Copenhagen, December 2nd 2024
HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD 2025 ANNOUNCES NOMINEES
The composer organizations from the five Nordic countries have selected their national nominees for the 15th annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on February 15th during this year’s Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin.
Every year HARPA Nordic Film Music Days awards the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award, highlighting outstanding Nordic film composers. Nominees are selected by national juries from the Nordic countries and the selected composers represent a wide range of films, from biographical stories to documentaries.
The five nominated scores for HARPA Nordic Film Composer Awards 2025 range from anarchistic experimental improvisation, brooding expansive electronic soundscapes, a playful orchestral symphony, soul-searching ambient jazz and bittersweet contemplative piano, harp and strings, all of them commonly steeped in a Nordic heritage.
DENMARK / Christian Balvig for Roja Pakari & Emilie Adelina Monies’ The Son & The Moon
Danish composer Christian Balvig took a documentary-style approach to scoring The Son and the Moon, composing on the go and recording ideas on his phone. His demos shaped the film’s editing, and he later re-recorded pieces using personally significant instruments, like his parents’ piano, to match the film's intimate, harrowing story.
Christian's compositions are both fragile and powerful, instilling hope and presence in the gravity surrounding Roja's illness
Diana Quieros, Martin Strange & Thomas Krag, Danish National Jury
FINLAND Ilari Heinilä for Mikko Mäkelä’s Sebastian
The electronic score by Finnish composer Ilari Heinilä for Sebastian blends seamlessly into the soundscape, enhancing its foreboding atmosphere. It mirrors the inner turmoil of LGBTQ writer Max, whose secretive double life results in conflict, which eventually leads him toward self-acceptance and pride his actions.
Heinilä’s composition is not only beautiful but thoughtfully placed, enhancing the narrative while staying true to the film’s tone and vision.
Elikia Peti-Peti, Finnish National Jury
ICELAND Högni Egilsson for Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch
Icelandic composer Högni Egilsson explores longing and memory in his elegant score for Touch. Using piano, harp and a string quintet, he creates an intimate atmosphere for the two lonely characters searching for their past. Composed during filming, Högni engaged closely with the director but crafted the music independently, focusing on mood and emotion.
The respect and care that Högni’s music shows for the narrative makes it an integral part of the film – a seamless addition to the storytelling
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Hilmar Oddsson and Pétur S. Jónsson, Icelandic National Jury
NORWAY Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, Andréa Louise Horstad, Kristoffer Lo & Eivind Helgerød for Johan Fasting, Kristin Grue & Silje Storstein’s MAKTA
Norwegian composer Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim was asked to craft a rough, anarchistic score for Power Play, reflecting the show’s unconventional style. Collaborating with Eivind Helgerød, Andréa Louise Horstad, and Kristoffer Lo, they improvised the music. Set in the 70s and 80s, the series contrast period elements with a modern, Dogma-inspired Nordic filmmaking approach.
The music brings us back to the dusty, smoke-filled eighties with its analogue, acoustic instruments, as if it’s made by an avantgarde band from the time period Christine Hals, Kenneth Ishak & Lars Ole Kristiansen, Norwegian National Jury
SWEDEN Henrik Lörstad for Christian Ryltenius’ Who are you, Mamma Moo?
Swedish composer Henrik Lörstad crafted a classic orchestral score for the animated film Who Are You, Mamma Moo? The music captures Mamma Moo’s whimsical antics resulting from her dreams of being more than a cow. There's music throughout the film, which shows the impressive dedication required of the composer to create this score.
With elegant and detailed instrumentation, Lörstad manages to highlight, without oversimplifying, both the playful and the serious aspects of the film's sympathetic message
Ulla-Carin Nyquist & Ylva Fred, Swedish National Jury
An international jury will determine a winner. The 2025 jury members are:
IS Eðvarð Egilsson (winner Harpa 2024)
DE Michael P. Aust (Soundtrack Cologne)
EST Hanna-Greth Peetson (Music Meets Film & Industry - Tallinn)
US Sydney Levine (International Film Consultant)
CAN Erica Procunier (or another Composer from Alliance for Women Film Composers)
DE Peter Domsch (Composer and Head of Sales at European Film Market)
KOREA (Jecheon Film Festival) - Byun Seung Min (Producer)
Highlights of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days full programme will be announced in January, but a few highlights include starting off on Saturday February 15th with feature seminars on topics such as contracts and women in film composing, along with a panel discussion showcasing this year's nominees, introduced and moderated by last year’s HARPA Award recipient, Eðvarð Egilsson (Iceland).
A speed meeting session will once again be hosted, gathering 30 Nordic composers and 30 producers & directors at the European Film Market in connection with a panel on the Life & Value of The Score spearheaded by ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance).
Another event not to be missed is the seminar on women in film composing in collaboration with Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC), followed by networking opportunities.
The first day will wrap with Award Night, announcing and celebrating the winner of the 2025 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
On Sunday February 16th all the nominated films will be screened at the Nordic Embassies’ auditorium, free of charge. The films and their scores are given the best possible exposure thanks to the high-quality sound provided by GENELEC's state-of-the-art speaker system, offering an immersive audiovisual experience and all the films will be introduced by the nominated composers.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2024 Berlin | Eðvarð Egilsson | Iceland| “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honorary award | Denmark | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honorary award | Iceland | Johann Johannsson
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelerna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 PARTNERS
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 COLLABORATORS
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony has taken place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlin International Film Festival. It unspooled virtually in 2021, as a hybrid event in 2022 and then back to a full live audience in 2023.
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days co-operates closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordische Botschaften and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Production | Jesper Siberg | [email protected] | + 45 23 29 33 12
International Press | Manlin Sterner |[email protected] | +46 763 76 99 33
find press photos here
HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD 2025 ANNOUNCES NOMINEES
The composer organizations from the five Nordic countries have selected their national nominees for the 15th annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on February 15th during this year’s Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin.
Every year HARPA Nordic Film Music Days awards the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award, highlighting outstanding Nordic film composers. Nominees are selected by national juries from the Nordic countries and the selected composers represent a wide range of films, from biographical stories to documentaries.
The five nominated scores for HARPA Nordic Film Composer Awards 2025 range from anarchistic experimental improvisation, brooding expansive electronic soundscapes, a playful orchestral symphony, soul-searching ambient jazz and bittersweet contemplative piano, harp and strings, all of them commonly steeped in a Nordic heritage.
DENMARK / Christian Balvig for Roja Pakari & Emilie Adelina Monies’ The Son & The Moon
Danish composer Christian Balvig took a documentary-style approach to scoring The Son and the Moon, composing on the go and recording ideas on his phone. His demos shaped the film’s editing, and he later re-recorded pieces using personally significant instruments, like his parents’ piano, to match the film's intimate, harrowing story.
Christian's compositions are both fragile and powerful, instilling hope and presence in the gravity surrounding Roja's illness
Diana Quieros, Martin Strange & Thomas Krag, Danish National Jury
FINLAND Ilari Heinilä for Mikko Mäkelä’s Sebastian
The electronic score by Finnish composer Ilari Heinilä for Sebastian blends seamlessly into the soundscape, enhancing its foreboding atmosphere. It mirrors the inner turmoil of LGBTQ writer Max, whose secretive double life results in conflict, which eventually leads him toward self-acceptance and pride his actions.
Heinilä’s composition is not only beautiful but thoughtfully placed, enhancing the narrative while staying true to the film’s tone and vision.
Elikia Peti-Peti, Finnish National Jury
ICELAND Högni Egilsson for Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch
Icelandic composer Högni Egilsson explores longing and memory in his elegant score for Touch. Using piano, harp and a string quintet, he creates an intimate atmosphere for the two lonely characters searching for their past. Composed during filming, Högni engaged closely with the director but crafted the music independently, focusing on mood and emotion.
The respect and care that Högni’s music shows for the narrative makes it an integral part of the film – a seamless addition to the storytelling
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Hilmar Oddsson and Pétur S. Jónsson, Icelandic National Jury
NORWAY Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, Andréa Louise Horstad, Kristoffer Lo & Eivind Helgerød for Johan Fasting, Kristin Grue & Silje Storstein’s MAKTA
Norwegian composer Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim was asked to craft a rough, anarchistic score for Power Play, reflecting the show’s unconventional style. Collaborating with Eivind Helgerød, Andréa Louise Horstad, and Kristoffer Lo, they improvised the music. Set in the 70s and 80s, the series contrast period elements with a modern, Dogma-inspired Nordic filmmaking approach.
The music brings us back to the dusty, smoke-filled eighties with its analogue, acoustic instruments, as if it’s made by an avantgarde band from the time period Christine Hals, Kenneth Ishak & Lars Ole Kristiansen, Norwegian National Jury
SWEDEN Henrik Lörstad for Christian Ryltenius’ Who are you, Mamma Moo?
Swedish composer Henrik Lörstad crafted a classic orchestral score for the animated film Who Are You, Mamma Moo? The music captures Mamma Moo’s whimsical antics resulting from her dreams of being more than a cow. There's music throughout the film, which shows the impressive dedication required of the composer to create this score.
With elegant and detailed instrumentation, Lörstad manages to highlight, without oversimplifying, both the playful and the serious aspects of the film's sympathetic message
Ulla-Carin Nyquist & Ylva Fred, Swedish National Jury
An international jury will determine a winner. The 2025 jury members are:
IS Eðvarð Egilsson (winner Harpa 2024)
DE Michael P. Aust (Soundtrack Cologne)
EST Hanna-Greth Peetson (Music Meets Film & Industry - Tallinn)
US Sydney Levine (International Film Consultant)
CAN Erica Procunier (or another Composer from Alliance for Women Film Composers)
DE Peter Domsch (Composer and Head of Sales at European Film Market)
KOREA (Jecheon Film Festival) - Byun Seung Min (Producer)
Highlights of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days full programme will be announced in January, but a few highlights include starting off on Saturday February 15th with feature seminars on topics such as contracts and women in film composing, along with a panel discussion showcasing this year's nominees, introduced and moderated by last year’s HARPA Award recipient, Eðvarð Egilsson (Iceland).
A speed meeting session will once again be hosted, gathering 30 Nordic composers and 30 producers & directors at the European Film Market in connection with a panel on the Life & Value of The Score spearheaded by ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance).
Another event not to be missed is the seminar on women in film composing in collaboration with Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC), followed by networking opportunities.
The first day will wrap with Award Night, announcing and celebrating the winner of the 2025 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
On Sunday February 16th all the nominated films will be screened at the Nordic Embassies’ auditorium, free of charge. The films and their scores are given the best possible exposure thanks to the high-quality sound provided by GENELEC's state-of-the-art speaker system, offering an immersive audiovisual experience and all the films will be introduced by the nominated composers.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2024 Berlin | Eðvarð Egilsson | Iceland| “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honorary award | Denmark | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honorary award | Iceland | Johann Johannsson
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelerna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 PARTNERS
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen Svenska Tonsättare)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
- Polyphonia (Danish Composers Network for Women & Other Gender Minorities)
- Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 COLLABORATORS
- Sound Track Cologne
- EFM (European Film Market)
- Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
- Orchestral Tools
- GENELEC
- (AWFC) Alliance for Women Film Composers
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony has taken place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlin International Film Festival. It unspooled virtually in 2021, as a hybrid event in 2022 and then back to a full live audience in 2023.
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days co-operates closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordische Botschaften and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Production | Jesper Siberg | [email protected] | + 45 23 29 33 12
International Press | Manlin Sterner |[email protected] | +46 763 76 99 33
find press photos here
TO BE RELEASED SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17TH 20.00 ECT
Berlin, Nordische Botschaften, February 17th, 2024
The winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2024 is Icelandic composer Eðvarð Egilsson for his score to Anna Hints ’Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’.
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Egilssons award- winning score:
The jury says further:
They are all amazing, these scores, and it has been a very hard, though joyful task, to watch these films and listen to the scores.
We all agreed that all the composers would well deserve to bring back to their home country the award, created by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson, crafted by ORR and sponsored by Orchestral Tools.
We heard Finnish composer Pessi Levanto and his extremely effective, yet suggestive score for the Danish film, Superposition.
Swedish composers Irya Gmeyner and Martin Hederos are just as effective: With its subtle ethnic profile the score for the police series Thin Blue Line literally glues the scenes and events together.
With his almost omnipresent score, Norwegian Ola Fløttum is cleverly balancing the stories told and not told in the Norwegian authentic drama, Let the River Flow.
In the Danish documentary, Apolonia Apolonia, covering a span of 13 years, and the development of the young artist Apolonia Sokol, Jonas Struck’s music is as well developing over the years, transcending decades and the structure of the art world - becoming the rhythm of Apolonia’s soul.
Producer of ’Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’, Marianne Ostrat:
When choosing with which Nordic country to attempt to co-produce Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, both the director Anna Hints and I, felt a strong gravitational pull towards Iceland - it extended beyond the lure of the excellent reputation of Icelandic music. The vision was to have an Icelandic composer collaborate with Anna’s band EETER. It helped that I already had an ongoing collaboration with producer Hlín Jóhannesdóttir from Ursus Parvus, who found us Edvard Egilsson. It is Edvard’s talent of course, but even more importantly his openess and curiosity towards South-Estonian smoke sauna culture, flexibility and readiness to dive into the unknown and the primordial synchronicity with our mindsets and sensibility, that made the soundtrack of Smoke Sauna Sisterhood- of which I am so happy and proud - possible. Heartfelt congratulations to our very dear friend Eddi! Thousand times deserved.
The Icelandic composer association, STEF, CEO, Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir:
It is with tremendous pleasure and pride that I congratulate Edvard Egilsson on winning the Harpa Award 2024 for best score.
I find it almost unbelievable that this is the 5th time that Iceland, such a small nation, has won this prestigious award. Some say the reason for the relative success of Icelandic music might indeed be the minute population, which leads to a close-knit and supportive artistic community. I’m quite sure that’s a big part of the reason.
I also strongly believe that the investment in arts and culture, along with government support for musical education and the growing infrastructure of the music industry, also has some bearing, probably more than people realize.
But having said that, then I think it’s fair to say, that in this case, there’s no doubt that the biggest reason is simply the hard work and talent of Edvard Egilsson, who I think has a great film music career in front of him.
Read more about Eðvarð
This years award ceremony took place, once again, at Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, hosted by Jørund Fluge Samuelssen (NO) & Sanna Salmenkallio (FIN).
What is HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Nordic Film Composers Award?
An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival & All Year-Round online seminars
Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music.
Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond.
Creating a platform where the composers can meet, communicate, and cooperate.
