INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED; POLISH COMPOSER ABEL KORZENIOWSKI LEADS FIELD
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2013. In this 10th Anniversary year of the IFMCA’s creation, the most nominated composer is Abel Korzeniowski, who received six nominations: Score of the Year, Best Drama Score and Film Music Composition of the Year for his work on director Carlo Carlei’s new screen version of the classic Shakespeare romance “Romeo and Juliet”; Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror Score and Film Music Composition of the Year for his work on director Randy Moore’s unusual satirical fantasy-horror set in a nightmarish Disney theme park, “Escape From Tomorrow”; and a personal nomination as Composer of the Year. Kraków, Poland-born Korzeniowski has previously been nominated for three IFMCA Awards, winning the award for Best Drama Score for “A Single Man” in 2009.
Other composers with multiple nominations include Spanish composer Roque Baños, who received three nominations for his devilish, apocalyptic score for director Fede Alvarez’s horror remake “Evil Dead” in the Score of the Year, Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror Score and Film Music Composition of the Year categories, as well as a Composer of the Year nomination for himself. In addition, British composer Steven Price, whose terrifying yet cathartic score for Alfonso Cuarón’s criticallyacclaimed science fiction disaster film “Gravity” has been lauded across the globe, received two IFMCA Award nominations in the Score of the Year and Best Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror Score categories, plus a nod for Film Composer of the Year and Breakthrough Film Composer of the Year.
The other top award nominations went to Canadian Howard Shore for his multifaceted and thematically rich score for the fifth of director Peter Jackson’s trips to Middle Earth, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”; and to Spaniard Víctor Reyes for his astonishingly complex, classically inflected score for the thriller “Grand Piano” directed by Eugenio Mira, in which a sniper threatens to assassinate concert pianist Elijah Wood, who is performing Reyes’s original piano concerto on-screen. Both scores were also recognized in their respective genre categories, Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Horror and Action/Adventure/Thriller.
In addition to Baños, Korzeniowski and Price, the other composers vying for the title of Composer of the Year are French composer Laurent Eyquem, who impressed greatly with two outstanding scores in 2013, “Copperhead” and “Winnie Mandela”, heralding his arrival into the mainstream film scoring world; and Hollywood headliner Brian Tyler, who dominated the super-hero genre in 2013 by writing the scores for “Iron Man 3” and “Thor: The Dark World”, but also showed a great deal of versatility in tackling other scores such as the sensitive drama “Standing Up”, the heist caper “Now You See Me”, two action-oriented video games (“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” and “Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel”), and two popular television shows (“Hawaii Five-O” and “Sleepy Hollow”).
The IFMCA recognizes emerging talent in the film music world, and this year is no exception. As well as the aforementioned Laurent Eyquem and Steven Price, the nominees in the Breakthrough Composer of the Year category include Spanish composer César Benito for his scorefor the hit Spanish TV series “El Tiempo Entre Costuras”; British composer Sarah Class for her work on the BBC nature documentary “Africa”; and Golden Globe winner Alexander Ebert – singer/songwriter with the bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes – for his experimental debut score for the Robert Redford survival film “All Is Lost”.
As it has in previous years, the IFMCA takes pride in honoring composers from across the film music world; this year’s international nominees include Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi’s beautiful work for anime director Hayao Miyazaki on “The Wind Rises”, German composer Philipp F. Kölmel for his score for the big-budget children’s action-fantasy “Rubinrot”, German composerOliver Heuss for his music for the nature documentary “Die Nordsee: Unser Meer”, Norway-based composer Mark Rayen Candasamy for the docu-drama “Anne & Alet”, Italian composer Carlo Siliotto for his work on the popular Mexican comedy-drama “Instructions Not Included”, and two composers whose superb work on international television series really captured the attention of the voting membership: Polish composer Bartosz Chajdecki for “Czas Honoru”, and Argentinean composer Federico Jusid for “Isabel”.
Several other composers are receiving their first ever IFMCA Award nominations this year, including Pino Donaggio (“Passion”, Action/Adventure/Thriller), Mark Mancina (“Planes”, Animation), Philippe Sarde (“Quai d’Orsay”, Comedy), and Benjamin Wallfisch (“Summer in February”, Drama).
The International Film Music Critics Association will announce the winners of the 10th IFMCA Awards on February 20, 2014.
FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
Evil Dead, music by Roque Baños
Grand Piano, music by Víctor Reyes
Gravity, music by Steven Price
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, music by HowardShore
Romeo and Juliet, music by Abel Korzeniowski
FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
Roque Baños
Laurent Eyquem
Abel Korzeniowski
Steven Price
Brian Tyler
BREAKTHROUGH FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
César Benito
Sarah Class
Alexander Ebert
Laurent Eyquem
Steven Price
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
The Best Offer [La Migliore Offerta], music by Ennio Morricone
The Book Thief, music by John Williams
Copperhead, music by Laurent Eyquem
Romeo and Juliet, music by Abel Korzeniowski
Summer in February, music by Benjamin Wallfisch
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
Instructions Not Included [No Se Aceptan Devoluciones], music by Carlo Siliotto
Quai d’Orsay, music by Philippe Sarde
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, music by Theodore Shapiro
This is the End, music by Henry Jackman
Venus in Fur [La Vénus à la Fourrure], music by Alexandre Desplat
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
Grand Piano, music by Víctor Reyes
Iron Man 3, music by Brian Tyler
Passion, music by Pino Donaggio
Rubinrot, music by Philipp F. Kölmel
Stalingrad, music by Angelo Badalamenti
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
Escape From Tomorrow, music by Abel Korzeniowski
Evil Dead, music by Roque Baños
Gravity, music by Steven Price
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, music by HowardShore
Star Trek Into Darkness, music by Michael Giacchino
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods, music by Alan Silvestri
Epic, music by Danny Elfman
Frozen, music by Christophe Beck
Planes, music by Mark Mancina
The Wind Rises [Kaze Tachinu], music by Joe Hisaishi
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
Africa, music by Sarah Class
Anne & Alet, music by Mark Rayen Candasamy
Die Nordsee: Unser Meer, music by Oliver Heuss
Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope, music by Blake Neely
Tim’s Vermeer, music by Conrad Pope
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
Czas Honoru, music by Bartosz Chajdecki
Da Vinci’s Demons, music by Bear McCreary
El Tiempo Entre Costuras, music by César Benito
Game of Thrones, music by Ramin Djawadi
Isabel, music by Federico Jusid
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, music by Brian Tyler
Beyond: Two Souls, music by Lorne Balfe
Company of Heroes 2, music by Cris Velasco
Puppeteer, music by Patrick Doyle
Remember Me, music by Olivier Deriviére
BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE – RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, music by Henry Mancini; album produced by Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson; liner notes by Jeff Bond; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)
QB VII, music by Jerry Goldsmith; re-recording conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick; liner notes by Frank K. De Wald; album art direction by Damien Doherty, James Fitzpatrick and GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)
The Salamander, music by Jerry Goldsmith; re-recording conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick; liner notes by Frank K. De Wald; album art direction by Paul de Blieck, Johan van den Broeck and GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)
The Wild Bunch, music by Jerry Fielding; album produced by Lukas Kendall; liner notes by Lukas Kendall and John Takis; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Film Score Monthly)
Wyatt Earp, music by James Newton Howard; album produced by Dan Goldwasser; liner notes by Tim Grieving; album art direction by Dan Goldwasser (La-La Land)
BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE – COMPILATION
Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection, music by Various Composers; album produced by Mark Ayres, Reynold DaSilva and David Stoner; liner notes by Mark Ayres; album art direction by Stuart Ford (Silva Screen)
Lethal Weapon Soundtrack Collection, music by Michael Kamen, Eric Clapton and David Sanborn; album produced by Neil S. Bulk and MV Gerhard; liner notes by Jeff Bond; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)
Michel Legrand Anthology, music by Michel Legrand; album produced by Stéphane Lerouge; liner notes by Stéphane Lerouge; album art direction by Jerome Witz-Gilles Guerlet (Universal/Écoutez le Cinéma!)
Varèse Sarabande: A 35th Anniversary Celebration, music by Various Composers; album produced by Robert Townson; liner notes by Robert Townson; album art direction by Robert Townson and Bill Pitzonka (Varèse Sarabande)
The X-Files: Volume Two, music by Mark Snow; album produced by Mark Snow, Mike Joffe and Nick Redman; liner notes by Randall D. Larson; album art direction by Mark Banning (La-La Land)
FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
Intrada Records, Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson
La-La Land Records, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys
Moviescore Media, Mikael Carlsson
Prometheus Records/Tadlow Music, Luc Van de Ven and James Fitzpatrick
Quartet Records, Jose M. Benitez
FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
“The Book Thief” from The Book Thief, music by John Williams
“The Grand Finale” from Escape From Tomorrow, music by Abel Korzeniowski
“Abominations Rising” from Evil Dead, music by Roque Baños
“Beyond the Forest” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, music by Howard Shore
“A Thousand Times Goodnight” from Romeo and Juliet, music by Abel Korzeniowski
