Meltdown festival 2015, taking place from 17th - 30th August 2015 at the Southbank is curated by multi-award winning musician David Byrne and spans a wide range of musical genres as well as stretching beyond the musical realm into dance, theatre and film.

Byrne, known for his eclectic collaborations and as co-founder of the seminal new-wave band Talking Heads, has often brought sound and cinema together – he has acted and directed for film, he was responsible for the stage design and choreography of Talking Heads’ concert film Stop Making Sense and he has written music for films including Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Last Emperor, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. At this year’s Meltdown, Byrne presents a specially curated programme of live film that will bring two acclaimed film scores to life in the Royal Festival Hall and a ‘live documentary’ that fuses narration, film and a live original soundtrack.

Film programme

THERE WILL BE BLOOD - LIVE (2007)
The Academy Award-winning film by Paul Thomas Anderson screens with a live performance of Jonny Greenwood’s score by the London Contemporary Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler. The screening will bring together an orchestra of over 50 musicians including Radiohead’s Greenwood who will play the Ondes Martenot, one of the oldest electronic musical instruments. The score features passages from Greenwood’s compositions Popcorn Superhet Receiver and Bodysong, as well as works by Arvo Pärt and Brahms. The London Contemporary Orchestra has been performing Greenwood’s compositions since 2008, and in 2012 recorded his score for Anderson’s The Master. Promoting the best new music and cross-arts collaborations, the LCO have also worked with Secret Cinema, Vivienne Westwood, members of Arcade Fire, United Visual Artists, Ron Arad, Mike Figgis, Conrad Shawcross, Jimmy Page and Foals. Paul Thomas Anderson has also been nominated for six Academy Awards, and is the director of Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and Magnolia.

There Will Be Blood - Live Wednesday 19 August 2015 Royal Festival Hall £40 £32.50 £25 

PLANET OF THE APES - LIVE (1968)

Southbank Centre presents Franklin J. Schaffner's seminal film Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston. The BBC Concert Orchestra performs the film soundtrack live to a screening in Royal Festival Hall. One of the classic science fiction works of the 1960s, the film is celebrated for its influential score composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Charlton Heston stars as an astronaut who crash-lands on an unknown planet where apes rule and humans are enslaved, with Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter co-starring as the apes who are brought to life on screen by the Oscar-winning talents of make-up artist John Chambers. Presented by Southbank Centre in association with the Orchid Media.

Planet of The Apes - Live Royal Festival Hall Friday 28 August 2015 £45 £30 £20 

THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS (2014)

The Measure of All Things is a ‘live documentary’ by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sam Green that features Brendan Canty (Fugazi), T. Griffin and Catherine McRae (The Quavers). Loosely inspired by the Guinness Book of Records, Green weaves together a series of moving portraits of the people that hold these world records – including the tallest man, the oldest living thing and the man struck by lightning the most times. Featuring in-person narration and a live original soundtrack which references diverse influences such as old travelogues, the Japanese Benshi tradition of silent narration and contemporary TED talks, The Measure of All Things is a poignant meditation on the mysteries of existence, our search for meaning, and the beauty of human folly.

The Measure of All Things 26 August 2015 Queen Elizabeth Hall £20 £15