HARPA Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days 2022 – What happened?
The five national nominees for HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022
The composer organizations of the five Nordic countries have announced their national nominees for the 12th Annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
Once again, the nominees reflect the high quality and uniqueness of Nordic artistry, with a mix of Nordic electronic soundscapes, delicate & strong themes, confident collaborations, richly orchestrated music, and highly original scores.
Once again, the nominees reflect the high quality and uniqueness of Nordic artistry, with a mix of Nordic electronic soundscapes, delicate & strong themes, confident collaborations, richly orchestrated music, and highly original scores.
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DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for “Vores mand i Amerika” (directed by Christina Rosendahl)
*** An excellent and personal film score - inventive and different*** Photo by: Christian Krog Video by Tine Louise Kortermand |
FINLAND | Sanna Salmenkallio for her score for “Aalto” (directed by Virpi Suutari)
***Surprise, elegance and a strong sense of purpose are present from start to finish, Salmenkallio’s music really gives life to this great documentary*** Photo by: Kuva Anne Hämälainen Video by Jussi Rekiaro Photography |
ICELAND| Tóti Guðnason for his score for “Lamb” (directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson)
*** the score and the sound design exert a subtle pressure that words would be unlikely to match *** Photo by: Marino Thorlacius Video by Blair Alexander |
NORWAY | Erik Ljunggren for his score for “Gritt” (directed by Itonje Søimer Guttormsen)
*** the score plays an important role in this film, for coherence, direction and overall tone, and for weaving together the layers of the drama. *** Photo by: Private Video by Catharina Natalie Wandrup |
SWEDEN | Johan Testad for his score for “Björnstad” (directed by Peter Grönlund)
*** the score heightens the intensity of a multifaceted drama that holds great contrast: toxic macho culture, peer pressure, loneliness, vulnerability and longing *** Photo by: Ola Höglund Video by Omnivox |
HARPA Award Cermony 2022
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Sanna Salmenkallio’s score for Virpi Suutari’s ‘Aalto’ is very well written and very intimate. It is humanizing the furnitures and architecture that is shown in Aalto; making us feel the objects and buildings and creating a strong sense of connecting with both the man and his art. This is what Aalto’s rounded and singular forms sounds like!’
The jury also stated their delightment about how the five projects showcased the richness of Nordic talent: Each of the five Nordic scores submitted for this year’s HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award are top shelf material. They all witness a great sensibility towards the stories and pictures they are accompanying – and they are doing it in such clever ways. |
Concluding the AWARD CEREMONY Saturday February 12th the international jury of the 2022 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award awarded Finish composer Sanna Salmenkallio with this years award for her score for ‘Aalto,’ directed by Virpi Suutari.
IMPRESSIONS FROM THE AWARD NIGHT - foto@Thomas Kolbein Bjørk Olsen, Berlinkontoret
Presentation & Seminar
Creating The Score = Creating The Film – Moderated by Halfdan E
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Meet the nominated composers and hear about the early collaboration between composer and director.
4 of our 5 nominees have for this score been part of the creative process from the very early point of making the film. In this seminar with all 5 nominees we will stress one of the main ambitions of NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS : highlighting the creative power of the Nordic composers. A rare opportunity to get insight knowledge and ask your own questions about the work of a score composer. |
Moderated by Halfdan E (DK)
Halfdan has scored in excess of 25 features and 7 tv series. Most recent credits include scores for the Netflix Original series Ragnarok (2020), crime series Below The surface II (2019), Finnish feature Ihmisen Osa (2018) and the ever popular Danish series Badehotellet, which broadcasts to huge audiences in all the Nordic countries and is now in its 7th season. Halfdan first burst onto the international market with his music for all 3 seasons of political drama Borgen. Halfdan is also the chairman of the Danish Guild of Media Composers BFM, and back in 2006 he was part of initiating the Nordic Film Composers Network. |
Seminar
DIY & Presentation – Soundtracks, Their importance, and how to prepare & release them
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We know the films and we know the music. Even though our inner cinema starts playing when the theme for a certain film or tv-series are played the music is also made to be heard – without the pictures.
