Sufjan Stevens Scores Indie Film Call Me By Your Name

Sufjan Stevens, singer/songwriter and creator of the (overly) ambitious 50 States Project, has written and performed the soundtrack for new indie film Call Me by Your Name. The film stars Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg, and is based on André Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name.

Directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, the film follows the love affair between a 24-year-old American scholar visiting Italy, and the 17-year-old Jewish-American boy whose family provides housing for the American while he helps the young boy’s father revise book manuscripts. The film takes place in the 1980s along the Italian Riviera, so expect some really lovely Italian scenery, accompanied by Stevens’ often beautifully melodic music.

Stevens’ latest album, Carrie & Lowell, was a beautifully simplistic work based on his mother’s death and his reeling emotions of anger, abandonment, loss and love. It will be very interesting to see Stevens tackling a film score, as most of his work is so broad in scope that it lends itself to a cinematic format. So everything should translate well, but it’s exciting to see him fully embrace the format.

There is no formal release date for the soundtrack or the film, which hits Sundance on Jan. 22.