Jonny Greenwood won the Film Composer of the Year Award at the 22nd World Soundtrack Awards Gala & Concert on Saturday 22 October at Muziekcentrum De Bijloke in Gent. Nicholas Britell received the Television Composer of the Year Award. "No Time to Die" from No Time to Die received the Best Original Song Award, while Drive My Car composer Eiko Ishibashi claimed the Discovery of the Year Award. Joseph Metcalfe, John Coda and Grant Kirkhope were honoured with the Public Choice Award and The Penelopes composed the Best Original Score for a Belgian Production. Bruno Coulais received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 49th edition of Film Fest Gent was traditionally concluded with the World Soundtrack Awards, one of the most important international prizes for film music. After multiple nominations for his most recent scores - including an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe - composer Jonny Greenwood finally gets to take an award home. The World Soundtrack Academy crowned him Film Composer of the Year for his scores for Power of the Dog and Spencer. It is the first time Jonny Greenwood wins a World Soundtrack Award, but he was previously nominated in 2008 for There Will Be Blood, in 2013 for The Master and in 2018 as Film Composer of the Year for Phantom Thread. His track "Magic Works" from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was nominated in 2006.
Nicholas Britell and his beautiful (intro)music for Succession have become almost unbeatable. Britell cashed in his nomination and became Television Composer of the Year 2022, claiming his fifth World Soundtrack Award. In 2020 he also won Television Composer of the Year for his music for Succession. Between his accolades for his television work, he won Best Original Song for "Call Me Cruella" from Disney's Cruella. He also won Film Composer of the Year 2019 and Discovery of the Year 2017 at the World Soundtrack Awards.
Six songs competed this year for the highest honour in the Best Original Song category, of which "Strange Game" from the series Slow Horses - written by Daniel Pemberton and Mick Jagger - is the first song from a TV series to be nominated for Best Original Song. However, the Academy chose "No Time to Die" from the James Bond film No Time to Die as Best Original Song. Songwriters Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell could not be present, but thanked the World Soundtrack Academy in a video message.
Eiko Ishibashi convinced the Academy with her enchanting, jazzy music for the Oscar-winning Murakami adaptation Drive My Car and can now call herself Discovery of the Year 2022. Her music will be performed next year during the World Soundtrack Awards. Drive My Car was one of Ishibashi's first experiences scoring for film and the Academy hopes wholeheartedly that many more scores will follow.
The Public Choice Award went to the music for The King's Daughter, composed by Joseph Metcalfe, John Coda and Grant Kirkhope. The score was well received by the audience and garnered the highest number of votes from film fans. Composer Giacomo Rita received the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer. He convinced the jury with the score he wrote for a scene from Nosferatu, the 1922 film by F.W. Murnau. The Parisian indie pop band The Penelopes composed the Best Original Score for a Belgian Production with their music for the charming family film SpaceBoy by Olivier Pairoux.
During the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert, the oeuvre of French composer Bruno Coulais took centre stage. Coulais' film music ranges from scores for French blockbusters such as Les rivières pourpres, to epic documentaries such as Le peuple migrateur to folkloric animated films such as Wolfwalkers. Brussels Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Dirk Brossé, presented a selection of his music for films such as Océans, Microcosmos and Coraline. His pronounced lyrical and imaginative scores often reveal his fondness for opera and the human voice. During the World Soundtrack Awards, the all-male choir A Filetta and (mezzo)soprano Mélissa Zerbib together with Brussels Philharmonic brought Coulais' music to life. During the ceremony, Bruno Coulais received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The WSA Industry Award goes this year to the Alliance for Women Film Composers. The AWFC is a community of composers that strives to support the work of female composers. Catherine Joy, chairwoman of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, accepted the prize in person on Friday 21 October. The WSA Industry Award is presented to a person or organisation that makes a remarkable and significant contribution to the film music industry.
During the awards show, Brussels Philharmonic performed music by the three special guests. From Lifetime Achievement Award winner Bruno Coulais, the orchestra brought a selection from his film music such as Océans, Microcosmos and Coraline. The audience enjoyed several beautiful pieces from the repertoire of composer and jazz artist Mark Isham, who also took the stage himself and played trumpet during music from The Black Dahlia, The Moderns and Judas and the Black Messiah. Brussels Philharmonic also performed music by last year's Discovery of the Year winner, Nainita Desai, who was nominated this year for the Public Choice Award. The audience listened to several pieces from among others the award-winning documentary For Sama.
Overview of the laureates
- Film Composer of the Year
Jonny Greenwood for Spencer and Power of the Dog
- Television Composer of the Year
Nicholas Britell for Succession (S3)
- Best Original Song
"No Time to Die" from No Time to Die written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, performed by Billie Eilish
- Discovery of the Year
Eiko Ishibashi for Drive My Car
- Public Choice Award
Joseph Metcalfe, John Coda and Grant Kirkhope for The King's Daughter
- Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer
Giacomo Rita
- Best Original Score for a Belgian Production
The Penelopes for SpaceBoy
- Lifetime Achievement Award
Bruno Coulais
- WSA Industry Award
The Alliance for Women Film Composers