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC
STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
Collaborators in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024:
Sound Track Cologne
EFM (European Film Market)
Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
Industry@Tallinn & Music Meets Film
Riga International Film Festival
Vilnius Film Festival & Kino Pavasaris Distribution
Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
IMMSANE, The International Media Music and Sound Arts Network in Education
Orchestral Tools
GENELEC
With support from:
Nordische Botschaften
Nordic Film and TV Foundation
Botschaft von Estland Berlin
Botschaft der Republik Lettland in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Botschaft der Republik Litauen
DPA (Danish Publishers Association) & Koda Kultur
Danish Music Publishers Association & Koda Kultur
Funded by the European Union and the Goethe-Institut: This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union
Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen (Norway) | Alle Hater Johan
2022 Berlin | Sanna Salmenkallio (Finland) | Aalto
2021 online | Flemming Nordkrog (Denmark)| Shine Your Eyes
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas (Norway) | Bröllop, begravning & dop
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and director Benedikt Erlingsson (Iceland)| Woman at war
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland) | Under the Tree
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (Denmark)
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin (Denmark) | Land of Mine
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson (Iceland)
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson (Iceland) | Rams
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye (Sweden) | Faro
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen (Finland) | Puhdistus
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson (Sweden) | Kronjuvelarna
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas (Norway) | Elias og jakten på havets gull
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck (Finland) | Letters to Father Jacob
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Coordinator of the value of the score and speedmeetings | Sydney Levine| [email protected]
International press | manlin sterner | [email protected]
Berlin, Nordische Botschaften, February 17th, 2024
The winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2024 is Icelandic composer Eðvarð Egilsson for his score to Anna Hints ’Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’.
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Egilssons award- winning score:
- The score that the jury has chosen as this year’s HARPA recipient, is very special. Special, not only because it is the result of a cooperative process between the composer and the director, but also because it is melting together human voices, rhythmic, yet fleshy sounds. Giving an earthy, earnest and poetic smoke to the film.
The score for Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is made as a collaboration between the Icelandic composer Edvard Egilsson and the Estonian electronic folk trio, Eeter – the director of the film, Anna Hints also being one of the 3 members. - The international HARPA jury 2024 is:
- Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen, HARPA winner 2023
- Canadian composer Erica Procunier,
- German producer and director of SoundTrack Cologne, which is one of Nordic Film Music Days’ partners, Michael P. Aust.
- From Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event we have Music Meets Film project manager, Hanna-Greth Peetson;
- from our partner in Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in South Korea, Lee Dongjune.
- Director of European Film Market, Dennis Ruh
- and the American international film consultant, Sydney Levine.
The jury says further:
They are all amazing, these scores, and it has been a very hard, though joyful task, to watch these films and listen to the scores.
We all agreed that all the composers would well deserve to bring back to their home country the award, created by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson, crafted by ORR and sponsored by Orchestral Tools.
We heard Finnish composer Pessi Levanto and his extremely effective, yet suggestive score for the Danish film, Superposition.
Swedish composers Irya Gmeyner and Martin Hederos are just as effective: With its subtle ethnic profile the score for the police series Thin Blue Line literally glues the scenes and events together.
With his almost omnipresent score, Norwegian Ola Fløttum is cleverly balancing the stories told and not told in the Norwegian authentic drama, Let the River Flow.
In the Danish documentary, Apolonia Apolonia, covering a span of 13 years, and the development of the young artist Apolonia Sokol, Jonas Struck’s music is as well developing over the years, transcending decades and the structure of the art world - becoming the rhythm of Apolonia’s soul.
Producer of ’Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’, Marianne Ostrat:
When choosing with which Nordic country to attempt to co-produce Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, both the director Anna Hints and I, felt a strong gravitational pull towards Iceland - it extended beyond the lure of the excellent reputation of Icelandic music. The vision was to have an Icelandic composer collaborate with Anna’s band EETER. It helped that I already had an ongoing collaboration with producer Hlín Jóhannesdóttir from Ursus Parvus, who found us Edvard Egilsson. It is Edvard’s talent of course, but even more importantly his openess and curiosity towards South-Estonian smoke sauna culture, flexibility and readiness to dive into the unknown and the primordial synchronicity with our mindsets and sensibility, that made the soundtrack of Smoke Sauna Sisterhood- of which I am so happy and proud - possible. Heartfelt congratulations to our very dear friend Eddi! Thousand times deserved.
The Icelandic composer association, STEF, CEO, Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir:
It is with tremendous pleasure and pride that I congratulate Edvard Egilsson on winning the Harpa Award 2024 for best score.
I find it almost unbelievable that this is the 5th time that Iceland, such a small nation, has won this prestigious award. Some say the reason for the relative success of Icelandic music might indeed be the minute population, which leads to a close-knit and supportive artistic community. I’m quite sure that’s a big part of the reason.
I also strongly believe that the investment in arts and culture, along with government support for musical education and the growing infrastructure of the music industry, also has some bearing, probably more than people realize.
But having said that, then I think it’s fair to say, that in this case, there’s no doubt that the biggest reason is simply the hard work and talent of Edvard Egilsson, who I think has a great film music career in front of him.
Read more about Eðvarð
This years award ceremony took place, once again, at Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, hosted by Jørund Fluge Samuelssen (NO) & Sanna Salmenkallio (FIN).
What is HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Nordic Film Composers Award?
An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival & All Year-Round online seminars
Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music.
Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond.
Creating a platform where the composers can meet, communicate, and cooperate.
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC
STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
Collaborators in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024:
Sound Track Cologne
EFM (European Film Market)
Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
Industry@Tallinn & Music Meets Film
Riga International Film Festival
Vilnius Film Festival & Kino Pavasaris Distribution
Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
IMMSANE, The International Media Music and Sound Arts Network in Education
Orchestral Tools
GENELEC
With support from:
Nordische Botschaften
Nordic Film and TV Foundation
Botschaft von Estland Berlin
Botschaft der Republik Lettland in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Botschaft der Republik Litauen
DPA (Danish Publishers Association) & Koda Kultur
Danish Music Publishers Association & Koda Kultur
Funded by the European Union and the Goethe-Institut: This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union
Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen (Norway) | Alle Hater Johan
2022 Berlin | Sanna Salmenkallio (Finland) | Aalto
2021 online | Flemming Nordkrog (Denmark)| Shine Your Eyes
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas (Norway) | Bröllop, begravning & dop
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and director Benedikt Erlingsson (Iceland)| Woman at war
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland) | Under the Tree
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (Denmark)
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin (Denmark) | Land of Mine
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson (Iceland)
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson (Iceland) | Rams
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye (Sweden) | Faro
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen (Finland) | Puhdistus
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson (Sweden) | Kronjuvelarna
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas (Norway) | Elias og jakten på havets gull
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck (Finland) | Letters to Father Jacob
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Coordinator of the value of the score and speedmeetings | Sydney Levine| [email protected]
International press | manlin sterner | [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Harpa Nordic Film Music Days announces the program for
Nordic Film Music Days 2024
Meet the composers, experience their scores, hear about their craft, and celebrate the winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2024. The composers’ organizations from the five Nordic countries invite you to the Nordic Film Music Days 2024 at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Since 2010 Nordic Film Music Days has been the place where composers, musicians, producers and directors within the film and music industry communicate, start future collaborations, educate, and network. As a part of Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is handed out to a Nordic composer who has shown excellent work in a composition for a feature, documentary, or TV series.
The nominees for HARPA 2024 are:
DENMARK Jonas Struck for Lea Glob’s Apolonia, Apolonia
FINLAND Pessi Levanto for Karoline Lyngbye’s Superposition
ICELAND Edvard Egilsson for Anna Hint’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
NORWAY Ola Fløttum for Ole Giæver’s Let the River Flow
SWEDEN Irya Gmeyner & Martin Hederos for Anders Hazelius & Sanna Lenken’s Thin Blue Line
You can meet all our nominees in the nomination videos at their individual pages at nordicfilmmusicdays.com
An international jury, from 3 continents and 4 time zones, will determine the winner. The chair of the jury is last year’s winner, Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen. Besides him we have Canadian composer Erica Procunier, German composer and festival director Michael P. Aust. From Industry@Tallinn we have Music Meets Film project manager, Hanna-Greth Peetson; from Jecheon International Music and Film Festival, Lee Dongjune. Director of European Film Market, Dennis Ruh and American Sydney Levine, international film consultant are also part of this year’s jury.
The award, created by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson, crafted by ORR and sponsored by Orchestral Tools will be handed out at an award ceremony, Saturday February 17th at Nordische Botschaften.
Nordic Film Days - Programme
Friday February 16th 2024.
14 – 15:30 | Friday afternoon, for the first time ever, Nordic Film Music Days is part of the Berlinale program. In a seminar during European Film Market, moderated by Norwegian composer and boardmember of NOPA, Kate Havnevik, we are putting focus on the Value of the Score.
16 – 17 | Following that, we offer international producers and directors a speedmeeting program with Nordic and selected Baltic film and media composers. Our activities during European Film Market are carried out in collaboration with Los Angeles and Berlin-based international film consultant, Sydney Levine.
18:30 – 21 | Friday night, in collaboration with the Baltic Embassies in Germany and three major film festivals in the Baltic region: Industry@Tallinn & Music Meets Film, Estonia, Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris, Lithuania, and Riga International Film Festival, Latvia, we present Baltic Nights, 4 short films with scores from Baltic composers.
ESTONIA Tanel Kadalipp with score for Eeva Mägi 3rd Octave F
LITHUANIA Paulius Klibauskas & Vygintas Kisevičius with score for Eitvydas Doškus’ Once Upon a Vilnius
LATVIA Artūrs Liepiņš with score for Žanete Skarule No Regrets and Fable
Saturday February 17th, 2024.
Saturday afternoon, we are giving seminars and talks, focusing on different aspects of the work of the score composer and the impact of the music. All are open to the public and free of charge to attend.
12:00-12:45 | The seminar afternoon will start with a big dive into our most important asset when experiencing music as part of film and tv: the brain. Danish composer, musician and researcher Peter Vuust, the leading expert in the field of music and the brain – a research field he has single-handedly built up as leader of the group Music In the Brain, will give us an update on different neuroscientific mechanisms that are at stake.
13:05-13:50 | An ambition of Nordic Film Music Days is to support sustainable and lifelong careers within the field of music composition as well as raising awareness and implementation of composer rights on a Nordic and European level. The following seminar, Rights and international law, hosted by Danish composer and vice chair of ECSA, Jesper Hansen and featuring chair of ECSA, Helienne Lindvall will give us the necessary brush up on legal and contractual matters.
14:10-15:00 | As this year HARPA nominated scores are presenting two award winning and acclaimed documentaries, Apolonia, Apolonia and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood we are grasping the opportunity and focusing on the professional aspects at stake when scoring for documentaries. Finnish composer and HARPA winner 2022, Sanna Salmenkallio will moderate the talk with Danish composer Jonas Struck, Icelandic composer Edvard Egilsson and the directors; Estonian Anna Hints and Danish Lea Glob.
15:30-16:45 | Focus on the scores, the scoring process and the work of the score composers, will be even more strengthened when HARPA winner 2023, Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen in a conversation with the composers presents the nominated scores.
19:00 – 21:00 | Set in the exhibition area of the Nordische Botschaften we are honoring this year’s five nominated composers and their scores and selecting and celebrating the winner of the year: The Nordic composer who has shown the most excellent work in a composition for a feature, documentary, or TV series.
Sunday, February 18th 2024
The nominated scores will be screened free of charge at the Nordic Embassies' auditorium, and you will be able to hear the scores through GENELEC's state-of-the-art speaker system.
Each screening will either be introduced or concluded by the composer.
10:00-12:00 | DK Jonas Struck | Apolonia, Apolonia
12:30-14:15 | FI Pessi Levanto | Superposition
15:45-17:15 | IS Edvard Egilsson | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
17:45-19:45 | NO Ola Fløttum | Let the River Flow
20:15-21:30 | SE Irya Gmeyner | Thin Blue Line
Monday February 19th you can also meet the Nordic composers, as a part of Nordic commissions event, Nordic Monday at Nordische Botschaften.
Please note that due to necessary security concerns, we ask all our attendees to sign up to the event and to be at the embassies 30 minutes before the start of the event.
About HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and Nordic Film Music Days
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salmenkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
Supported by
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Coordinator of the value of the score and speedmeetings | Sydney Levine| [email protected]
International press | manlin sterner | [email protected]
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Harpa Nordic Film Music Days announces the program for
Nordic Film Music Days 2024
Meet the composers, experience their scores, hear about their craft, and celebrate the winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2024. The composers’ organizations from the five Nordic countries invite you to the Nordic Film Music Days 2024 at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Since 2010 Nordic Film Music Days has been the place where composers, musicians, producers and directors within the film and music industry communicate, start future collaborations, educate, and network. As a part of Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is handed out to a Nordic composer who has shown excellent work in a composition for a feature, documentary, or TV series.
The nominees for HARPA 2024 are:
DENMARK Jonas Struck for Lea Glob’s Apolonia, Apolonia
FINLAND Pessi Levanto for Karoline Lyngbye’s Superposition
ICELAND Edvard Egilsson for Anna Hint’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
NORWAY Ola Fløttum for Ole Giæver’s Let the River Flow
SWEDEN Irya Gmeyner & Martin Hederos for Anders Hazelius & Sanna Lenken’s Thin Blue Line
You can meet all our nominees in the nomination videos at their individual pages at nordicfilmmusicdays.com
An international jury, from 3 continents and 4 time zones, will determine the winner. The chair of the jury is last year’s winner, Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen. Besides him we have Canadian composer Erica Procunier, German composer and festival director Michael P. Aust. From Industry@Tallinn we have Music Meets Film project manager, Hanna-Greth Peetson; from Jecheon International Music and Film Festival, Lee Dongjune. Director of European Film Market, Dennis Ruh and American Sydney Levine, international film consultant are also part of this year’s jury.
The award, created by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson, crafted by ORR and sponsored by Orchestral Tools will be handed out at an award ceremony, Saturday February 17th at Nordische Botschaften.
Nordic Film Days - Programme
Friday February 16th 2024.
14 – 15:30 | Friday afternoon, for the first time ever, Nordic Film Music Days is part of the Berlinale program. In a seminar during European Film Market, moderated by Norwegian composer and boardmember of NOPA, Kate Havnevik, we are putting focus on the Value of the Score.
16 – 17 | Following that, we offer international producers and directors a speedmeeting program with Nordic and selected Baltic film and media composers. Our activities during European Film Market are carried out in collaboration with Los Angeles and Berlin-based international film consultant, Sydney Levine.
18:30 – 21 | Friday night, in collaboration with the Baltic Embassies in Germany and three major film festivals in the Baltic region: Industry@Tallinn & Music Meets Film, Estonia, Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris, Lithuania, and Riga International Film Festival, Latvia, we present Baltic Nights, 4 short films with scores from Baltic composers.
