The Art of Composing for Documentary with Nainita Desai

Nainita Desai is an award-winning documentary composer who has brought her unique voice to the scores of hundreds of screen works. Desai’s acclaimed nonfiction productions include the Oscar®-nominated & Cannes winning For Sama, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards winner The Deepest Breath, Sundance award-winner The Reason I Jump, the BAFTA-nominated American Murder (Netflix’s most-watched documentary), and many others.

With wide-ranging influences and interests, Desai moves fluidly between working with orchestras, music with ethnic influences incorporating electronics, found sound, experimental sound design, and songwriting.

Sound designer Emma Bortignon moderates this ear-opening and intimate discussion, as Desai draws on recent productions to share how she approaches scoring documentaries, her creative practice, and her reflections on the current state of the composing landscape for practitioners.