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SAU Professor and the Oscars

Bill Campbell

Bill Campbell attended the 91st annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles two years ago, and he may have been a contributor to another Oscar nominee this spring.

The St. Ambrose University music professor – and prolific composer -- wrote the music for the 2018 documentary “Lifeboat,” which was nominated for Best Documentary Short. MTV Documentary Films has added “Lifeboat” director Skye Fitzgerald’s "Hunger Ward" to its portfolio of Oscar-contending films.

In 2020, Campbell wrote his sixth film score for Fitzgerald, for “Hunger Ward,” which has made the 93rd annual Academy Award shortlist for Best Documentary Short Subject (of 10 films), out of 114 that qualified in the category.

The composer had a great time at the Oscars two years ago with Fitzgerald and others on the production team. This year’s nominations (five per category) will be announced March 15, and the ceremony April 25. “Lifeboat” in 2019 was Fitzgerald’s first Academy Award nomination.

“It was quite an amazing experience to be part of it. Throughout the whole day and night, I kept reminding myself that I’m here because I wrote music for a film that’s all about trying to help people. And that felt good. It did feel a little bit odd being there and celebrating it, but we worked hard for it and that was good.”

“It was really exciting, because there were so many people there. There were A-listers, and then there were people like me just walking around.”

Campbell says even though their film didn’t win, it was – as they say – just an honor to be nominated.

“It was a great honor to be there and to be nominated, and to be part of that whole scene. It was a great time to be there with the team that put that film together, because it was a big celebration for us and validation of all the work that we’ve done over the years.”

The MTV documentary division announced recently it acquired “Hunger Ward,” the new 40-minute film, a devastating look at children suffering starvation in Yemen as a result of war in that Middle Eastern country.

Campbell composed the music for Fitzgerald in 2015, for the first in the refugee trilogy (including “Lifeboat” and “Hunger Ward”) -- “50 Feet From Syria.” It was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination along with 10 other films, but didn’t make the final cut of nominees.

“Lifeboat” focuses on the German nonprofit Sea-Watch, which in 2016 helped refugees braving the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Europe. During the journey, refugees reveal how poverty, violence, and sex trafficking forced them to flee their homes.

Each style of Campbell’s refugee film scores is what he calls “a dark ambient genre.”

“This one in particular is leaning toward the ambient side of things, even more. Once again, there’s chamber strings and electronic sounds. That’s it for this particular score. I didn’t want to do very much; it’s mostly environmental.”

“For the most part, I’m providing some emotional content through the music, and also putting people into that space environmentally, if you will.”

Campbell first met Fitzgerald over 20 years ago when they were both at the University of Oregon – Skye was an MFA student and Bill was a PhD student, and Campbell wrote music for a school play he directed.

Campbell – who’s recording a new album of solo piano music - wrote for Fitzgerald’s first documentary, “Curve 155” in 2001. A 51-year-old native of Tucson, Arizona, Campbell has three degrees in composition, including a doctorate from University of Oregon.

It’s important for him to write for films that have a strong social justice viewpoint.

“If I’m going to be spending time working on a film, I want it to be a worthwhile endeavor. There have been things over the years that I’ve said ‘no’ to. For the most part, I really do enjoy working on music that’s going to help make a difference, and hopefully make the world a better place.”

“I’ve always been interested in developing as a person within my internal world and external, and felt compelled always to help people in the ways I can as an artist. And I like to be around people that want to do similar things.”

To learn more about the new film, visit hungerward.org.

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.