ESTONIA Tanel Kadalipp with score for Eeva Mägi 3rd Octave F
LITHUANIA Paulius Klibauskas & Vygintas Kisevičius with score for Eitvydas Doškus’ Once Upon a Vilnius
LATVIA Artūrs Liepiņš with score for Žanete Skarule No Regrets and Fable
Saturday February 17th, 2024.
Saturday afternoon, we are giving seminars and talks, focusing on different aspects of the work of the score composer and the impact of the music. All are open to the public and free of charge to attend.
12:00-12:45 | The seminar afternoon will start with a big dive into our most important asset when experiencing music as part of film and tv: the brain. Danish composer, musician and researcher Peter Vuust, the leading expert in the field of music and the brain – a research field he has single-handedly built up as leader of the group Music In the Brain, will give us an update on different neuroscientific mechanisms that are at stake.
13:05-13:50 | An ambition of Nordic Film Music Days is to support sustainable and lifelong careers within the field of music composition as well as raising awareness and implementation of composer rights on a Nordic and European level. The following seminar, Rights and international law, hosted by Danish composer and vice chair of ECSA, Jesper Hansen and featuring chair of ECSA, Helienne Lindvall will give us the necessary brush up on legal and contractual matters.
14:10-15:00 | As this year HARPA nominated scores are presenting two award winning and acclaimed documentaries, Apolonia, Apolonia and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood we are grasping the opportunity and focusing on the professional aspects at stake when scoring for documentaries. Finnish composer and HARPA winner 2022, Sanna Salmenkallio will moderate the talk with Danish composer Jonas Struck, Icelandic composer Edvard Egilsson and the directors; Estonian Anna Hints and Danish Lea Glob.
15:30-16:45 | Focus on the scores, the scoring process and the work of the score composers, will be even more strengthened when HARPA winner 2023, Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen in a conversation with the composers presents the nominated scores.
19:00 – 21:00 | Set in the exhibition area of the Nordische Botschaften we are honoring this year’s five nominated composers and their scores and selecting and celebrating the winner of the year: The Nordic composer who has shown the most excellent work in a composition for a feature, documentary, or TV series.
Sunday, February 18th 2024
The nominated scores will be screened free of charge at the Nordic Embassies' auditorium, and you will be able to hear the scores through GENELEC's state-of-the-art speaker system.
Each screening will either be introduced or concluded by the composer.
10:00-12:00 | DK Jonas Struck | Apolonia, Apolonia
12:30-14:15 | FI Pessi Levanto | Superposition
15:45-17:15 | IS Edvard Egilsson | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
17:45-19:45 | NO Ola Fløttum | Let the River Flow
20:15-21:30 | SE Irya Gmeyner | Thin Blue Line
Monday February 19th you can also meet the Nordic composers, as a part of Nordic commissions event, Nordic Monday at Nordische Botschaften.
Please note that due to necessary security concerns, we ask all our attendees to sign up to the event and to be at the embassies 30 minutes before the start of the event.
About HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and Nordic Film Music Days
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salmenkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
- Sound Track Cologne
- EFM (European Film Market)
- Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
- Industry@Tallinn
- Riga International Film Festival
- Vilnius Film Festival & Kino Pavasaris Distribution
- Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
- IMMSANE, The International Media Music and Sound Arts Network in Education
- Orchestral Tools
- GENELEC
Supported by
- Nordische Botschaften
- The Danish Music Publishers Association & Koda Kultur
- Danish Professional Songwriters & Producers
- The European Commission: Culture Moves Europe
- Nordisk Film og TV fond
- Orchestral Tools
- Botschaft von Estland
- Botschaft der Republik Lettland in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
- Botschaft der Republik Litauen
- Lithuanian Cultural Institute
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Coordinator of the value of the score and speedmeetings | Sydney Levine| [email protected]
International press | manlin sterner | [email protected]
Friday, December 8, 2023
Harpa Nordic Film Music Days announces the nominees for Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award 2024
The composer organizations of the five Nordic countries have announced their national nominees for the 14th annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on February 17th during Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin, with the full program to be announced in January.
Get ready for a reel adventure that explores women in the arts, the allure of sauna culture, and the poignant narratives of female vulnerability, all while tackling the weighty subjects of colonialism.
The nominees HARPA 2024 are:
· DENMARK Jonas Struck for Lea Glob’s Apolonia, Apolonia
· FINLAND Pessi Levanto for Karoline Lyngbye’s Superposition
· ICELAND Edvard Egilsson for Anna Hint’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
· NORWAY Ola Fløttum for Ole Giæver’s Let the River Flow
· SWEDEN Irya Gmeyner & Martin Hederos for Anders Hazelius & Cilla Jackert’s Thin Blue Line
DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for ”Apolonia, Apolonia” | directed by Lea Glob
Danish Jury Quote:
Jonas Struck has created a beautiful score that stitches together Lea Glob's film about Apolonia Sokol's struggle with life in a magical and unpretentious manner. It is vulnerable and raw music that rests both in the power of the simple theme and in the grander symphonic perspective, and subtly mirrors Apolonia's development from budding artist in Paris' bohemian environment to internationally recognized painter. The composer sensitively supports the documentary's protagonist, reflecting both the downturns and triumphs of life. The highly varied choice of instruments and vocals elegantly contributes to the depth and complexity of the film.
FINLAND | Pessi Levanto for his score for “Superposition” | directed by Karoline Lyngbye
Finnish Jury Quote:
Pessi Levanto's timeless and organic score raises Superposition's mystic atmosphere to a new dimension, in a way that only a professionally tailored original score can.
Music is strongly present, but no hints are granted for the viewer about what is about to happen or what one should think.
Levanto's score is in a primal way familiar and yet unheard.
ICELAND | Eðvarð Egilsson for his score for “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” | directed by Anna Hints
Icelandic Jury Quote:
It is special and rare to witness an interaction of the music withall the elements that make up this multilayered storytelling that is tender, honest, heartrending and which extends an invitation to the audience to participate in the process of cleansing and purification.
The music is woven out of the fabric of the film and the tradition that inspired it.
The music interacts with subtle sound-design and with the visuals and words it becomes a unique experience where the end result is much greater than the sum of its parts.
NORWAY | Ola Fløttum for his score for ”Let the River Flow” | directed by Ole Giæver Norwegian Jury Quote:
Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow circles around a young woman undergoing major changes. Ola Fløttum's music guides the audience in this complex process. His compositions enhance the temperature and colors of the film, allowing us to become one with the protagonist's emotions. The music is never melodramatically insistent, although it's almost omnipresent in both strength and frequency, and thus an important part of the cinema experience; it's significant without being overpowering. This balance act impressed the jury, who will also highlight Fløttum's exquisite use of electronic instruments.
SWEDEN | Irya Gmeyner & Martin Hederos for their score for the TV Series “Thin Blue Line” | directed by Sanna Lenken
Swedish Jury Quote:
With an almost iconic theme, the music takes us directly into the social and emotional environment of the series, where we follow Malmö police officers in their work, private lives, and relationships. Marked by sensitivity and humanity, the music portrays ethical dilemmas and dramatic scenes with a contemporary and inviting interface, demonstrating skill in craftsmanship and composition. Throughout the series, the music accompanies the visuals without smoothing over or simplifying, managing to maintain the complexity of challenging issues in its simplicity.
An international jury, chaired by last years winner Jørund Fluge Samuelsen, will determine the winner.
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, virtually in 2021, as a hybrid event in 2022 and back to a full audience in 2023.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU EXPECT DURING HARPA NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS
Get ready for an action-packed lineup at HARPA Nordic Film Music Days! Our schedule is bursting with engaging seminars, delving into topics like composer's rights and the fascinating impact of music on the brain. Dive deep into the creative realms of each nominee as we present them in an insightful panel discussion. But wait, there's more! This year, on Friday the 16th of February, we're treating you to an exclusive showcase on the value of film scores during the Berlinale followed by speed meeting, connecting Nordic composers with international producers and directors.
That's not all – we're forging exciting new partnerships with major film festivals across the Baltics, including the Black Nights Film Festival, Vilnius International Film Festival, and Riga International Film Festival. Together, under the banner of Baltic Nights, we'll present films from these prestigious festivals, accompanied by a sip of exquisite Estonian wine, courtesy of the Estonian Embassy. It's a unique opportunity to mingle, enjoy fantastic films, and explore the artistry of Baltic scoring.
Sunday, February 18th the nominated scores will be screened free of charge at the Nordic Embassies' auditorium, and you will be able to hear the scores through GENELEC's state-of-the-art speaker system.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
Collaborators of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2024
- Sound Track Cologne
- EFM (European Film Market)
- Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
- Riga International Film Festival
- Vilnius Film Festival & Kino Pavasaris Distribution
- Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
- IMMSANE, The International Media Music and Sound Arts Network in Education
- Orchestral Tools
- GENELEC
Supported by
- Nordische Botschaften
- The Danish Music Publishers Association & Koda Kultur
- The European Commission: Culture Moves Europe
- Nordisk Film og TV fond
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | [email protected] | +45 81 71 62 09
Jørund Fluge Samuelsen wins HARPA 2023
Berlin, Nordische Botschaften, February 18th, 2022
The winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 is Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen for his score to Hallvar Witzø’s ’Alle hater Johan’
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Jørund’s award- winning score:
Comedy is such a difficult thing to score. But Jørund Fluge Samuelsen balances it very cleverly.
His score for ’Alle Hater Johan’ is such a strong voice. It adds so much energy to the film, is humorous and perfectly blended in with the structure of the scenes and the film, and has a universal quality value.
The tragicomic film and its music spans 70 years and implements different genres, styles, and countries. The totality made up by the music, the composition, the use of instruments, made us realise that this composer is somebody very smart. And we, the jury, would really like to hear more music from Jørund Fluge Samuelsen.
Producer of ’Alle Hater Johan’, Elisabeth Kvithyll:
Undeniably original and inventive, solely based on authentic Norwegian soundscapes and its soul, Jørund´s soundtrack brings just the right amount of comedy to it, with a delicate sense of sentimentality as well. The whole team behind «Everybody Hates Johan» is proud of his film composing debut and we can not wait to follow his future work.
The Norwegian composer asociation, NOPA:
Jørund is a NOPA-member we are proud of having among us. His body of work spans from roaming the pop chars with his old group ”Trang Fødsel” to composing Norwegian grammy-winning music for children. He also has his own studio (Audioskop) where he produces everything from folk musik to pop music. His use of natural sounding, ”home made” acoustics makes the score of ”Everybody Hates Johan” to something very unique. We feel his approach contributes to the diversity of Norwegian film music.
Read more about Jørund here
The international jury behind HARPA 2023 is last year’s winner of The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award, Finnish Sanna Salmenkallio. The other members are director, composer and producer Cho Sung-woo from South Korea, composer Christine Aufderhaar and festival director Michael P. Aust from Germany, Lucy Bright from Britain and Belgian Sophie Joos.
The other nominated scores for the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 were:
DENMARK ’Holy Spider’, directed by Ali Abbasi, scored by Martin Dirkov.
An important, and very cruel story, with music from Martin Dirkov that, even though there is not a lot of it, takes the story to a deeper level of roughness and fear. A twist of Arabic notes and a clever interfacing with the sound-design - and the silence – makes the music consistently arrive at the right point and do the right thing.
At a political level this film is very important and Dirkov’s score is something very special. The jury of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 would like to pay you that tribute. What a job you have done! It needs a special mention. Thank you, Martin!
FINLAND ’Armotonta menoa – hoivatyön lauluja (Ruthless Times – Songs about care)’, documentary by Susanna Helke, scored by Finnish Anna Mari Kähärä.
The Finnish film, RUTHLESS TIMES: SONGS OF CARE | ARMOTONTA MENOA - HOIVATYÖN LAULUJA is yet another documentary. Transforming the deeply concerned letters from elderly health care employees into powerful choir singing composer Anna-Mari Kähärä and director Susanna Helke has made a truly original artistic choice. It makes you listen, and it forces you to comprehend the injustice which the elderly citizens are experiencing. It makes a big impact.
Thank you, Anna-Mari and Susanna.
ICELAND Skjálfti (Quake), by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, scored by Icelandic Eðvarð Egilsson & Páll Ragnar Pálsson
With Páll Ragnar Pálsson and Eðvarð Egilsson‘s score for SKJÁLFTI | QUAKE, we are once again facing an artist album. Subtle, describing the main character and her inner repressed and hidden self the music becomes the voice of neurons and inner turmoil. Created in the tradition of Miklós Rózsa and David Raksin this music can have a long life.
Thank you Páll and Eðvarð.
SWEDEN The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, documentary directed by Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri, and score by Swedish Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman.
What an artist album you have made, Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman. The music for THE MOST BEAUTYFUL BOY IN THE WORLD can stand alone! But experienced alongside the touching documentary of a very beautiful boy, Bjørn who grows up to be a racked and tormented mature man, the low-key music is the interweaving element of all the artistical film narratives. Which makes the documentary quite striking.
This years award ceremony took place, once again, at Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, was hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Sanna Salmenkallio (FIN) presenting the award. As part of the gala presentation a musical suprise, ’Johan’ Suite was performed by vocalist Christine Hals (NO) and accordion player Silke Lange (DE).
About HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
Established in 2010 with past winners including Sanna Salmenkallio, Flemming Nordkrog, Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and director Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson and Dani Strömbäck.
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway and Music Finland and supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2023
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
The winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 is Norwegian composer Jørund Fluge Samuelsen for his score to Hallvar Witzø’s ’Alle hater Johan’
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Jørund’s award- winning score:
Comedy is such a difficult thing to score. But Jørund Fluge Samuelsen balances it very cleverly.
His score for ’Alle Hater Johan’ is such a strong voice. It adds so much energy to the film, is humorous and perfectly blended in with the structure of the scenes and the film, and has a universal quality value.
The tragicomic film and its music spans 70 years and implements different genres, styles, and countries. The totality made up by the music, the composition, the use of instruments, made us realise that this composer is somebody very smart. And we, the jury, would really like to hear more music from Jørund Fluge Samuelsen.
Producer of ’Alle Hater Johan’, Elisabeth Kvithyll:
Undeniably original and inventive, solely based on authentic Norwegian soundscapes and its soul, Jørund´s soundtrack brings just the right amount of comedy to it, with a delicate sense of sentimentality as well. The whole team behind «Everybody Hates Johan» is proud of his film composing debut and we can not wait to follow his future work.
The Norwegian composer asociation, NOPA:
Jørund is a NOPA-member we are proud of having among us. His body of work spans from roaming the pop chars with his old group ”Trang Fødsel” to composing Norwegian grammy-winning music for children. He also has his own studio (Audioskop) where he produces everything from folk musik to pop music. His use of natural sounding, ”home made” acoustics makes the score of ”Everybody Hates Johan” to something very unique. We feel his approach contributes to the diversity of Norwegian film music.
