They're Back
They're Back highlights artists who have taken part in initiatives offered by the Festival, such as the International Market for Music Composition in Film or the Master Class in Music Composition for Film. It showcases the evolution of their artistic journeys and strengthens the bond between the MCM and its creators.
EMIL SANA
Franco-Finnish composer Emil Sana met the Marseille-based production company Les Films de Force Majeure in 2024 at the International Market for Film Music Composition, in connection with a project by director Zhannat Alshanova.
From this encounter emerged an artistic connection; moved by the composer’s musical sensitivity, the director entrusted him with the original score for her first feature film Becoming. In Kazakhstan, 17-year-old Mila struggles to survive the turmoil within her family. In search of refuge and discipline, she joins an open-water swimming team led by the enigmatic Vlad.
Carried by an inventive and distinctive score, Becoming delicately portrays a teenage girl in transformation as she navigates the uncertain waters of adulthood.
FLORENCE CAILLON
In 2023, composer Florence Caillon took part for the first time in the International Market for Film Music Composition as part of the 3e personnage programme. It was on this occasion that she met director Luyao Zang, who entrusted her with the original score for his feature film Dancing with the Gods.
The documentary follows Ying, the son of a Chinese fisherman entirely devoted to contemporary dance, as he returns to his native village for a monumental performance paying tribute to the gods of the ocean.
Florence Caillon’s music, undoubtedly shaped by her background as a circus choreographer, emerges as a structuring and subtly balanced score, serving both movement and narrative.
LISA CHEVALIER
After receiving the “Musique” Creation Grant for Tu vas t’y faire by Mélisa Godet, followed by the Cinézik Award for Best Original Score for La Beauté du geste, composer Lisa Chevalier returns in 2026 with Nakal, an intimate documentary directed by Flore Nappée.
As a teenager, the director met Habieb, an orphan living on the island of Lombok in Indonesia—a formative encounter she would later revisit through cinema.
Honoured with the Best Documentary Award at the Nordic International Film Festival, Nakal reveals a rare sensitivity. Its poetic and delicate score unfolds subtle textures in service of emotion.
Thibault Cohade
Artist in residence at the MCM in 2013, Thibault Cohade later took part in the International Market for Film Music Composition, which led him to compose the original scores for Cut Cut, Presque l’automne and Bitume. In 2023, he received the Junior Jury Award for Best Music for Des tresses by Leïla Macaire.
A composer of hybrid music, he now presents his work for the documentary Inside Gaza by Hélène Lam Trong. This powerful film about the lives of reporters in the Palestinian enclave after 7 October 2023 questions freedom of information with rare intensity.
In resonance with the images, the music finds the right balance: restrained, precise, and deeply attuned. A striking documentary.
Thomas Foguenne
Belgian-Taiwanese composer and pianist Thomas Foguenne – a long-time friend of the Festival – invites us to discover one of his most recent creations: the score he composed for Strangers Eyes, a Singaporean thriller directed by Yeo Siew Hua.
The film follows a young couple searching for their missing daughter. Their investigation takes a disturbing turn when they uncover videos of their most intimate moments, secretly filmed by an unknown voyeur.
Like Yeo Siew Hua, who is emerging as a major voice in Asian cinema, Thomas Foguenne also confirms his talent by winning the prestigious Golden Horse Award in Taipei for Best Original Film Score in 2024.