When relatively unknown British indie musician Mica Levi, 27, was invited to compose the score for the film Under the Skin it took her completely by surprise, she told UK’s The Observer. “It all felt a bit far-fetched. I went to talk to them [music producer Peter Raeburn and film-maker Jonathan Glazer] at the studio and we started working immediately. There wasn’t even time to think about it.”
The music for the critically acclaimed film featuring Scarlett Johansson as an extraterrestrial predator has earned Levi a European Film Award for best composer. She created an atmospheric and eerie composition with music that expresses in real time what Johansson’s character is feeling. Levi is proud to be among only a few female film composers, and even fewer women who have won awards in the field. “Gender should be irrelevant. And the film industry should be more equal,” she says, adding that she hopes her success inspires more young women to enter the field of film composing.
