in quite some time.”CAVEMEN follows LA playboy Dean (Skylar Astin) who is fed up with one-night-stands and empty relationships and realizes that he wants something more out of life than just a party. With a little inspiration from his nine-year-old nephew and his best friend Tess (Camilla Belle), Dean decides to try his hand at finding true love for the first time – which proves to be much more difficult than he thought in modern-day Los Angeles.

“Creating the score for CAVEMEN was all about reconnecting with my rock ‘n roll roots,” said Composer Ronen Landa.  “When I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to play my guitar all day, so I couldn’t resist when Hersch asked me to do just that for his film.  The simplicity of a solo guitar helps capture the intimate and genuine feelings that our main characters have for one another.”

2011 proved to be a pivotal year for composer Ronen Landa.  He was selected to be a Sundance Institute Fellow.  The same year a short film that he scored, THE PACT, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Landa was brought back to compose the music for the feature length version, which premiered at Sundance the following year and was distributed theatrically in the US by IFC Films.  His second feature length film with THE PACT’s director Nicholas McCarthy, HOME, will debut at the SXSW festival this March.

01. All Day And Through The Night – Reto
02. Watch These Girls – Mathclub
03. This Place – Names of Stars
04. Take Me Out – Golden State
05. Are You – Names Of Stars
06. Back To The Cave – Ronen Landa
07. Hottie Boys – We3Kings
08. Fisherman – The Peach Kings
09. Capsize – Big Black Delta
10. And She Takes – Zack Liam Weber and L.J. Nachsin
11. All Roads Lead Home – Golden State
12. Cavemen – Ronen Landa