Francis Lai (born April 26, 1932, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France) is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores.
While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene. In 1965 he met filmmaker Claude Lelouch and was hired to help write the score for the film, Un homme et une femme (A Man and A Woman). Released in 1966, the film was a major international success, earning a number of Academy Awards, and for the young Francis Lai, a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Original Score". This initial success brought more opportunities to work for the film industry both in his native France as well as in Great Britain and the United States. He is known for his support of Mireille Mathieu in many compositions and recordings. In 1969, he wrote the score for director René Clément's film, Rider On The Rain ("Le Passager de la Pluie"). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc in September 1971.
Mamoru Fujisawa (藤澤 守, Fujisawa Mamoru?), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲, Hisaishi Jō?, born December 6, 1950), is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981.
While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, European classical, and Japanese classical. Lesser known are the other musical roles he plays; he is also a typesetter, author, arranger, and head of an orchestra.
He is best known for his work with animator Hayao Miyazaki, having composed scores for many of his films including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008). He is also recognized for the soundtracks he has provided for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Dolls (2002), Kikujiro (1999), Hana-bi (1997), Kids Return (1996), and Sonatine (1993).
Nicole Croisille (born 9 October 1936 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), is a French singer and actress. She has appeared in 24 films between 1961 and 2005 and recorded albums since 1961. Croisille made an attempt to represent France in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Tu m'avais dit," but was not selected.