The scores made by Nordic composers are often of such high quality, that they easily can have a life of their own. As temp-tracks, as music in other medias or just to be enjoyed by happy listeners. Thereby they can act as an appealing calling card for the composers. In this conversation between Mikael Carlsson and Jesper Hansen we will try to address the importance of the soundtracks. How big is their effect? And how can you increase that effect? |
As a filmcomposer Jesper Hansen (DK) has done the scores for tv-series, shorts and documentaries. Besides his work as composer Hansen is part of the chair of the Danish Film and Media composers and the European commitee for film and mediamusic, FFACE.
Together with Halfdan E he has founded the record label, plant sound - the main goal is to release and showcase Danish film music world wide. https://plantsounds.net/ |
Since the launch of his soundtrack label, MovieScore Media, in 2005, Mikael Carlsson (SE) has produced over 500 score albums. He is best known for nurturing the careers of up and coming composers and was the first to release albums by current A-listers Benjamin Wallfisch and Daniel Pemberton. Among other composers he worked with are Dario Marianelli, Angelo Badalamenti, Marco Beltrami, Patrick Doyle and Mark Isham. Mikael is also a composer in his own right, primarily of choral music, a concert producer and an arranger of film music suites for concert use. He is the honorary president of the International Film Music Critics Association.
https://moviescoremedia.com 
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Seminar
Agreements and the Workflow of productions – Composing and Music Supervision – Moderated by Ida Lee Brandel
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In this conversation with Ida-Lee Brandel, music supervisor and sync manager, renowned composer Jean-Paul Wall talks about the workflow of a composer, both from a creative and a contractual agreement stand point.
We will go through an overview of the work flow of productions to determine what contractual agreements that might be needed and what to think of when it comes to using music that is sourced elsewhere. |
Ida-Lee Brandel has worked over 10 years behind the music and currently works for FST, the Swedish Society of Composers and as an independent music supervisor with composers Frid & Frid as well as Sync Manager for Cosmos Music Group. Credits include TV-series ”Sommaren 85” (2020) and the feature length film ”Pleasure” (2021).
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Jean-Paul Wall's (SE) recent works ncludes “Spinning Man” (2018), with Guy Pearce and Pierce Brosnan. He delivered music and advice as a music supervisor for the American horror movie ”Trick” (2019), directed by Patrick Lussier and the same year we also heard his music for the Greek director, Syllas Tzoumerkas feature movie ”The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea”, which opened at the Berlinale 2019.
Now we can hear his music in the American thriller ”The Requin” (2022) directed by Le-Van Kiet. A thriller about a couple on a romantic getaway find themselves stranded at sea when a tropical storm sweeps away their villa. In order to survive, they are forced to fight the elements, while sharks circle below. 
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Seminar
DSM Article 18-23 New Legislation = New Opportunities
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During 2019 the EU adopted a new copyright directive and now we are facing the implementation of Articles 18-23.
