FFG Sessions with Eiko Ishibashi
FFG Sessions
Film Fest Gent breathes music. In line with the festival's DNA, there are the FFG Sessions in collaboration with KASK & Conservatory. Experienced composers present their own work and bring select pieces of their oeuvre together with students of KASK & Conservatory. Re-arranged for a small ensemble, the music is performed in the intimate setting of the MIRY Concertzaal after a hands-on rehearsal with the composer.
© Bas BogaertsEiko Ishibashi
The first internationally acclaimed composer to host a FFG Session is Eiko Ishibashi. In addition to being a composer for film, TV and theater, Ishibashi is a successful singer-songwriter. This is not the first collaboration between Film Fest Gent and Ishibashi, in 2022 she won the Discovery of the Year Award and in 2023 she composed a piece for the 2x25 project. Her score for the film Drive My Car was not only her international breakthrough but also the beginning of a succesfull collaboration with director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Eiko Ishibashi chose two pieces from this score for her FFG Session.
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Bio Eiko Ishibashi
Eiko Ishibashi is a musical phenomenon who has been fusing styles and genres for over a decade now, from chamber pop and musique concrète to jazz improv, prog and noise. She has collaborated with international artists such as Jim O’Rourke, Keiji Haino, Charlemagne Palestine, Merzbow, Giovanni Di Domenico, Phew, and many others. In 2016, she made her debut as a film composer with the score for Albino’s Tree, before going on to write the music for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning film Drive My Car in 2021. Ishibashi’s captivating score earned rave reviews and won her the Discovery of the Year Award at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent. This year, she returned to Film Fest Ghent to present her new project GIFT: involving a live performance to a brand-new film by Hamaguchi.
"We'll live through the long, long days, and through the long nights" (Drive My Car)
“We’ll live through the long, long days, and through the long nights” is the song that plays during the opening credits of Drive My Car. Inspired by the film’s story about loss and recovering from it, “We’ll live through the long, long days, and through the long nights” is an ambient-drone composition that is reminiscent of Ishibashi’s more experimental music. It’s a variation on the song that features the grieving main character of the film eating bread in a roadside restaurant. “The contrast between loss on one side, and getting on with life has been my inspiration for this piece”, Ishibashi said before the recording session.
"Drive My Car"
The other piece - called “Drive My Car” - plays over the end credits of the film.With it, Ishibashi wanted to convey the feeling that the past and the future are coming together.
