Categories
Film Scores

“One Child Nation” w/score by Halpern and Ruggiero wins 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize

Three weeks ago Nathan Halpern and I finished writing and recording the final few pieces of score for Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang’s “One Child Nation,” and last night it won the Grand Jury Prize for US Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Amazon immediately picked the film up for distribution, which means that many many people will have a chance to see this powerful and heartbreaking film. It is a tremendous honor to be a part of Jialing and Nanfu’s amazing and uncompromising storytelling, and I am thrilled that it will reach a large audience.

Categories
Film Scores

Sundance Film Festival 2019: “One Child Nation” and “Tigerland” feature original music by Halpern and Ruggiero

The 2019 Sundance film festival starts today and I am very happy to LYK that I have music in two films debuting in competition this year.

Nathan Halpern and I wrote the score to Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang’s “One Child Nation,” which examines the forced sterilizations, child abandonment, and state-sponsored kidnappings that underlay China’s one-child policy. This is the third feature that Nathan and I have scored for Nanfu Wang and I continue to be awed by her uncompromising and completely original film making. Truly an honor to be a part of this must-see film.

I also contributed original music to “Tigerland,” the new film by Oscar-winning director Ross Kauffman. “Tigerland” details efforts to save these legendary animals from extinction, introducing us to fascinating and heroic individuals and breathtaking landscapes. 

Categories
Film Scores Uncategorized

Academy Awards 2019: “Minding the Gap” with score by Halpern and Ruggiero nominated for Best Documentary Feature

I am thrilled to announce that “Minding The Gap” has been nominated for this years Doc Feature Oscar. Nathan Halpern and I scored this debut film by director Bing Liu’s debut film in late 2017 and it has been a wonderful experience seeing how “Minding the Gap” has touched so many ppl and won so many awards over the past twelve months. The film is available to stream now at Hulu and Amazon.

As this new piece in WIRED explains, 2018 was an incredibly strong year for documentary film, and it is truly an honor to have been a part of a film that is leading this new vanguard in storytelling.

Categories
Film Scores

MINDING THE GAP with original score by Halpern and Ruggiero in theaters now

Late last year Nathan Halpern and I scored this excellent film by director Bing Lui and it is now in theaters and streaming online via Hulu. “Minding The Gap” debuted at Sundance this year, winning the ‘Breakthrough Filmmaking Award,’ and it is an exceptionally bold and honest American coming-of-age story. The critical response has been exceptionally strong, with many critics making special note of our score:

“…the music and mood attain a melancholy perfection” (The Wall Street Journal)
“The score by Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero is sparse and beautiful and perfect” (Chicago Sun-Times)
“an odyssey… cut to Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero’s achingly beautiful score”  (Vulture)
“… owes its goose-bump-inducing power in part to Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero’s swirling piano score” (Variety)
Watching the men skate during the opening credits sequence, propelled by Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero’s wistful piano score, the act of skating transforms into a liberating art form” (Forbes)

Our original score is available to hear now on Spotify, Apple music, and all the other usual digital platforms.

Categories
Film Scores

HOT DOCS Toronto 2018 Festival to feature two films with scores by Halpern and Ruggiero

I am very pleased to announce that two films I’ve recently scored (with Nathan Halpern) are appearing in this year’s HOT DOCS film festival in Toronto.

CALL HER GANDA premiered just last week at the 2018 TRIBECA film festival.  This intense and beautifully shot film was reviewed in The Hollywood Reporter this past week.

MINDING THE GAP premiered at the 2018 SUNDANCE film festival where it won an award in competition.  This film has received numerous strong reviews and we are thrilled to see it appearing now in this fantastic showcase for documentary cinema.

Categories
Film Scores

MINDING THE GAP with score by Halpern & Ruggiero debuts, wins award at 2018 Sundance film festival

Nathan Halpern and I just recently completed the score to Bing Lui’s debut feature doc MINDING THE GAP, and the reception as Sundance 2018 has been phenomenal;  by the end of the festival the film was enjoying prominence as the best reviewed film of Sundance 2018.

“Less than a week after its sold-out world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Minding the Gap by Bing Liu won the US Documentary Competition Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking last night at the fest’s official award ceremonies in Park City.  US Documentary Competition Juror Barbara Chai presented the award, saying:

“We are so exited to celebrate this extraordinary documentary for its vivacity and freshness of spirit, its unexpected revelation of personal detail, and dazzling, un-choreographed sequences that possess the athleticism and grace of ballet.”

The emotional world premiere of Minding the Gap was attended by film subjects Keire Johnson, Zack Mulligan, Kent Abernathy and Mengyue Bolen. Earning an uproarious standing ovation inside the theater, immediate reactions from social media and from critics were very strong…” (SOURCE).

Categories
Film Scores

I AM ANOTHER YOU with score by Halpern & Ruggiero debuts on PBS Television

Nanfu Wang’s award-winning 2017 film I AM ANOTHER YOU, with score by Nathan Halpern and myself,  debuted nationally on PBS earlier this week and is now available to stream at PBS.org through February 12.   Nanfu won massive accolades for her debut feature HOOLIGAN SPARROW (also scored by Halpern and myself) and this new work demonstrates that she has immense range in addition to an intense and probing intellect.  As regards the score, I was able to utilize a great deal of very novel and experimental vocal techniques on the project and it is some of my favorite work to date.

Categories
Film Scores

“I Am Another You” debuts at SXSW Festival this Weekend, MAR 10

Earlier this year Nathan Halpern and I scored Nanfu Wang’s new film “I am another you.” The film debuts at the SXSW film festival this weekend, and INDIEWIRE just named it “one of 13 must-see films” at the fest. We previously worked with Nanfu on her Oscar-shortlisted doc Hooligan Sparrow , and I am another you will only strengthen her reputation as one of the freshest, boldest new filmmakers out there. I am v v proud of my work on this project; it’s a beautiful and fascinating film and i was able to use a lot of new techniques and sounds for the first time in a production.