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We are pleased to see that there is an increasing demand for Nordic compositions at, among others, the major American producers. However, we also see that foreign producers want to force U.S. copyright practices down on film composers: they want Nordic fees, but American rights, or – as a lawyer puts it – 'they have copyed an American contract but forgotten the American fee'. In this conversation Koda's senior legal advisor, Kaspar Lindhardt (DK) and chairman of Skap Alfons Karabuda will take os through the copyright directive and its implecations for Nordic composers. What does it mean, when we are talking about:
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Alfons Karabuda (SE)
With more than 30 years’ experience from the music industry, Alfons is an integral profile and driving force within the world of music. His current engagements are wide spreading across the international music industry, with him also being the president of the International Music Council, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance and the Internet Media Foundation, as well as Executive chairman of Skap (the Swedish Association of Composers, Songwriters & Lyricists) and expert in the field of artistic rights to the UN Human Rights Council. In addition, he serves as member of the executive committee of STIM (The Swedish Performing Rights Society), KLYS (the Swedish Joint Committee for Artistic and Literary Professionals), chairman of Musiksverige (Music Sweden), and member of the board of Directors of The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, the Global Node Stockholm and the Global Music Vault. Kaspar Lindhardt (DK) As a part of Koda’s legal team, Kaspar is working with general copyright issues and closely monitoring both the national and international legal developments. |
INTERNATIONAL JURY 2022
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Flemming Nordkrog (DK)
Composer and HARPA winner 2021 |
Lucy Bright (UK)
Music Supervisor and Publisher (Bright Notion Music) |
Mark Siegmund (KR/DE)
production & location manager and coordinator for international and Korean productions |
Miriam Cutler (USA)
Film- and mediacomposer |
Thomas Van Parys (BE)
Music programmer & album producer (World Soundtrack Awards/Film Fest Ghent) |
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SCREENINGS OF THE NOMINATED FILMS
Su. 13.02.22 FELLESHUSET NORDISCHE BOTSCHAFTEN RAUCHSTRASSE 1 D - 10787 BERLIN The Nordische Botschaften are following local directions for COVID 19. For visitors to the Nordische Botschaften the 3G rule applies. Masks are compulsory in Felleshus as well as distance rules. Visitors over 6 years of age must wear a medical mask or a FFP2 mask without a valve in Felleshus. Please maintain a distance from other visitors. |
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09.45 – 12.00 CET
DK | VORES MAND I AMERIKA | THE GOOD TRAITOR | Duration: 01.55 | English subtitles In 1939, Henrik Kauffmann is serving his post in Washington as the Danish Ambassador to the United States. With an opulent lifestyle and access to his nation’s gold reserves, Kauffmann is living a grand life in America secured by his charm and political status. When German troops invade and occupy Denmark, Kauffman declares himself to be the only true representative of a free Denmark in opposition to the Nazis. In the face of growing threats and accusations of treason from the ‘Official’ government of Denmark, Kauffmann attempts to gain the trust of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kauffmann must gamble his legacy, his family, and the trust of his nation, to resist the Nazi occupation. Director Christina Rosendahl Nimbus Film Productions 2020 ABOUT THE FILM’S SCORE
The score represents a mesh of an exotic melancholy and a foreboding, electronic musical universe. The music underscores the ambassador’s exotic lifestyle and is partly inspired by some of Kauffmann’s earlier journeys to remote locations in the Far East. Artists such as Eden Ahbez and Martin Denny have inspired tracks such as Radio Speech, Let’s Go Out and Tell Us About China. When the good life at the Washington embassy’s swimming pool is interrupted by the Nazi’s onward march in Europe, the music becomes twisted, threatening and stifling. This can be heard in tracks such as Invasion of Denmark, Conversation with Berle and The War in Europe. Here, early electronic instruments such as the ondes Martenot are utilized in tandem with waterphones and disturbingly distorted cello notes. The music simultaneously underpins the ill-fated relationship between Kauffmann and his wife, Charlotte. The music’s melancholy underpins the tensions and problems that stem from the couple’s problematic romance, which ends disastrously! |
Val Kill, Charlotte, Zilla and The Liberation all feature this sense of melancholy, which is supported by the Budapest Art Orchestra’s 40 string players and choir.
