Swallow

Q&A with Composer

NATHAN HALPERN

Director

CARLO MIRABELLA-DAVIS

Moderated by CHRIS O’FALT (IndieWire)

Screening Link available upon Registration

YouTube Live Stream Q&A :

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1 – 6:30PM PT

On the surface, Hunter (Haley Bennett) appears to have it all. A newly pregnant housewife, she seems content to spend her time tending to an immaculate home and doting on her Ken-doll husband, Richie (Austin Stowell). However, as the pressure to meet her controlling in-laws and husband’s rigid expectations mounts, cracks begin to appear in her carefully created facade. Hunter develops a dangerous habit, and a dark secret from her past seeps out in the form of a disorder called pica – a condition that has her compulsively swallowing inedible, and oftentimes life-threatening, objects. A provocative and squirm-inducing psychological thriller, Swallow follows one woman’s unraveling as she struggles to reclaim independence in the face of an oppressive system, by whatever means possible. R | 95min

Nathan Halpern is an Emmy-nominated composer, named a ‘Composer to Watch’ by Classic FM and Indiewire. His score for the acclaimed psychological thriller Swallow (IFC) was called “brilliant” (Little White Lies) and “a highlight of the film” (Indiewire) and has been nominated for Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Score in a Horror Film. He composed the scores of two films from Barack Obama’s 2018 Best Films of the Year list: Cannes winner The Rider (Sony Pictures Classics) and the Oscar-nominated Minding the Gap (Hulu). Halpern’s score for The Rider was featured at #3 in Vulture/New York Magazine’s 10 Best Movies Scores of The Year, described as “a plaintively lovely score” (LA Times) and “a beautiful score” (Screen Anarchy). Other notable scores include Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners One Child Nation (Amazon Studios) and Rich Hill (Orchard), the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (HBO Films); and the Oscar-shortlisted films Hooligan Sparrow and The Witness. He was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song for “Calling to Me” from One Percent More Humid (Sony Pictures / starring Julia Garner). 

Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ debut feature film, Swallow, starring Haley Bennett, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, won 23 festival awards including Best Actress at Tribeca, Best Picture at Woodstock Film Festival, Best Screenplay, & Best Director at Fantasia Fest. Carlo was nominated for the 2021 Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director. Swallow achieved an 88% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is now available on all major digital platforms in the US, distributed by IFC Films, with a worldwide release underway. His thriller short, Knife Point, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won Vimeo’s Short of the Week, screened on Arte-TV, and garnered him Best New Director at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. He co-directed and produced the feature documentary The Swell Season starring Oscar-winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and earned a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it was released in theaters. Carlo is an alumnus of both the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Sundance Directors Lab. He has spent over a decade teaching filmmaking in New York City. He holds an MFA and a BFA in film production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

*** IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ ***

FREE for current SCL members (click HERE to check membership status).

Attendees will be emailed a Screening Link upon Registration and a Q&A YouTube Live Stream link on Monday, February 1, 10 minutes before Q&A start.

Attendees can ask questions on YouTube chat, and the SCL Host will pass them on to the Moderator. The SCL Member Code of Conduct applies to online Q&As.

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