Read more about Jørund here
The international jury behind HARPA 2023 is last year’s winner of The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award, Finnish Sanna Salmenkallio. The other members are director, composer and producer Cho Sung-woo from South Korea, composer Christine Aufderhaar and festival director Michael P. Aust from Germany, Lucy Bright from Britain and Belgian Sophie Joos.
The other nominated scores for the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 were:
DENMARK ’Holy Spider’, directed by Ali Abbasi, scored by Martin Dirkov.
An important, and very cruel story, with music from Martin Dirkov that, even though there is not a lot of it, takes the story to a deeper level of roughness and fear. A twist of Arabic notes and a clever interfacing with the sound-design - and the silence – makes the music consistently arrive at the right point and do the right thing.
At a political level this film is very important and Dirkov’s score is something very special. The jury of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 would like to pay you that tribute. What a job you have done! It needs a special mention. Thank you, Martin!
FINLAND ’Armotonta menoa – hoivatyön lauluja (Ruthless Times – Songs about care)’, documentary by Susanna Helke, scored by Finnish Anna Mari Kähärä.
The Finnish film, RUTHLESS TIMES: SONGS OF CARE | ARMOTONTA MENOA - HOIVATYÖN LAULUJA is yet another documentary. Transforming the deeply concerned letters from elderly health care employees into powerful choir singing composer Anna-Mari Kähärä and director Susanna Helke has made a truly original artistic choice. It makes you listen, and it forces you to comprehend the injustice which the elderly citizens are experiencing. It makes a big impact.
Thank you, Anna-Mari and Susanna.
ICELAND Skjálfti (Quake), by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, scored by Icelandic Eðvarð Egilsson & Páll Ragnar Pálsson
With Páll Ragnar Pálsson and Eðvarð Egilsson‘s score for SKJÁLFTI | QUAKE, we are once again facing an artist album. Subtle, describing the main character and her inner repressed and hidden self the music becomes the voice of neurons and inner turmoil. Created in the tradition of Miklós Rózsa and David Raksin this music can have a long life.
Thank you Páll and Eðvarð.
SWEDEN The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, documentary directed by Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri, and score by Swedish Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman.
What an artist album you have made, Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman. The music for THE MOST BEAUTYFUL BOY IN THE WORLD can stand alone! But experienced alongside the touching documentary of a very beautiful boy, Bjørn who grows up to be a racked and tormented mature man, the low-key music is the interweaving element of all the artistical film narratives. Which makes the documentary quite striking.
This years award ceremony took place, once again, at Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, was hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Sanna Salmenkallio (FIN) presenting the award. As part of the gala presentation a musical suprise, ’Johan’ Suite was performed by vocalist Christine Hals (NO) and accordion player Silke Lange (DE).
About HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
Established in 2010 with past winners including Sanna Salmenkallio, Flemming Nordkrog, Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and director Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson and Dani Strömbäck.
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway and Music Finland and supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2023
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
Nordic Film Music Days 2023 - The music, the composers, and the craft
Copenhagen, January 26th 2023
Nordic Film Music Days is back for its 13th edition. An impressive line-up of Nordic talent, knowledge, and experience: Nominated composers, invited keynote speakers and panelists and people from the Nordic composer organizations are all joining forces to make it happen. With the support of Nordisk Film and TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin we are eager to present you with this year’s most impressive Nordic scores and the new trends and thoughts from Nordic composers.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 - tremendous amount of talent
The nominated composers of 2023 deliver a tremendous amount of talent at this year’s HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
This year’s nominated film scores are each filled with a commanding and energetic presence. Each composition has been hand–selected by a national jury that deemed their piece of music would offer a unique experience and should, rightfully so, be highlighted, praised, and enjoyed by the public. And rightfully, each film has gone on to receive a variety of different nominations and awards.
Holy Spider, directed by Ali Abbasi, and score written by Danish Martin Dirkov, has been nominated for a long list of Awards for example, the European Film Awards, the Seville European Film Festival the Palme d’Or from Cannes Film Festival. The film recently won the Golden Elm Award at the Allywood Film Critics Association Awards.
Armotonta menoa – hoivatyön lauluja (Ruthless Times – Songs about care), the stunning documentary directed by Susanna Helke, and score written by Finnish Anna Mari Kähärä, was awarded the Locarno Zonta Club Award at the Locarno Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Nordic Documentary at Nordisk Panorama.
Skjálfti (Quake), the powerful masterpiece directed by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, and score written by Icelandic Eðvarð Egilsson & Páll Ragnar Pálsson, was recently nominated for Best Film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Alle Hater Johan, directed by Hallvar Witzø, and score written by Norwegian Jørund Fluge Samuelsen, has won the award for Best Score at the Amanda Awards in Norway and has also won for Best Film at the Leiden International Film Festival.
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, the acclaimed documentary directed by Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri, and score written by Swedish Anna Von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman, has since its release in 2021 been nominated for a string of awards, including The European Film Awards, Sundance Film Festival, and London Critics Circle Film Awards. The film has however, won the award for Best Documentary for The Kristallen Swedish Television Award, Best Film for the Master of Art Film Festival, and Best Editing at the Swedish Film Guldbagge Awards.
NFMD is ready for a comeback
Since the past two years have been online, Nordic Film Music Days are finally ready to welcome the public through the gates of the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin and have its first ON-SITE event since 2020.
To kick-off the weekend, we have partnered with the Finnish company GENELEC and their experience center in Berlin and are therefore offering and encouraging film composers to send in their music to be able to participate in the immersive musical experience that GENELEC has to offer. You will be able to listen to your composition through the state-of-the-art loudspeaker system on Friday 17.02.23.
Seminars and screenings – not to miss!
Our program on Saturday is packed with a strong line-up of seminars to highlight the European film industry and culture, give a deeper understanding on film music for children and not to mention, for the first time ever, a representative from each of the major film scoring educations in the Nordics will be in the same panel, ready to discuss and share the ins and outs of the different programs.
Don’t miss out on the film screenings on Sunday as we will show each of the nominated films and the nominated composers will either introduce or conclude the screening with a little teaser on how they created the score.
We have the privilege of ingoing a cooperation with Nordic Film Commissions, a network of 15 film commissions from the Nordic countries and are therefore joining Nordic Monday which will take place on the 20.02.23 between 11.00–15.00. This event will create a space for film producers, film composers and many more so that they can network, mingle, and learn from one another.
Closing the gender gap
Likewise, we’re being greeted by WIFTI, Women in Film & Television International and Track15 Female Composers Collective. At NFMD we’ve prided ourselves with being able to highlight the distance and disproportion between male and female film composers within the film and music industry. This is an on-going challenge and discussion which is why, this year, we consider ourselves lucky enough to be working alongside two strong female networking collectives so that we can help advance the professional achievement of women within the industry.
We’re excited to welcome back everyone who has experienced this event with us before and newcomers who are hearing about us for the first time. Stay updated on our website, Instagram and Facebook and don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience the proper comeback of Nordic Film Music Days and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
Nordic Film Music Days will take place from the 18.02.23–19.02.23 at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, Germany. To register or read more about each event, please see the full program on our website: www.nordicfilmmusicday.com
#namethefilmcomposer #harpaawards #nordicfilmmusicdays
Nordic Film Music Days is back for its 13th edition. An impressive line-up of Nordic talent, knowledge, and experience: Nominated composers, invited keynote speakers and panelists and people from the Nordic composer organizations are all joining forces to make it happen. With the support of Nordisk Film and TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin we are eager to present you with this year’s most impressive Nordic scores and the new trends and thoughts from Nordic composers.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2023 - tremendous amount of talent
The nominated composers of 2023 deliver a tremendous amount of talent at this year’s HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
This year’s nominated film scores are each filled with a commanding and energetic presence. Each composition has been hand–selected by a national jury that deemed their piece of music would offer a unique experience and should, rightfully so, be highlighted, praised, and enjoyed by the public. And rightfully, each film has gone on to receive a variety of different nominations and awards.
Holy Spider, directed by Ali Abbasi, and score written by Danish Martin Dirkov, has been nominated for a long list of Awards for example, the European Film Awards, the Seville European Film Festival the Palme d’Or from Cannes Film Festival. The film recently won the Golden Elm Award at the Allywood Film Critics Association Awards.
Armotonta menoa – hoivatyön lauluja (Ruthless Times – Songs about care), the stunning documentary directed by Susanna Helke, and score written by Finnish Anna Mari Kähärä, was awarded the Locarno Zonta Club Award at the Locarno Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Nordic Documentary at Nordisk Panorama.
Skjálfti (Quake), the powerful masterpiece directed by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, and score written by Icelandic Eðvarð Egilsson & Páll Ragnar Pálsson, was recently nominated for Best Film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Alle Hater Johan, directed by Hallvar Witzø, and score written by Norwegian Jørund Fluge Samuelsen, has won the award for Best Score at the Amanda Awards in Norway and has also won for Best Film at the Leiden International Film Festival.
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, the acclaimed documentary directed by Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri, and score written by Swedish Anna Von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman, has since its release in 2021 been nominated for a string of awards, including The European Film Awards, Sundance Film Festival, and London Critics Circle Film Awards. The film has however, won the award for Best Documentary for The Kristallen Swedish Television Award, Best Film for the Master of Art Film Festival, and Best Editing at the Swedish Film Guldbagge Awards.
NFMD is ready for a comeback
Since the past two years have been online, Nordic Film Music Days are finally ready to welcome the public through the gates of the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin and have its first ON-SITE event since 2020.
To kick-off the weekend, we have partnered with the Finnish company GENELEC and their experience center in Berlin and are therefore offering and encouraging film composers to send in their music to be able to participate in the immersive musical experience that GENELEC has to offer. You will be able to listen to your composition through the state-of-the-art loudspeaker system on Friday 17.02.23.
Seminars and screenings – not to miss!
Our program on Saturday is packed with a strong line-up of seminars to highlight the European film industry and culture, give a deeper understanding on film music for children and not to mention, for the first time ever, a representative from each of the major film scoring educations in the Nordics will be in the same panel, ready to discuss and share the ins and outs of the different programs.
Don’t miss out on the film screenings on Sunday as we will show each of the nominated films and the nominated composers will either introduce or conclude the screening with a little teaser on how they created the score.
We have the privilege of ingoing a cooperation with Nordic Film Commissions, a network of 15 film commissions from the Nordic countries and are therefore joining Nordic Monday which will take place on the 20.02.23 between 11.00–15.00. This event will create a space for film producers, film composers and many more so that they can network, mingle, and learn from one another.
Closing the gender gap
Likewise, we’re being greeted by WIFTI, Women in Film & Television International and Track15 Female Composers Collective. At NFMD we’ve prided ourselves with being able to highlight the distance and disproportion between male and female film composers within the film and music industry. This is an on-going challenge and discussion which is why, this year, we consider ourselves lucky enough to be working alongside two strong female networking collectives so that we can help advance the professional achievement of women within the industry.
We’re excited to welcome back everyone who has experienced this event with us before and newcomers who are hearing about us for the first time. Stay updated on our website, Instagram and Facebook and don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience the proper comeback of Nordic Film Music Days and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
Nordic Film Music Days will take place from the 18.02.23–19.02.23 at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, Germany. To register or read more about each event, please see the full program on our website: www.nordicfilmmusicday.com
#namethefilmcomposer #harpaawards #nordicfilmmusicdays
HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD
ANNOUNCES THEIR NOMINEES
The nominees are Martin Dirkov (Denmark) for “Holy Spider,” Anna Mari Kähärä (Finland) for “Ruthless Times: Songs of Care,” Jørund Fluge Samuelsen (Norway) for “Alle Hater Johan,” Eðvarð Egilsson & Páll Ragnar Pálsson (Iceland) for “Skjálfti/ Quake,” and Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman (Sweden) for “Most Beautiful Boy in the World”
The award ceremony to take place during Nordic Film Music Days on 18.02.23 – 19.02.23 in Berlin
07.12.22 Berlin
The composer organizations of the five Nordic countries have announced their national nominees for the 13th Annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on Feb 18th during Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin, with the full program to be announced in January.
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic composer of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have picked their national nominee. The theme that follows this year’s nominees is showcased through biographical and documentarian lenses as the distinction from the fictional cinematic experience gets embedded with a contemporary presentation of the modern world. The five composers reflect the high quality of Nordic artistry.
The nominees are:
DENMARK | Martin Dirkov for his score for” Holy Spider” | directed by Ali Abbasi
Danish Jury Quote: Martin Dirkov has created a complex and unconventional score for Ali Abbasi's intense psychological thriller, "Holy Spider". Dirkov's mix of symphonic drama, middle eastern motifs, and abstract electronic soundscapes elegantly integrates with the sound design and cinematography and brings us convincingly into the Spider Murderer's claustrophobic and naive psychopathy, as well as the female journalist's emotional fight against corruption and misogyny. The music captures the suffocating sense of mortal fear, but manages simultaneously to be beautifully melodic and inventive, and credibly underlines the unpredictable and scary twists of the story.
FINLAND | Anna Mari Kähärä for her score for “Ruthless Times: Songs of Care” | directed by Susanna Helke
Finnish Jury Quote: Anna-Mari Kähärä's primitive, honest, and touching score breaks straight through the endurance deficits, statistics, and staff sizings of the modern eldercare. In Kähärä's music the silent and silenced ones gain a voice so powerful and rugged that it hurts: it’s a cry for help and humanity of the generations.
ICELAND | Eðvarð Egilsson, Páll Ragnar Pálsson for their score for “Quake” | directed by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir
Icelandic Jury Quote: Music, memory and feelings are intricately linked. This has been the essence of rituals that have been celebrated since the beginning of civilization. Music and sound have been used to trigger emotions in a variety of situations ranging from cathartic expressions of sympathy, grief, love to the salivating dogs of Pavolv.
In film history there are numerous examples where music has been a prime mover and even an invisible character as in Miklós Rózsa’s music for “Spellbound” and David Raksin’s haunting theme for “Laura” to cite two enormously influential examples.
Páll Ragnar Pálsson and Eðvarð Egilsson know their music history, technique and evade all pitfalls that an unmeasured approach might invite. The music comes out of the main character and her inner self that is repressed and hidden. It becomes the voice of the neurons and the inner turmoil that in lesser hands might invite cliché upon cliché. Every note is controlled and there for a reason. Every nuance finds its way into the music but never gives anything away and only illustrates what is there.
This is Zen in the Art of Film Music. A subtle masterpiece from two composers at the pinnacle of their powers, using their accumulated experience in various forms and expressions of music in a purposeful and wonderfully creative way.
