MovieScore Media’s latest international release is the multi-award winning Los Lobos with music by Mexican-born composer Kenji Kishi. Directed by Samuel Kishi, the film tells the story of a Mexican mother Lucía (Martha Reyes Arias) emigrating to the US with her two children, Max and Leo (played by real-life siblings Maximiliano and Leonardo Nájar Márquez). The brothers’ days pass in a tiny flat waiting for her to come back as they hold on to the hope of visiting Disney World. The sibling theme continues with the production, as director Samuel and composer Kenji are brothers in real life as well. Los Lobos won awards at International Film Festival in Berlin, Calgary, Miami as well as specialised festivals for Children and Young People, including the Olympia International Film Festival and Lucas.

“I created the music based on the characters and the idea of emigration,” explains Kenji Kishi. “I used the harmonica for the voyage, because I found it important to have a specific  sound matching the winds of the desert. The sound of the piano represents the mother, Lucía. The simple theme I wrote for her is based on a major seventh interval, which sound dissonant in a very wounded way (the track title ’Cicatrices’ literally translates to scars). For elder brother Max, I used the the guitar in a rhythmic way which matched nicely with the harmonica whenever he makes a new discovery. Finally, for little brother Leo and the wolves animation sequences use the ukulele and a vibraphone in order to get into a fantasy universe, but the harmony it’s the same of her mother’s theme.”

Born in Guadalajara, México, composer Kenji Kishi has composed the music for the feature films Storks (2018), Eight out of Ten (2018), Entitled to Sail (2016), The Blue Years (2016), The Nap Time (2014) and We Are Mari Pepa (2013), which was nominated for best music by the Mexican Academy of Cinematic Arts. Kenji is a member of Ensamble Supercluster, a group of contemporary chamber music and more recently was selected to attend the 2020 Berlinale Talents.

MMS21009 LOS LOBOS (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by KENJI KISHI
Release date (digital): April 2, 2021