Daniel Pemberton and Carlos Rafael Rivera win top prizes at 21st World Soundtrack Awards

Daniel Pemberton has won the Film Composer of the Year Award at the 21st World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony in Ghent. Carlos Rafael Rivera received the Television Composer of the Year Award. “Call me Cruella” from Disney’s Cruella was presented with the Best Original Song Award, while Nainita Desai took home the Discovery of the Year Award. Benji Merrison and Dougal Kemp were honoured as well. Eleni Kariandrou received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 48th edition of Film Fest Ghent ended, as is tradition, with the World Soundtrack Awards, one of the most important international prizes for film music. The Film Composer of the Year Award went to the composer Daniel Pemberton, who was nominated for his work on Rising Phoenix, Enola Holmesand The Trial of the Chicago 7. Daniel Pemberton is no stranger to the WSA; in 2014, he won the WSA Discovery of the Year Award and has been nominated twice before in the Film Composer of the Year category.

Carlos Rafael Rivera won over the WSAcademy with his compositions for The Queen’s Gambit and Hacks (Season 1) and took home the Television Composer of the Year Award. This is the first time that Carlos Rafael Rivera has been honoured at the World Soundtrack Awards.

There were six songs in the running this year in the Best Original Songcategory and the award went to “Call me Cruella” from Disney’s Cruella. The song was written by Nicholas Britell, Florence Welch, Steph Jones, Jordan Powers and Taura Stinson.

With nominations in three different categories, Nainita Desai was one of the stars of this 21st edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, with the WSAcademy also allowing scores for documentary films in the film score categories for the first time this year. Nainita Desai became Discovery of the Year with her score for the documentary film The Reason I Jump.

The Public Choice Award went to the score of SAS: Red Notice (SAS: Rise of the Black Swan) composed by Benji Merrison. The score was well received by the audience and garnered the largest number of votes from film fans.

The British visual arts composer and sound designer Dougal Kemp 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 Nanook of the North, the silent documentary film from 1922 by Robert J. Flaherty.

During the World Soundtrack Award Ceremony & Concert in the Opera of Ghent the oeuvre of the Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou took centre stage. She performed on piano together with the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Film Fest Ghent music director Dirk Brossé. During the ceremony, Eleni Karaindrou received the Lifetime Achievement Award. She is known for her collaborations with the late Theo Angelopoulos, Greek director and master.

Overview of the winners

Film Composer of the Year
Daniel Pemberton, Enola Holmes, Rising Phoenix, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Television Composer of the Year
Carlos Rafael Rivera, Hacks (Season 1), The Queen’s Gambit

Best Original Song
“Call me Cruella” from Disney’s Cruella, Nicholas Britell, Florence Welch, Steph Jones, Jordan Powers & Taura Stinson

Discovery of the Year
Nainita Desai, The Reason I Jump

Public Choice Award
SAS: Red Notice, Benji Merrison

Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer
Dougal Kemp

Lifetime Achievement Award
Eleni Karaindrou