NORWAY | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen for his score for ”Alle Hater Johan” | directed by Hallvar Witzø
Norwegian Jury Quote: This is the story about an outsider in a tiny community nestling the Norwegian shoreline. His parents fought the Germans in WWII, mostly with dynamite. Apparently, a fascination for explosives stuck with Johan in a way that makes him very unpopular with the other inhabitants of the hamlet. The music of Jørund Fluge Samuelsen keeps the slapstick-style comedy of the film very much down to earth, and is always quite low-key, despite a few explosive moments. A few melodies and repeated chords unify the score, while the instrumentation underlines both the folksiness of Johan himself and the setting. Sound-producing objects you may find in a wind torn house on the coast include Jew’s harp, harmonicas, fiddles, a harmonium and then some more exotic percussion and a didgeridoo (that blends in rather surprisingly). Add a male chorus, and you have a score which brings a measured amount of comedy, sentimentality, and a quirky, homemade feel to the whole film. Beneath all the humour, there are some darker truths about what war does to people and how we retell stories from the war, with Samuelsen’s score adding quite a bit of afterthought.
SWEDEN | Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman for their score for “Most Beautiful Boy in the World” | directed by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström
Swedish Jury Quote: “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” is a striking story about the musician and actor Björn Andrésen who was chosen by Luchino Visconti for the part of young Tadzio in his film from 1971. Many years later Björn Andrésen thoughtfully tells Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström about the film role which took on such a fateful significance in his life.
The beautiful, evocative music score by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman emphasizes his story about a life marked by dramatic events and tragedies in dark moods, in fragile strings and piano. The story about a boy whose mother disappeared when he was 10, a boy carrying an inner sense of emptiness, a boy who wanted to become a concerto pianist but became an icon because of his beauty at age 14. The low-key, brilliant music by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman interweaves in a delicate way all the artistical film narratives in this striking documentary.
An international jury will now determine the winner. The 2023 jury members are:
Sanna Salmenkallio (Finland) – Composer & 2022 HARPA Winner
Christine Aufderhaar (Germany) – Composer
Sophie Joos (Belgium) - Music Projects Coordinator | World Soundtrack Awards
Sung-woo Cho (South Korea) – Composer
Michael P. Aust (Germany) – Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne
Lucy Bright (UK) – Music Supervisor
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021 and as hybrid event in 2022.
For more information, please visit www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway, and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days is once again co-operating closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin and the national film institutes. Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordische Botschaften and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Nordic Film Composers Award is the ‘place-to-meet’ for anybody interested in Nordic film and Nordic film- & media-music. Through collaborations with other European festivals and events, Nordic Film Music Days is constantly showcased.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2023
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
07.12.22 Berlin
The composer organizations of the five Nordic countries have announced their national nominees for the 13th Annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on Feb 18th during Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin, with the full program to be announced in January.
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic composer of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have picked their national nominee. The theme that follows this year’s nominees is showcased through biographical and documentarian lenses as the distinction from the fictional cinematic experience gets embedded with a contemporary presentation of the modern world. The five composers reflect the high quality of Nordic artistry.
The nominees are:
DENMARK | Martin Dirkov for his score for” Holy Spider” | directed by Ali Abbasi
Danish Jury Quote: Martin Dirkov has created a complex and unconventional score for Ali Abbasi's intense psychological thriller, "Holy Spider". Dirkov's mix of symphonic drama, middle eastern motifs, and abstract electronic soundscapes elegantly integrates with the sound design and cinematography and brings us convincingly into the Spider Murderer's claustrophobic and naive psychopathy, as well as the female journalist's emotional fight against corruption and misogyny. The music captures the suffocating sense of mortal fear, but manages simultaneously to be beautifully melodic and inventive, and credibly underlines the unpredictable and scary twists of the story.
FINLAND | Anna Mari Kähärä for her score for “Ruthless Times: Songs of Care” | directed by Susanna Helke
Finnish Jury Quote: Anna-Mari Kähärä's primitive, honest, and touching score breaks straight through the endurance deficits, statistics, and staff sizings of the modern eldercare. In Kähärä's music the silent and silenced ones gain a voice so powerful and rugged that it hurts: it’s a cry for help and humanity of the generations.
ICELAND | Eðvarð Egilsson, Páll Ragnar Pálsson for their score for “Quake” | directed by Tinna Hrafnsdóttir
Icelandic Jury Quote: Music, memory and feelings are intricately linked. This has been the essence of rituals that have been celebrated since the beginning of civilization. Music and sound have been used to trigger emotions in a variety of situations ranging from cathartic expressions of sympathy, grief, love to the salivating dogs of Pavolv.
In film history there are numerous examples where music has been a prime mover and even an invisible character as in Miklós Rózsa’s music for “Spellbound” and David Raksin’s haunting theme for “Laura” to cite two enormously influential examples.
Páll Ragnar Pálsson and Eðvarð Egilsson know their music history, technique and evade all pitfalls that an unmeasured approach might invite. The music comes out of the main character and her inner self that is repressed and hidden. It becomes the voice of the neurons and the inner turmoil that in lesser hands might invite cliché upon cliché. Every note is controlled and there for a reason. Every nuance finds its way into the music but never gives anything away and only illustrates what is there.
This is Zen in the Art of Film Music. A subtle masterpiece from two composers at the pinnacle of their powers, using their accumulated experience in various forms and expressions of music in a purposeful and wonderfully creative way.
NORWAY | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen for his score for ”Alle Hater Johan” | directed by Hallvar Witzø
Norwegian Jury Quote: This is the story about an outsider in a tiny community nestling the Norwegian shoreline. His parents fought the Germans in WWII, mostly with dynamite. Apparently, a fascination for explosives stuck with Johan in a way that makes him very unpopular with the other inhabitants of the hamlet. The music of Jørund Fluge Samuelsen keeps the slapstick-style comedy of the film very much down to earth, and is always quite low-key, despite a few explosive moments. A few melodies and repeated chords unify the score, while the instrumentation underlines both the folksiness of Johan himself and the setting. Sound-producing objects you may find in a wind torn house on the coast include Jew’s harp, harmonicas, fiddles, a harmonium and then some more exotic percussion and a didgeridoo (that blends in rather surprisingly). Add a male chorus, and you have a score which brings a measured amount of comedy, sentimentality, and a quirky, homemade feel to the whole film. Beneath all the humour, there are some darker truths about what war does to people and how we retell stories from the war, with Samuelsen’s score adding quite a bit of afterthought.
SWEDEN | Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman for their score for “Most Beautiful Boy in the World” | directed by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström
Swedish Jury Quote: “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” is a striking story about the musician and actor Björn Andrésen who was chosen by Luchino Visconti for the part of young Tadzio in his film from 1971. Many years later Björn Andrésen thoughtfully tells Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström about the film role which took on such a fateful significance in his life.
The beautiful, evocative music score by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman emphasizes his story about a life marked by dramatic events and tragedies in dark moods, in fragile strings and piano. The story about a boy whose mother disappeared when he was 10, a boy carrying an inner sense of emptiness, a boy who wanted to become a concerto pianist but became an icon because of his beauty at age 14. The low-key, brilliant music by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman interweaves in a delicate way all the artistical film narratives in this striking documentary.
An international jury will now determine the winner. The 2023 jury members are:
Sanna Salmenkallio (Finland) – Composer & 2022 HARPA Winner
Christine Aufderhaar (Germany) – Composer
Sophie Joos (Belgium) - Music Projects Coordinator | World Soundtrack Awards
Sung-woo Cho (South Korea) – Composer
Michael P. Aust (Germany) – Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne
Lucy Bright (UK) – Music Supervisor
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021 and as hybrid event in 2022.
For more information, please visit www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway, and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days is once again co-operating closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin and the national film institutes. Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordische Botschaften and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Nordic Film Composers Award is the ‘place-to-meet’ for anybody interested in Nordic film and Nordic film- & media-music. Through collaborations with other European festivals and events, Nordic Film Music Days is constantly showcased.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2023
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
The winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022 is Finnish composer Sanna Salmenkallio for her score to Virpi Suutari’s documentary ‘Aalto’
Sa. 12.02.22
The 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.
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Sanna’s award- winning score:
“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 was delighted to see five projects that showcase 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.
Of course, the music itself, the use of it – and the projects they derive from – are very different – and that just made it even harder to choose.”
This year the award ceremony was streamed from Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin. In addition, the ceremony was available to be viewed by global audiences.
The award show was hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Flemming Nordkrog (DK) presenting the award. As a musical suprise a ’Aalto’ Suite was performed as part of the gala presentation.
The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award has been established in 2010 and past winners include Flemming Nordkrog, Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson and Dani Strömbäck.
HARPA International Jury 2022:
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the year’s most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship.
About Sanna Salmenkalio
Sanna Salmenkallio is one of the most experienced film composers in Finland. She has composed the score for more than 30 films, mostly artistically ambitious documentary features. As a composer she has worked with symphony orchestras, smaller ensembles, and electronic music.
Salmenkallio has created her own style by mixing classical background to different contemporary and experimental elements. Her strength, in addition to composing, is a deep understanding of dramaturgy. She has won four Jussi Awards for the best film score in Finland. She has also composed lots of music for theatre and dance performances. She loves experimental film and theatre as well and works regularly with community art projects.
She has both classical music education from Sibelius Academy and an education as Sound Designer from Theatre Academy, which creates an inspiring dialogue between sound and music. She has also a passion for Arabic music, which she studied in Cairo. As a violinist she is specialized on improvisation.
”For me music is a way to explore the world. I compose with curiosity.” – Sanna Salmenkallio
For the past years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin have become a fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival.
Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival. Make sure to submit for the 2021 HARPA Awards and to participate in the Nordic Film Music Days.
The 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.
The International jury released a statement about the nominated composers and Sanna’s award- winning score:
“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 was delighted to see five projects that showcase 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.
Of course, the music itself, the use of it – and the projects they derive from – are very different – and that just made it even harder to choose.”
This year the award ceremony was streamed from Felleshuset at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin. In addition, the ceremony was available to be viewed by global audiences.
The award show was hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Flemming Nordkrog (DK) presenting the award. As a musical suprise a ’Aalto’ Suite was performed as part of the gala presentation.
The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award has been established in 2010 and past winners include Flemming Nordkrog, Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson and Dani Strömbäck.
HARPA International Jury 2022:
- Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | 2021 HARPA Winner
- Lucy Bright | UK | Music Supervisor and Publisher (Bright Notion Music)
- Mark Siegmund | KR/DE | Production & Location Manager in South Korea
- Miriam Cutler | USA | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
- Thomas van Parys | BE | Music Office World Soundtrack Awards + Film Fest Ghent
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the year’s most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship.
About Sanna Salmenkalio
Sanna Salmenkallio is one of the most experienced film composers in Finland. She has composed the score for more than 30 films, mostly artistically ambitious documentary features. As a composer she has worked with symphony orchestras, smaller ensembles, and electronic music.
Salmenkallio has created her own style by mixing classical background to different contemporary and experimental elements. Her strength, in addition to composing, is a deep understanding of dramaturgy. She has won four Jussi Awards for the best film score in Finland. She has also composed lots of music for theatre and dance performances. She loves experimental film and theatre as well and works regularly with community art projects.
She has both classical music education from Sibelius Academy and an education as Sound Designer from Theatre Academy, which creates an inspiring dialogue between sound and music. She has also a passion for Arabic music, which she studied in Cairo. As a violinist she is specialized on improvisation.
”For me music is a way to explore the world. I compose with curiosity.” – Sanna Salmenkallio
For the past years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin have become a fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival.
Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival. Make sure to submit for the 2021 HARPA Awards and to participate in the Nordic Film Music Days.
Nordic Film Music Days 2022 Announces Its Program
Sa. 22.01.22
For Immediate Release
Creating Scores is the main theme for the 12th edition of Nordic Film Music Days, highlighting innovative Nordic Composers and their works
Berlin, January 21, 2022
On Saturday, February 12th, 2022 Nordic Film Music Days welcomes audiences to its 12th edition of this popular event taking place annually during Berlinale- Berlin International Film Festival. Saturday afternoon will be dedicated to panels, workshops and an opportunity to meet Nordic composers, hear their music and learn about the craft of creating scores. On Saturday evening the Annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award ceremony will be taking place. And on Sunday, February 13th the nominated films will screen at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Due to COVID restrictions, the organizers have chosen to broadcast the panel event and the award ceremony live from the Nordische Botschaften to five Nordic Hubs in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, where guests can gather and participate. In addition, the event will live stream and be accessible worldwide.
Full Program:
Sa. 12.02.22
12.00 – 02.00 (CET)
Presentation and Talk
Creating the score – Creating the film
Meet the five nominated composers and hear about the early collaboration between composer and director. The nominated composers are:
DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for “Vores mand i Amerika” (directed by Christina Rosendahl)
FINLAND | Sanna Salmenkallio for her score for “Aalto” (directed by Virpi Suutari)
ICELAND| Tóti Guðnason for his score for “Lamb” (directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson)
NORWAY | Erik Ljunggren for his score for “Gritt” (directed by Itonje Søimer Guttormsen)
SWEDEN | Johan Testad for his score for “Björnstad” (directed by Peter Grönlund)
In this seminar with all 5 HARPA 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 for audiences to ask their own questions about the work of a score composer.
Moderated by Halfdan E (DK)
02.00 – 14.30 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
Soundtracks, their importance as a calling card for composers and how to prepare and release them
In this conversation between Mikael Carlsson (SE) and Jesper Hansen (DK) we will address the importance of the soundtracks. How big is their effect? And how can you increase that effect?
14.45 – 15.15 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
Agreements & the workflow in productions
Jean-Paul Wall (SE) and Ida-Lee Brandel (SE) have put down a small list of things that might be useful for a composer who finds herself in the position of a music supervisor.
15.30 – 16.00 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
DSM article 18-23 New legislation = new opportunities
In this conversation Koda's senior legal advisor, Kaspar Lindhardt (DK) and chairman of Skap Alfons Karabuda (SE) will take us through the copyright directive and its implications for Nordic composers.
19.00 – 20.00 CET
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award show
The winner of the 12th Nordic Film Composers Award will be announced.
Audiences can watch the Award show on www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The award show will be hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Flemming Nordkrog (DK).
Sun. 13.02.22
Screening of the nominated movies tba
For the full program, please visit www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The 2022 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award International Jury Members are
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic score of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have watched, listened, discussed, and finally decided which of the submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee. An international jury determines the winner, which this year will be announced Saturday Feb 12th during Nordic Film Music Days.
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Interview requests | Thomas Mikusz | [email protected] | +1 310 230 567
Nordic Film Music Days and HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Film- and Media Composers)
- Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and International PR
For Immediate Release
Creating Scores is the main theme for the 12th edition of Nordic Film Music Days, highlighting innovative Nordic Composers and their works
Berlin, January 21, 2022
On Saturday, February 12th, 2022 Nordic Film Music Days welcomes audiences to its 12th edition of this popular event taking place annually during Berlinale- Berlin International Film Festival. Saturday afternoon will be dedicated to panels, workshops and an opportunity to meet Nordic composers, hear their music and learn about the craft of creating scores. On Saturday evening the Annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award ceremony will be taking place. And on Sunday, February 13th the nominated films will screen at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Due to COVID restrictions, the organizers have chosen to broadcast the panel event and the award ceremony live from the Nordische Botschaften to five Nordic Hubs in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, where guests can gather and participate. In addition, the event will live stream and be accessible worldwide.
