Simon TaufiQue is a British Indian, Emmy-nominated and multiple award-winning composer and producer, known for the HBO/Max award-winner, Land of Gold, the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Interpreters, The Weight of Gold (HBO), and Berlinale-winner, She’s Lost Control, and recent Sundance award-winning selection, Ricky.

RICKY by Rashat Frett

Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky (Stephan James) navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult.

In this warm and beautifully textured feature, director Rashad Frett journeys the interior emotional roads of Ricky, a betrayed teenager living inside of a prison-cut adult body as he attempts to integrate himself back into his Caribbean mother’s God-fearing home in Hartford, Connecticut. Ricky missed out on so many rites of passage of puberty, of learning a way with women, of smartphones, and of social media etiquette.

The feature film is an extension of Frett’s short film of the same name. In the short film, Frett began the exploration about recidivcism. You can read more about the short film here. In the feature film, he continues this exploration and reminds us about having empathy for someone who did their time for making a mistake, but who also wants to positively reintegrate back into society.

Taufique had worked on the short film and as such, contributing to the feature film was almost seamless. His score for the feature film mirrors the protagonist’s inner turmoil and emotional journey. It adds a vital layer of complexity to this poignant story.

During his time at Sundance, I had the opportunity to speak with TaufiQue about his multiple roles in film production, working on Ricky (both short and feature versions), working with emerging filmmakers and more.

For more find more details about Simon and his work, please visit his website musiquetaufique.com.