Composer Jonas Struck has worked closely with director Christina Rosendahl and sound designer Peter Albrechtsen in order to create a unique score and soundtrack, in which the borderline between sound design and music is frequently blurred. It’s a film in which the main characters rarely express their feelings with words, whereby the music often becomes a character’s true, inner voice. |
Introduced by composer Jonas Struck
Jonas Struck was formerly a guitarist and songwriter in the band Swan Lee. Following the band’s disbandment Struck has worked as a film composer on films such as The Idealist (winning the Carl Prisen award in the process), April 9th, Borg McEnroe, QEDA and Hunting for Hedonia. The score is available on spotify or on LP |
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12.15 – 14.15 CET
FIN | AALTO | Duration 01.45 | English subtitles Aalto is a documentary film journey into the life and work of one of the greatest modern architects, Alvar Aalto. The film shares for the first time the intimate love story of Alvar and his architect wife, Aino Aalto. It takes the viewer on a cinematic tour to their creative processes and iconic buildings all over the world. We visit their most beautiful buildings in Finland, a library in Russia, a student dormitory at MIT, an art collector´s private house near Paris – and many other unique places. We learn about the colourful history of modernism and meet along the way the Rockefellers, Le Corbusier, and László Moholy-Nagy. Great tragedy struck Alvar with Aino´s premature death. He eventually got married again to another architect, Elissa Aalto, and had one his most significant professional periods in the 1950s. This charming documentary organically combines entertainment and knowledge, contemporary film material and rare unforeseen footage. We hear the protagonists talking intimately in their love letters and see Alvar´s heartbreaking drawings of his wife on her deathbed. The film is based on profound research and narrated by the eyewitnesses and top researchers from all over the world. Director Virpi Suutari Euphoria Film 2020 |
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introduced by composer Sanna Salmenkallio
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15.00 – 17.00 CET
IS | LAMB | Duration 01.45 | English subtitles Winner of the “Prize of Originality” at 2021's Cannes Film Festival, Lamb is described as a “darkly compelling fable” that tells the story of a couple, María and Ingvar, on a remote farm in rural Iceland, who find their quiet existence shaken by the astonishing discovery of a mysterious newborn amongst their sheep. They decide to raise the child as their own, but soon face the consequences of defying the will of nature. An audacious, genre-defying mix of horror and folklore, Lamb is truly like nothing you have ever seen before. The film stars Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who speaks fluent Icelandic (as well as Danish, Norwegian, English, and of course Swedish). She is joined in the cast by Icelandic actors Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, and Ingvar Sigurdsson. Valdimar Jóhannsson wrote the screenplay with Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón, who wrote Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre and worked with The Witch / The Lighthouse director Robert Eggers on the upcoming epic historical thriller The Northman. The trailer for The Northman was just released this week and can be seen in the embed below. Lamb was chosen to represent Iceland in the race for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film nominations. Director Valdimar Jóhannsson Various production companies 2021 |
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introduced by composer Tóti Guðnason
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17.15 – 19.30 CET
NO | GRITT | Duration 01.58 | English subtitles Gry-Jeanette left Norway with the dream of becoming an actress. Now, 17 rambling years later, having failed to find either fame in Hollywood or notoriety in Berlin, she’s back, as Gritt. Whilst her old friends from college have established successful careers on the Oslo theater circuit, Gritt is passionate about manifesting a radical collective ritual. But nobody seems to care. When she receives yet another funding rejection, and is thrown out of her apartment, Gritt’s situation becomes increasingly desperate. However, Gritt manages to get an internship at an underground theater company and secretly moves into their performance space. With the company away on tour, Gritt embarks on her mission to bury capitalism and the patriarchy. Director Itonje Søimer Guttormsen Mer Film 2021 |
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introduced by the composer Erik Ljunggren
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19.45 – 21.00 CET
SE | BJÖRNSTAD | BEARTOWN | Duration 01.01 | English subtitles BEARTOWN, a five-episode drama series from Sweden, explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, the courage it takes for an individual to go against the group and the consequences of how we raise our children. With a small-town Swedish junior ice-hockey team having a shot at winning the national semi-finals, all the dreams of the locals now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. This heavy burden becomes the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made, and like ripples on a pond, they travel through Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. The series stars Ulf Stenberg, Aliette Opheim, Tobias Zilliacus, Miriam Ingrid and Oliver Dufaker. Director Peter Grönlund Filmlance International AB for HBO Europe 2020 |
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introduced by the composer Johan Testad
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