Following last year’s sold out event, Hear My Eyes returns to MIFF with a live soundtrack event scored to Nicolas Winding Refn’s cult classic Drive.

Starring Ryan Gosling as an unnamed mechanic and stunt driver with a sideline as a getaway wheelman, and Carey Mulligan (also appearing in #MIFF2018’s opening night film, Wildlife), Refn’s break-out 2011 hit is a propulsive and stylish thriller that won him that year’s Best Director award at Cannes – where the film also scored a 15-minute standing ovation.

Also featuring Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks and Albert Brooks, Drive is both stunningly violent and exquisitely beautiful, with luminous cinematography, jaw-dropping four-wheeled choreography and that soundtrack! Former Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Cliff Martinez’s ethereal ’80s synth-pop inspired score mixed with electro house numbers from Kavinski (featuring Lovefoxxx), Chromatics, Desire and Electric Youth elevated the film beyond its arthouse neo-noir Fast and the Furious-style story and helped cement Drive as one of 2011’s most acclaimed films.

For this exclusive event, Hear My Eyes have recruited an all-star super group from some of Melbourne’s most unique bands to produce a one-off experience of epic proportions. The musicians will perform hit tracks from the film’s original soundtrack – including Nightcall, Under Your Spell and A Real Hero – as well as performing a new atmospheric soundscape of dry-pulsing beats, gritty industrial tracks and deeply romantic ambient synth, all written specifically for this performance.

Musicians:

• Nkechi Anele (Saskwatch) – vocals
• Cayn Borthwick (No Zu) – saxophone / guitar (not performing 19 August)
• Jack Doepel (Krakatau) – saxophone / guitar (not performing 4 August)
• Adam Halliwell (Mildlife) – guitar / vocals
• Casey Hartnett (Sleep Decade) – synthesizer / electronic instruments 
• Corin Ileto (CORIN) – synthesizer / electronic instruments
• Kevin McDowell (Mildlife) – synthesizer / vocals
• Maria Moles (Jaala) – drums / electronic drums / percussion
• Becky Sui Zhen (Sui Zhen) – synthesizer / vocals / electronic instruments
• Siobhan McGinnity – back-up vocals
• Sophie Corbett – back-up vocals

Creative Director: Haydn Green

Hear My Eyes screenings are audio-visual events that push the conventions of film and sound beyond their familiar forms. Translating the original cinematic experience for the 21st century, the Hear My Eyes team work with local musicians to reinterpret a film’s soundtrack and perform it live at the screening.