Full Program:
Sa. 12.02.22
12.00 – 02.00 (CET)
Presentation and Talk
Creating the score – Creating the film
Meet the five nominated composers and hear about the early collaboration between composer and director. The nominated composers are:
DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for “Vores mand i Amerika” (directed by Christina Rosendahl)
FINLAND | Sanna Salmenkallio for her score for “Aalto” (directed by Virpi Suutari)
ICELAND| Tóti Guðnason for his score for “Lamb” (directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson)
NORWAY | Erik Ljunggren for his score for “Gritt” (directed by Itonje Søimer Guttormsen)
SWEDEN | Johan Testad for his score for “Björnstad” (directed by Peter Grönlund)
In this seminar with all 5 HARPA 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 for audiences to ask their own questions about the work of a score composer.
Moderated by Halfdan E (DK)
02.00 – 14.30 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
Soundtracks, their importance as a calling card for composers and how to prepare and release them
In this conversation between Mikael Carlsson (SE) and Jesper Hansen (DK) we will address the importance of the soundtracks. How big is their effect? And how can you increase that effect?
14.45 – 15.15 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
Agreements & the workflow in productions
Jean-Paul Wall (SE) and Ida-Lee Brandel (SE) have put down a small list of things that might be useful for a composer who finds herself in the position of a music supervisor.
15.30 – 16.00 CET
DIY & PRESENTATION
DSM article 18-23 New legislation = new opportunities
In this conversation Koda's senior legal advisor, Kaspar Lindhardt (DK) and chairman of Skap Alfons Karabuda (SE) will take us through the copyright directive and its implications for Nordic composers.
19.00 – 20.00 CET
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award show
The winner of the 12th Nordic Film Composers Award will be announced.
Audiences can watch the Award show on www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The award show will be hosted by Haldan E (DK) & Kaisa Rönkkö (FIN), with last year’s HARPA winner Flemming Nordkrog (DK).
Sun. 13.02.22
Screening of the nominated movies tba
For the full program, please visit www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The 2022 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award International Jury Members are
- 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/ coordinator for International and Korean productions
- Miriam Cutler (USA) Award- winning Film- and Media Composer
- Thomas Van Parys (BE) Music Office, Film Fest Ghent & World Soundtrack Awards
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic score of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have watched, listened, discussed, and finally decided which of the submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee. An international jury determines the winner, which this year will be announced Saturday Feb 12th during Nordic Film Music Days.
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Interview requests | Thomas Mikusz | [email protected] | +1 310 230 567
Nordic Film Music Days and HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Film- and Media Composers)
- Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and International PR
Nordic Film Music Days announces the five national nominees for HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022
Wed. 08.12.21
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.
The award ceremony will take place on Feb 12th with more details on the location to be announced in January.
The nominees are:
DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for “Vores mand i Amerika” (directed by Christina Rosendahl)
*** An excellent and personal film score - inventive and different***
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***
ICELAND| Þórarinn 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 ***
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. ***
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 ***
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic score of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have watched, listened, discussed, and finally decided which of the submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee. An international jury will determine the winner, which will be announced Saturday Feb 12th during Nordic Film Music Days.
For more information: www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Interview requests | Thomas Mikusz | [email protected] | +1 310 230 567
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days is once again co-operating closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin and the national film institutes. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Nordic Film Composers Award is the ‘place-to-meet’ for anybody interested in Nordic film and Nordic film- & media-music. Through collaborations with other European festivals and events, Nordic Film Music Days is showcased throughout the year.
Nordic Film Music Days and HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
- Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and International PR
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.
The award ceremony will take place on Feb 12th with more details on the location to be announced in January.
The nominees are:
DENMARK | Jonas Struck for his score for “Vores mand i Amerika” (directed by Christina Rosendahl)
*** An excellent and personal film score - inventive and different***
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***
ICELAND| Þórarinn 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 ***
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. ***
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 ***
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the most outstanding Nordic score of the year - and thereby putting a spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. National juries from each Nordic country have watched, listened, discussed, and finally decided which of the submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee. An international jury will determine the winner, which will be announced Saturday Feb 12th during Nordic Film Music Days.
For more information: www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival and virtually in 2021.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelarna”
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
For more information:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Interview requests | Thomas Mikusz | [email protected] | +1 310 230 567
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, Music Norway and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days is once again co-operating closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin and the national film institutes. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Nordic Film Composers Award is the ‘place-to-meet’ for anybody interested in Nordic film and Nordic film- & media-music. Through collaborations with other European festivals and events, Nordic Film Music Days is showcased throughout the year.
Nordic Film Music Days and HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is supported by Nordisk Film og TV fond and the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
- Skap (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Swedish Society of Composers)
- Music Finland
- FMC (Finnish Music Creators)
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
- Music Norway
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
- Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and International PR
37 Diverse and Impressive Scores Have Been Submitted For HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022
Tue. 05.10.21
We know that Nordic composers are talented, inspiring and successful.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award asked composers working in the Nordic countries and being a member of the national collecting society to submit their best Film & TV Scores for HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022.
The composition had to be for a narrative feature, documentary or TV-series released between
July 21st, 2020, and July 21st, 2021. Submission deadline was October 1st.
From now and until December 1st the 5 national jurys will choose the 5 nominated Nordic composers that will go to Berlin for HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Composers Award.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days 2022
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & The Nordic Film Music Days is a popular fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival. Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, exchange ideas, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival.
THE NEXT EDITION WILL BE TAKING PLACE ON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12th & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13th AT NORDISCHE BOTSCHAFTEN IN BERLIN.
Sign up for our newsletter – send a mail to [email protected]
What is HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Nordic Film Composers Award?
An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival & All Year-Round online seminars
• communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in the EU
• Connecting Nordic creatives with global decision makers for international collaborations
We know that Nordic composers are talented, inspiring and successful.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award asked composers working in the Nordic countries and being a member of the national collecting society to submit their best Film & TV Scores for HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2022.
The composition had to be for a narrative feature, documentary or TV-series released between
July 21st, 2020, and July 21st, 2021. Submission deadline was October 1st.
From now and until December 1st the 5 national jurys will choose the 5 nominated Nordic composers that will go to Berlin for HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Composers Award.
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days 2022
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & The Nordic Film Music Days is a popular fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival. Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, exchange ideas, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival.
THE NEXT EDITION WILL BE TAKING PLACE ON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12th & SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13th AT NORDISCHE BOTSCHAFTEN IN BERLIN.
Sign up for our newsletter – send a mail to [email protected]
What is HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Nordic Film Composers Award?
An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival & All Year-Round online seminars
• communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in the EU
• Connecting Nordic creatives with global decision makers for international collaborations
The winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2021 is Flemming Nordkrog for his score to Matias Marianis’ ‘Shine Your Eyes’ (Netflix)
Thu. 18.02.21
The Jury of the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award awarded Danish composer Flemming Nordkrog with this years award for his score for ‘Shine Your Eyes’, directed by Matias Marianis.
Jury statement:
“It was a true pleasure to watch and listen to the 5 nominated films – different as they were, they were all showcasing your individual talent - and the talent, knowledge and craftmanship that lies within the Nordic countries. They all deserve a special mention. And they all have this special mention – as a nominee for this years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
The jury of this years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award want to honor a score which is inventive, unconventional, and mystic. A bold and very accomplished score that served the picture very well. This film is not packed with music, it comes in just at the right places. It features a creative and especially colourful use of the small ensemble chosen, and leaves quite a long after burning.
It makes you want to listen; listen out of context, listen.
Because it shines.”
This year the award ceremony took place in a virtual setting with global audiences coming together to celebrate Nordic music and its creators. The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award has been established in 2010 and past winners include Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson, and Dani Strömbäck.
HARPA International Jury 2021:
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the year’s most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. The winner receives a statuette designed by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson and crafted by Orr.
About Flemming Nordkrog:
Paris based Flemming Nordkrog is one of the most prominent Danish film composers. Over the years, he has created music for more than 25 feature films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, TV-movies and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US. Among other. Lately he has completed the scores for the highly acclaimed TV-series ‘Follow the Money III’ (Denmark), the new series for Arte, ‘Moloch’ (France), and the French film ‘Ogre’, by Arnaud Malherbe. In 2010, he was nominated for the HARPA-award for the Danish feature film ‘Velsignelsen’ (The Blessing) by Heidi Maria Faisst, which premiered at the Göteborg Film Festival.
Bio to http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/flemming-nordkrog-dk.html
Video Interview: https://youtu.be/KrD_T_OgzqQ
For the past years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin have become a fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival.
Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival. Make sure to submit for the 2022 HARPA Awards and to participate in the Nordic Film Music Days next year again.
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award
• An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival
• Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in EU
• Connecting Nordic creatives with global decision makers for international collaborations.
For further PRESS information contact:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1 310 230 5678
For further information about the event contact:
NFCN coordinator | Lone Nyhuus
[email protected] | +45 2384 2456
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
-SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
-FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
-Music Finland
-Finnish Music Creators FMC
-STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
-NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
-Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
-Music Norway
-BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
-Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and international PR
Nordic Film Music Days 2021 is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
The Jury of the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award awarded Danish composer Flemming Nordkrog with this years award for his score for ‘Shine Your Eyes’, directed by Matias Marianis.
Jury statement:
“It was a true pleasure to watch and listen to the 5 nominated films – different as they were, they were all showcasing your individual talent - and the talent, knowledge and craftmanship that lies within the Nordic countries. They all deserve a special mention. And they all have this special mention – as a nominee for this years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
The jury of this years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award want to honor a score which is inventive, unconventional, and mystic. A bold and very accomplished score that served the picture very well. This film is not packed with music, it comes in just at the right places. It features a creative and especially colourful use of the small ensemble chosen, and leaves quite a long after burning.
It makes you want to listen; listen out of context, listen.
Because it shines.”
This year the award ceremony took place in a virtual setting with global audiences coming together to celebrate Nordic music and its creators. The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award has been established in 2010 and past winners include Gaute Storaas (two time winner), Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson, Daníel Bjarnason, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, Sune Martin, Johann Johannsson, Atli Örvarsson, Matti Bye, Tuomas Kantelinen, Fredrik Emilson, and Dani Strömbäck.
HARPA International Jury 2021:
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Each year during the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded to the year’s most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship. The winner receives a statuette designed by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson and crafted by Orr.
About Flemming Nordkrog:
Paris based Flemming Nordkrog is one of the most prominent Danish film composers. Over the years, he has created music for more than 25 feature films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, TV-movies and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US. Among other. Lately he has completed the scores for the highly acclaimed TV-series ‘Follow the Money III’ (Denmark), the new series for Arte, ‘Moloch’ (France), and the French film ‘Ogre’, by Arnaud Malherbe. In 2010, he was nominated for the HARPA-award for the Danish feature film ‘Velsignelsen’ (The Blessing) by Heidi Maria Faisst, which premiered at the Göteborg Film Festival.
Bio to http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/flemming-nordkrog-dk.html
Video Interview: https://youtu.be/KrD_T_OgzqQ
For the past years HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award & Nordic Film Music Days at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin have become a fixture on the event calendar during BERLINALE – Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a unique opportunity to spotlight Nordic composers and to celebrate their music during this prestigious festival.
Nordic Film Music Days create a space to communicate, start future collaborations, educate and to network during the festival. Make sure to submit for the 2022 HARPA Awards and to participate in the Nordic Film Music Days next year again.
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award
• An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival
• Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in EU
• Connecting Nordic creatives with global decision makers for international collaborations.
For further PRESS information contact:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1 310 230 5678
For further information about the event contact:
NFCN coordinator | Lone Nyhuus
[email protected] | +45 2384 2456
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
-SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
-FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
-Music Finland
-Finnish Music Creators FMC
-STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
-NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
-Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
-Music Norway
-BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
-Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and international PR
Nordic Film Music Days 2021 is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Nordic Composer Survey: Transfer of Composer Rights
12.02.21
A recent survey with Nordic Composers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden found that 50% of Nordic film and media composers in recent Nordic survey have been pushed to transfer part of their copyright in order for the production company to re-direct part of copyright revenue back to its company.
33% of the Nordic film and media composers lost the job, when turning down “the offer” from the production company.
As part of this years Nordic Film Music Days 2021 the Nordic composer organizations have carried out a, first of its kind, survey with the Nordic film and media composers.
The reason for the survey is the rapidly changing Nordic market norms. Traditionally, Nordic authors and creators kept their authors rights, being remunerated with a regularly portioned copyright throughout a career. This flow of revenues are now being cut off from the creators of music to the benefit of a company profit, draining the creative value-chain to the detriment of a sustainable value-chain.
With the increase of global digital platforms, the authors but also writers and directors are among those having to waive their rights for a lump sum payment.
The Nordic survey will show you to what extent, while digging deeper into the mechanism and the negative effects of buy-out practices.
Tuesday February 16nd from 5-7 PM we will reveal more information in the online seminar.
President of ECSA and the president of SKAP, Alfons Karabuda will present the survey and Adrian Strain and Cristina Perpina Robert Navarro will tell about the coming awareness campaign from CISAC.
And we will point forward towards more sustainable contract that benefits both parties.
WHAT ELSE THIS YEAR IN NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS?
This year the NFMD program will include screenings of the nominated films, a panel conversation with the HARPA nominees, an insightful workshop on how to use existing platforms & programs such as Berlinale Talents, SoundTrack_Cologne, SoundTrack_Zurich & various European artist platforms, an overview on promotional materials for composers, the already mentioned important seminar on creating sustainable contracts, a panel on creativity, collaboration & working together and breakout rooms for composers & director meetings. To round up the program NFMD will celebrate the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award with a ceremony bringing the Film Music community together.
All events are free of charge and open to the public.
See full program here
WHAT IS NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS
• An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival
• Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in EU
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and by Nordic Council of Ministers by the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
A recent survey with Nordic Composers in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden found that 50% of Nordic film and media composers in recent Nordic survey have been pushed to transfer part of their copyright in order for the production company to re-direct part of copyright revenue back to its company.
33% of the Nordic film and media composers lost the job, when turning down “the offer” from the production company.
As part of this years Nordic Film Music Days 2021 the Nordic composer organizations have carried out a, first of its kind, survey with the Nordic film and media composers.
