Conclave and Brutalist soundtracks pick up major awards

New voices feature in top choices

One of the highlights of Belgium’s Film Fest Gent, the World Soundtrack Awards celebrate the best in worldwide movie music, as well as TV and games music.

The 25th edition just honored German composer Volker Bertelmann, also known as Hauschka, as Film Composer of the Year for his scores to Conclave and The Amateur, reaffirming the inventive sensibility that earned him an Academy and BAFTA for All Quiet on the Western Front.

British composer Daniel Blumberg was named Discovery of the Year for his score to Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, confirming his reputation as a bold new presence in international film music.

Theodore Shapiro claimed Television Composer of the Year for his score to Severance (Apple TV+), while Emilia Pérez’s anthem, “El Mal”, written by Clément Ducol and Jacques Audiard, took Best Original Song.

Nods to Philip Glass and Michael Nyman

The Audience award went to Laetitia Pansanel‑Garric, whose Hola Frida intertwined Mexican influences with orchestral lyricism. Lorien Testard earned the Game Music Award for his work on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Ruben De Gheselle was named Belgian Film Composer of the Year for Young Hearts and There Was, There Was Not. 

South Korean composer Bongseop Kim won the Young Composer Prize for his score to a scene from The Elephant Man. Lifetime Achievement honours went jointly to Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, saluted for five decades of transformative, minimalist sound.

(Michael Leahy. Source: Find-a-Track. Photo: (c) Focus Features)