2016 · Film / video score

Savoy (video portrait of Mr. Wulfert, Hotel Savoy Berlin)

Archive folder: Savoy (film score)

Alexa Karolinski

A short video portrait of Bodo Wulfert, the long-serving concierge and reception manager of the Hotel Savoy in Berlin, directed by Alexa Karolinski. Ben composed a new solo-piano score for the hotel's release of the film.

Recollections

“This was a really interesting project. Back when I thought I might become a film composer. It was a private commission, so not very much to show online.
FYI Alexa Karolinski, the director, is my cousin! Go check out her amazing work on Unorthodox and Oma & Bella.”

Ben

Premiere: 2016
Where: Berlin, Germany
Credits: Director: Alexa Karolinski; editor: David Hartmann (per Dropbox/WeTransfer notes); music: Ben Juodvalkis (replacing an earlier score by another composer).

Ephemera

A green sign in a plastic stand reading "NO Für Elise" propped on an upright piano in a showroom, other pianos behind it. — Piano shop in Chicago, the week I wrote the first drafts

Close-up of piano keys in near darkness, a stage light flaring behind a figure in blue at the back of a dark stage. — Onstage on the dance tour I scored Savoy from

Research status: researched – partial. Details on this piece are still being confirmed — corrections are welcome.