The reason for the survey is the rapidly changing Nordic market norms. Traditionally, Nordic authors and creators kept their authors rights, being remunerated with a regularly portioned copyright throughout a career. This flow of revenues are now being cut off from the creators of music to the benefit of a company profit, draining the creative value-chain to the detriment of a sustainable value-chain.
With the increase of global digital platforms, the authors but also writers and directors are among those having to waive their rights for a lump sum payment.
The Nordic survey will show you to what extent, while digging deeper into the mechanism and the negative effects of buy-out practices.
Tuesday February 16nd from 5-7 PM we will reveal more information in the online seminar.
President of ECSA and the president of SKAP, Alfons Karabuda will present the survey and Adrian Strain and Cristina Perpina Robert Navarro will tell about the coming awareness campaign from CISAC.
And we will point forward towards more sustainable contract that benefits both parties.
WHAT ELSE THIS YEAR IN NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS?
This year the NFMD program will include screenings of the nominated films, a panel conversation with the HARPA nominees, an insightful workshop on how to use existing platforms & programs such as Berlinale Talents, SoundTrack_Cologne, SoundTrack_Zurich & various European artist platforms, an overview on promotional materials for composers, the already mentioned important seminar on creating sustainable contracts, a panel on creativity, collaboration & working together and breakout rooms for composers & director meetings. To round up the program NFMD will celebrate the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award with a ceremony bringing the Film Music community together.
All events are free of charge and open to the public.
See full program here
WHAT IS NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS
• An annual event during Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival
• Communicating & presenting the quality of Nordic film and media-music
• Strengthening artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond
• Increasing Nordic film composers’ access to the European markets
• Strengthening the Nordic film position in EU
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and by Nordic Council of Ministers by the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS AND
HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD 2021
ANNOUNCES ITS FULL PROGRAM
The Nordic Film Music Days will take place virtually
from Sa. 13.02.21 – Thu. 18.02.21
with the HARPA Award Ceremony on Thu.18.02.21
01.02.21
– Since 2010, Nordic countries and its composers have joined forces to shine the spotlight on Nordic Film Music and Nordic Film with the HARPA Film Composers Award and the Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD), which have been taking place during Berlinale over the past years. Like many festivals and conferences this year, the NFMD are now taking place in a virtual setting, with the benefit of reaching wider audiences and to celebrate Nordic music online across the globe.
This year the NFMD program will include screenings of the nominated films, a panel conversation with the HARPA nominees, an insightful workshop on how to use existing platforms & programs such as Berlinale Talents, SoundTrack_Cologne, SoundTrack_Zurich & various European artist programs, an overview on promotional materials for composers, an important seminar on creating sustainable contracts, a panel on creativity, collaboration & working together and breakout rooms for composers & director meetings. To round up the program NFMD will celebrate the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award with a ceremony bringing the Film Music community together.
All events are free of charge and open to the public.
Registration at www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
Detailed program (all times listed are Central European Time):
Sa. 13.02.21 10.00 – 18.00 CET
Public screenings of the nominated films
DENMARK | Flemming Nordkrog | Shine Your Eyes | Matias Mariani
FINLAND | Pessi Levanto | Psychosia | Marie Grahtø Sørensen
ICELAND | ‘Hugar | The Vasulka Effect | Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir
NORWAY | Marcus Paus | Torden | Andre Øvredal
SWEDEN | Jon Ekstrand | 438 dagar | Jesper Ganslandt
Sun. 14.02.21 18.00 – 19.00 CET
Panel conversation: Meet the five HARPA Film Composers Award nominees.
Mo. 15.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Workshop for Professionals: How to use existing platforms & programs?
Florian Weghorn (Program Manager of Berlinale Talents) will talk about how Berlinale Talent works as a platform for film professionals, Michael P. Aust (Director SoundTrack_Cologne and SoundTrack_Zurich) will share his knowledge about composer platforms to use and Harriet Moss (Managing Director of Manners McDade Agency) will talk about European artist programs.
Workshop for Professionals: PR Materials for composers
Thomas Mikusz (President White Bear PR) gives a brief overview on how composers prepare their showreel, bios and presence for going out in the world.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Tue. 16.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Seminar for Professionals: Creating sustainable contracts.
What knowledge do composers need to be able to make contracts that are fair for both sides? How do they use these contracts to create quality content? What is quality – and what are producers and composers ready to pay for it?
Alfons Karabuda (President ECSA & SKAP) informs about Nordic conditions and the Nordic Survey on composer contracts.
Adrian Strain (Director Communications, CISAC) and/or Cristina Perpiná-Robert Navarro (Director of Legal Affairs, CISAC) inform audiences about CISACs newly launched awareness campaign.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Wed. 17.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Panel for Professionals & General Public: Creativity, collaboration & working together.
Composers Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand give examples from their collaboration on the documentary, ‘I am Greta’; moderated by Flemming Nordkrog.
Composer Nainita Desai and director Jerry Rotwell talk about their cooperation on the documentary ‘The Reason I Jump’; moderated by Kate Havnevik.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Thu. 18.02.21 17.00 – 18.00 CET
Professionals & Public: Annual HARPA Award Ceremony
Meet the nominees, learn more about Nordic Film Music Days and celebrate the winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2021. And, of course, the winner will receive the actual award. The award show is moderated by Sophia Ersson (Swedish HARPA nominee 2017). The award show will be live streamed at www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com and www.nordischebotschaften.org
HARPA Jury 2021
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management LLP
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Breakout rooms and celebration from 18.00 – 19.00 CET
Logos and Images for 2021 NFMD HERE
Video from NFMD 2020 HERE
Photos from NFMD 2020 HERE
Video interviews with 2021 nominees:
DENMARK | Flemming Nordkrog
FINLAND | Pessi Levanto
ICELAND | Hugar
NORWAY | Marcus Paus
SWEDEN | Jon Ekstrand
Media contact:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1 310 230 5678
Event contact:
NFCN coordinator | Lone Nyhuus
[email protected] | + 45 2384 2456
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
-SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
-FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
-Music Finland
-Finnish Music Creators FMC
-STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
-NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
-Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
-Music Norway
-BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
-Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and international PR
Nordic Film Music Days 2021 is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS AND
HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD 2021
ANNOUNCES ITS FULL PROGRAM
The Nordic Film Music Days will take place virtually
from Sa. 13.02.21 – Thu. 18.02.21
with the HARPA Award Ceremony on Thu.18.02.21
01.02.21
– Since 2010, Nordic countries and its composers have joined forces to shine the spotlight on Nordic Film Music and Nordic Film with the HARPA Film Composers Award and the Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD), which have been taking place during Berlinale over the past years. Like many festivals and conferences this year, the NFMD are now taking place in a virtual setting, with the benefit of reaching wider audiences and to celebrate Nordic music online across the globe.
This year the NFMD program will include screenings of the nominated films, a panel conversation with the HARPA nominees, an insightful workshop on how to use existing platforms & programs such as Berlinale Talents, SoundTrack_Cologne, SoundTrack_Zurich & various European artist programs, an overview on promotional materials for composers, an important seminar on creating sustainable contracts, a panel on creativity, collaboration & working together and breakout rooms for composers & director meetings. To round up the program NFMD will celebrate the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award with a ceremony bringing the Film Music community together.
All events are free of charge and open to the public.
Registration at www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com
Detailed program (all times listed are Central European Time):
Sa. 13.02.21 10.00 – 18.00 CET
Public screenings of the nominated films
DENMARK | Flemming Nordkrog | Shine Your Eyes | Matias Mariani
FINLAND | Pessi Levanto | Psychosia | Marie Grahtø Sørensen
ICELAND | ‘Hugar | The Vasulka Effect | Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir
NORWAY | Marcus Paus | Torden | Andre Øvredal
SWEDEN | Jon Ekstrand | 438 dagar | Jesper Ganslandt
Sun. 14.02.21 18.00 – 19.00 CET
Panel conversation: Meet the five HARPA Film Composers Award nominees.
Mo. 15.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Workshop for Professionals: How to use existing platforms & programs?
Florian Weghorn (Program Manager of Berlinale Talents) will talk about how Berlinale Talent works as a platform for film professionals, Michael P. Aust (Director SoundTrack_Cologne and SoundTrack_Zurich) will share his knowledge about composer platforms to use and Harriet Moss (Managing Director of Manners McDade Agency) will talk about European artist programs.
Workshop for Professionals: PR Materials for composers
Thomas Mikusz (President White Bear PR) gives a brief overview on how composers prepare their showreel, bios and presence for going out in the world.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Tue. 16.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Seminar for Professionals: Creating sustainable contracts.
What knowledge do composers need to be able to make contracts that are fair for both sides? How do they use these contracts to create quality content? What is quality – and what are producers and composers ready to pay for it?
Alfons Karabuda (President ECSA & SKAP) informs about Nordic conditions and the Nordic Survey on composer contracts.
Adrian Strain (Director Communications, CISAC) and/or Cristina Perpiná-Robert Navarro (Director of Legal Affairs, CISAC) inform audiences about CISACs newly launched awareness campaign.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Wed. 17.02.21 17.00 – 19.00 CET
Panel for Professionals & General Public: Creativity, collaboration & working together.
Composers Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand give examples from their collaboration on the documentary, ‘I am Greta’; moderated by Flemming Nordkrog.
Composer Nainita Desai and director Jerry Rotwell talk about their cooperation on the documentary ‘The Reason I Jump’; moderated by Kate Havnevik.
Breakout rooms for directors, producers & composers from 7pm – 8pm
Thu. 18.02.21 17.00 – 18.00 CET
Professionals & Public: Annual HARPA Award Ceremony
Meet the nominees, learn more about Nordic Film Music Days and celebrate the winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2021. And, of course, the winner will receive the actual award. The award show is moderated by Sophia Ersson (Swedish HARPA nominee 2017). The award show will be live streamed at www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com and www.nordischebotschaften.org
HARPA Jury 2021
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management LLP
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Breakout rooms and celebration from 18.00 – 19.00 CET
Logos and Images for 2021 NFMD HERE
Video from NFMD 2020 HERE
Photos from NFMD 2020 HERE
Video interviews with 2021 nominees:
DENMARK | Flemming Nordkrog
FINLAND | Pessi Levanto
ICELAND | Hugar
NORWAY | Marcus Paus
SWEDEN | Jon Ekstrand
Media contact:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1 310 230 5678
Event contact:
NFCN coordinator | Lone Nyhuus
[email protected] | + 45 2384 2456
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2021
-SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
-FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
-Music Finland
-Finnish Music Creators FMC
-STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
-NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
-Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
-Music Norway
-BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
-Thomas Mikusz, White Bear PR/Associated Publicist and international PR
Nordic Film Music Days 2021 is supported by Nordisk Film og TV Fond and Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Press release
04.12.21
Below you will find the Nominees for the 2021 Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award, which will be awarded during Berlinale International Film Festival.
Each year during the Harpa Nordic Film Music Days the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded this years most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship.
Over the last two months national juries from each Nordic country has watched, listened, discussed and finally decided which of the 50 submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee.
Now the decision is handed over to an international jury, and the winner of the 11th HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award will be revealed as part of the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, Sunday February 14th and Monday February 15th, 2021.
The Harpa Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016 the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival. This year's ceremony will be carried out as a virtual event.
International jury
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management LLP
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | Bröllop, begravning & dop
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | Woman at war
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | Under the Tree
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | Land of Mine
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | Rams
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | Faro
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | Puhdistus
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | Kronjuvelarna
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | Elias og jakten på havets gull
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | Letters to Father Jacob
for more information contact
Project coordinator Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
International PR agent Thomas Mikusz | thomas@whitebearpr.com| +1 310 230 5678
DENMARK
Flemming Nordkrog
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Matias Mariani's (BR) ’Shine Your Eyes’
Flemming Nordkrog has created a bold, moving and inventive score, which excellently carries the mysterious twist and turns of the story in Matias Mariani's pensive French/Brasilian drama.
The extensive use of melancholy woodwind, with additions of ambient guitar, vocals and percussion, and even whispered spoken word, are unusual choices of orchestration, and effectively creates a synergy with the strongly architechtural character of the images, hinting at both futuristic modernism and magic realism.
At times the music becomes one with the bustling, labyrinthic metropolis of Sao Paolo, at others it comes to the forefront, carrying us further into the world of the protagonist, who is trapped between duty to his family far away, a convoluted pseudo-scientific search for his lost brother, and his desire for a new life.
The complexity of the plot is playfully conveyed by the score, which never fails to stir our emotions and curiosity, and builds the tension in perfect symbiosis with the story and images.
A classy score which is at once meditative and thought-provoking.
Danish jury:
Lone Scherfig | film director
Ida Rud Nielsen | film critic and journalist
Morten Groth Brandt | sound editor
ICELAND
Hugar: Bergur Thorisson & Petur Jonsson
2021 HARPA Nominees for their score for Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (IS) ’The Vasulka Effect’
’The Vasulka Effect’, a feature film length documentary, is a classic fairytale but with some unusual twists: In the beginning the princess rescues the prince and the “heroic journey” is not linear on the normal time-scale. This is a story about a labour of love on a personal, creative, narrative and musical level.
The subjects, Steina and Woody, represent the classical and the avant-garde, artistry and craftmanship, the analogue and the digital and the music follows and embodies all those aspects. With their feet firmly planted in all those worlds the composers illustrate in a subtle and effective way the Vasulka’s enermous and mostly overlooked contribution to our modern world.
We have been become accustomed to the overlap of sound and vision but the music portrays the sine waves, the fast Fourier transforms, the characters, the historical context and the complex emotions in a unique and touching way befitting the subject. A labour of love that mirrors and enhances the protagonists, the sensitive and inventive direction and a timeless inspiring story.
Icelandic jury:
Hilmar Oddsson| film director
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir | screenwriter and composer
Pétur S. Jónsson | composer
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, composer
FINLAND
Pessi Levanto
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Marie Grahtø Sørensen ’Psychosia’
Pessi Levanto´s score in the film ’Psychosia’ is a masterful example of how not to overwrite. Everything irrelevant is cut out and every cue is on the spot. The music pays a clear homage to contemporary classical composers rather than to the more traditional film music composers. Pessi also cleverly uses material derived from Schubert´s Der Leiermann.
More than a regular film score the music almost acts a role of its own in the film as one of the characters. It haunts you when you least expect it and stays in the shadows when you would like it to help you the most. It keeps you on your toes and doesn’t relieve the tension for a second. The music has a totally unique sound to it organically hand crafted by Pessi with his own recordings of harp, piano, vocals and violin twisted to his taste, making the score a thrilling masterpiece.
Finnish jury:
JUri Seppá
NORWAY
Marcus Paus
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for André Øvredal’s (NO) ’Torden’
Marcus Paus provides a deliciously dark score for Andre Øvredal’s fantasy film Mortal [Torden] (2020) that is less about superficial action and more about psychological turmoil. As the protagonist comes to terms with his supernatural powers, the music slowly and gradually increases in size and urgency. Inside this expansive symphonic idiom, Paus colours the landscape further with complex string and brass clusters, voices and occasional Norwegian folk elements, like the Hardanger fiddle – elegantly guiding the story from realism to mythology. Mortal is an impressively mature orchestral work that feels both introvert and extrovert at the same time, painting its fantastical canvas in broad, impressionistic strokes.
Norwegian jury:
Thor Joachim Haga | Journalist
Irene Tillung | Composer/Artist
Jan Erik Mikalsen | Composer
SWEDEN
Jon Ekstrand
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Jesper Ganslandt’s (SE) ’438 dagar’
The film 438 days is based on a true story.
Jon Ekstrand has written a brilliant score that efficiently underlines and complements a very strong human drama. The music supports the documentary character of the story, it never turns into overdramatized, hard-core action. Using a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds in a seamless and creative way, Ekstrand fully illustrates the characters´ emotions and the different settings and places of the film.
Swedish jury:
Ulla-Carin Nyquist | composer and author
Martin Jonsson Tibblin | composer, president FST
04.12.21
Below you will find the Nominees for the 2021 Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award, which will be awarded during Berlinale International Film Festival.
Each year during the Harpa Nordic Film Music Days the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award is awarded this years most outstanding Nordic composer - and thereby putting spotlight on Nordic talent and craftmanship.
Over the last two months national juries from each Nordic country has watched, listened, discussed and finally decided which of the 50 submitted scores will proceed as their national nominee.
Now the decision is handed over to an international jury, and the winner of the 11th HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award will be revealed as part of the 2021 HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, Sunday February 14th and Monday February 15th, 2021.
The Harpa Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016 the award ceremony took place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival. This year's ceremony will be carried out as a virtual event.
International jury
Gaute Storaas | Norway | 2020 HARPA Winner
Harriet Moss | United Kingdom | Managing Director Manners McDade Artist Management LLP
Michael Aust | Germany | Festival Director SoundTrack_Cologne & SoundTrack_Zurich
Nainita Desai | United Kingdom | Award-winning Film and Media Composer
Simon Greenaway | United Kingdom | ASCAP Vice President, Membership UK/ Europe
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | Bröllop, begravning & dop
2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | Woman at war
2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | Under the Tree
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honor award | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Denmark
2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | Land of Mine
2016 Berlin | Honor award | Johann Johannsson | Iceland
2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | Rams
2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | Faro
2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | Puhdistus
2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | Kronjuvelarna
2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | Elias og jakten på havets gull
2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | Letters to Father Jacob
for more information contact
Project coordinator Lone Nyhuus | [email protected] | +45 23 84 24 56
International PR agent Thomas Mikusz | thomas@whitebearpr.com| +1 310 230 5678
DENMARK
Flemming Nordkrog
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Matias Mariani's (BR) ’Shine Your Eyes’
Flemming Nordkrog has created a bold, moving and inventive score, which excellently carries the mysterious twist and turns of the story in Matias Mariani's pensive French/Brasilian drama.
The extensive use of melancholy woodwind, with additions of ambient guitar, vocals and percussion, and even whispered spoken word, are unusual choices of orchestration, and effectively creates a synergy with the strongly architechtural character of the images, hinting at both futuristic modernism and magic realism.
At times the music becomes one with the bustling, labyrinthic metropolis of Sao Paolo, at others it comes to the forefront, carrying us further into the world of the protagonist, who is trapped between duty to his family far away, a convoluted pseudo-scientific search for his lost brother, and his desire for a new life.
The complexity of the plot is playfully conveyed by the score, which never fails to stir our emotions and curiosity, and builds the tension in perfect symbiosis with the story and images.
A classy score which is at once meditative and thought-provoking.
Danish jury:
Lone Scherfig | film director
Ida Rud Nielsen | film critic and journalist
Morten Groth Brandt | sound editor
ICELAND
Hugar: Bergur Thorisson & Petur Jonsson
2021 HARPA Nominees for their score for Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (IS) ’The Vasulka Effect’
’The Vasulka Effect’, a feature film length documentary, is a classic fairytale but with some unusual twists: In the beginning the princess rescues the prince and the “heroic journey” is not linear on the normal time-scale. This is a story about a labour of love on a personal, creative, narrative and musical level.
The subjects, Steina and Woody, represent the classical and the avant-garde, artistry and craftmanship, the analogue and the digital and the music follows and embodies all those aspects. With their feet firmly planted in all those worlds the composers illustrate in a subtle and effective way the Vasulka’s enermous and mostly overlooked contribution to our modern world.
We have been become accustomed to the overlap of sound and vision but the music portrays the sine waves, the fast Fourier transforms, the characters, the historical context and the complex emotions in a unique and touching way befitting the subject. A labour of love that mirrors and enhances the protagonists, the sensitive and inventive direction and a timeless inspiring story.
Icelandic jury:
Hilmar Oddsson| film director
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir | screenwriter and composer
Pétur S. Jónsson | composer
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, composer
FINLAND
Pessi Levanto
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Marie Grahtø Sørensen ’Psychosia’
Pessi Levanto´s score in the film ’Psychosia’ is a masterful example of how not to overwrite. Everything irrelevant is cut out and every cue is on the spot. The music pays a clear homage to contemporary classical composers rather than to the more traditional film music composers. Pessi also cleverly uses material derived from Schubert´s Der Leiermann.
More than a regular film score the music almost acts a role of its own in the film as one of the characters. It haunts you when you least expect it and stays in the shadows when you would like it to help you the most. It keeps you on your toes and doesn’t relieve the tension for a second. The music has a totally unique sound to it organically hand crafted by Pessi with his own recordings of harp, piano, vocals and violin twisted to his taste, making the score a thrilling masterpiece.
Finnish jury:
JUri Seppá
NORWAY
Marcus Paus
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for André Øvredal’s (NO) ’Torden’
Marcus Paus provides a deliciously dark score for Andre Øvredal’s fantasy film Mortal [Torden] (2020) that is less about superficial action and more about psychological turmoil. As the protagonist comes to terms with his supernatural powers, the music slowly and gradually increases in size and urgency. Inside this expansive symphonic idiom, Paus colours the landscape further with complex string and brass clusters, voices and occasional Norwegian folk elements, like the Hardanger fiddle – elegantly guiding the story from realism to mythology. Mortal is an impressively mature orchestral work that feels both introvert and extrovert at the same time, painting its fantastical canvas in broad, impressionistic strokes.
Norwegian jury:
Thor Joachim Haga | Journalist
Irene Tillung | Composer/Artist
Jan Erik Mikalsen | Composer
SWEDEN
Jon Ekstrand
2021 HARPA Nominee for his score for Jesper Ganslandt’s (SE) ’438 dagar’
The film 438 days is based on a true story.
Jon Ekstrand has written a brilliant score that efficiently underlines and complements a very strong human drama. The music supports the documentary character of the story, it never turns into overdramatized, hard-core action. Using a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds in a seamless and creative way, Ekstrand fully illustrates the characters´ emotions and the different settings and places of the film.
Swedish jury:
Ulla-Carin Nyquist | composer and author
Martin Jonsson Tibblin | composer, president FST
Press release
24.02.20
Norwegian Gaute Storaas is the 10th winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
As part of the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was handed out at an award ceremony at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, Monday February 24th.
NOMINATION TEXT More joyful than ever. Watching the five nominated movies for this year’s HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was a true pleasure.
From Klas Wahls and Anders Niskas utterly sensitive score for Folke Rydens ‘Balloons over Babylon‘, the distinct originality of Gyda Valtysdottirs score for ‘Mihkel‘ and Kåre Bjerkøs moods and soundscapes for the Swedish tv series, ‘Det som göms i Snö‘. And then Panu Aaltios impressive orchestral score for the Finnish nature film, ‘Luontosinfonia’ and Gaute Storaas conscious and supportive work for the Swedish tv series, ‘Brüllop, begravning och dop‘.
How on earth can we compare these five very different composers works? – five very different films – and some of them- not even films, but tv series? The essence of the given music is so different. Both in length, substance and compositional demands. So not only was the task this year more joyful than ever. Also more difficult than ever.
The jury of this years HARPA has then – once again – decided on another view. Last year we gave the award to a director and composer relationship. David Thor Johnsson and Benedikt Erlingsson for ‘Kona fer í stríð‘. Also this year we want to stress this very important cooperation.
The score in question is clearly based on a mutual trust and understanding between the composer and director. The director gives room for music, gives the music an overall presence, and even though the music often is conventional, it’s used in an unconventional way: Elegant, in a good balance, not too much, exactly right!
And luxurious!
The score in question underscores the story, the dramatic and comical parts and making the overall experience so intense – giving it a very special quality.
Truly. When it comes to HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award this composer is no novice: Nominated in 2017 (for the music for an Oscar nominated movie) and winning the HARPA award in 2011 (for a children movie about a boat).
The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2020 goes to GAUTE STORAAS for his music for Colin Nutleys tv series, ‘Brüllop, begravning och dop‘.
ABOUT Gaute Storaas is one of the most experienced and acclaimed film composers of the Nordic countries. In 2017 he was HARPA nominated for his score to A Man Called Ove (a film that was subsequently nominated for an Oscar). Neither of the awards were won, but in 2011, Storaas received the HARPA award for ‘Elias and the Treasure of the Sea’.
A jazz musician and composer, Storaas grew out of the flowering musical environment of the Norwegian city Bergen in the late 70’s, and was an active bass player on the local rock and jazz scene. He attended Berklee College of Music, Boston, in 1984, where he got his diploma in arranging two years later. Back in Norway, he did whatever writing work he could get his hands on. Arranging for shows, broadcasting, recording sessions, composing for commercials, short films, TV idents, etc. He also found some time for music of his own and won the Danish Radio Orchestra competition for younger composers in 1989.
The last 20 years have been spent writing predominantly orchestral music for film and TV, ranging from animations to dramas like ‘The Last Sentence’ by legendary swedish director Jan Troell.
Watch nomination video
The winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2020 was selected by an international jury, consisting of Davíð Þór Jónsson, (film composer and 2019 HARPA award winner, Iceland), Christine Aufderhaar (film composer, Switzerland), Florian Vollmers (Festival Management, Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany), Jean-Michel Bernard (film composer, France) and George Christopoulos (Music Agent, Greece).
Since 2016 the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Awards have been taking place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival creating opportunities to meet Nordic composers, listen to their music and learn from their work. The winner receives a statuette designed by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson and crafted by Orr.
List of HARPA winners:
2010 | Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck | Postia pappi Jaakobille | Finland
2011 | Copenhagen Gaute Storaas | Elias og jakten på havets gull | Norway
2012 | Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson | Kronjuvelarna | Sweden
2013 | Norway Tuomas Kantelinen | Puhdistus | Finland
2014 | Espoo | Matti Bye | Faro | Sweden
2016 | Berlin | Johann Johannsson | Lifetime achievement | Iceland
2016 | Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Rams | Iceland
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Under sandet | Denmark
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Lifetime achievement | Denmark
2018 | Berlin | Daníel Bjarnason | Undir trénu |Iceland
2019 | Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson | Kona fer í stríð | Iceland
2020 | Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Brüllop, begravning och dop | Norway
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days:
SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere) Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
Norsk Komponistforening (Norwegian Society of Composers)
Music Norway
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
MXD Music Export Denmark
For media requests and additional information:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1.310.230.5678
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and carried out as a cooperation between the HARPA partners and Nordische Botschaften.
24.02.20
Norwegian Gaute Storaas is the 10th winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
As part of the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was handed out at an award ceremony at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin, Monday February 24th.
NOMINATION TEXT More joyful than ever. Watching the five nominated movies for this year’s HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was a true pleasure.
From Klas Wahls and Anders Niskas utterly sensitive score for Folke Rydens ‘Balloons over Babylon‘, the distinct originality of Gyda Valtysdottirs score for ‘Mihkel‘ and Kåre Bjerkøs moods and soundscapes for the Swedish tv series, ‘Det som göms i Snö‘. And then Panu Aaltios impressive orchestral score for the Finnish nature film, ‘Luontosinfonia’ and Gaute Storaas conscious and supportive work for the Swedish tv series, ‘Brüllop, begravning och dop‘.
How on earth can we compare these five very different composers works? – five very different films – and some of them- not even films, but tv series? The essence of the given music is so different. Both in length, substance and compositional demands. So not only was the task this year more joyful than ever. Also more difficult than ever.
The jury of this years HARPA has then – once again – decided on another view. Last year we gave the award to a director and composer relationship. David Thor Johnsson and Benedikt Erlingsson for ‘Kona fer í stríð‘. Also this year we want to stress this very important cooperation.
The score in question is clearly based on a mutual trust and understanding between the composer and director. The director gives room for music, gives the music an overall presence, and even though the music often is conventional, it’s used in an unconventional way: Elegant, in a good balance, not too much, exactly right!
And luxurious!
The score in question underscores the story, the dramatic and comical parts and making the overall experience so intense – giving it a very special quality.
Truly. When it comes to HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award this composer is no novice: Nominated in 2017 (for the music for an Oscar nominated movie) and winning the HARPA award in 2011 (for a children movie about a boat).
The HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2020 goes to GAUTE STORAAS for his music for Colin Nutleys tv series, ‘Brüllop, begravning och dop‘.
ABOUT Gaute Storaas is one of the most experienced and acclaimed film composers of the Nordic countries. In 2017 he was HARPA nominated for his score to A Man Called Ove (a film that was subsequently nominated for an Oscar). Neither of the awards were won, but in 2011, Storaas received the HARPA award for ‘Elias and the Treasure of the Sea’.
A jazz musician and composer, Storaas grew out of the flowering musical environment of the Norwegian city Bergen in the late 70’s, and was an active bass player on the local rock and jazz scene. He attended Berklee College of Music, Boston, in 1984, where he got his diploma in arranging two years later. Back in Norway, he did whatever writing work he could get his hands on. Arranging for shows, broadcasting, recording sessions, composing for commercials, short films, TV idents, etc. He also found some time for music of his own and won the Danish Radio Orchestra competition for younger composers in 1989.
The last 20 years have been spent writing predominantly orchestral music for film and TV, ranging from animations to dramas like ‘The Last Sentence’ by legendary swedish director Jan Troell.
Watch nomination video
The winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2020 was selected by an international jury, consisting of Davíð Þór Jónsson, (film composer and 2019 HARPA award winner, Iceland), Christine Aufderhaar (film composer, Switzerland), Florian Vollmers (Festival Management, Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany), Jean-Michel Bernard (film composer, France) and George Christopoulos (Music Agent, Greece).
Since 2016 the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Awards have been taking place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival creating opportunities to meet Nordic composers, listen to their music and learn from their work. The winner receives a statuette designed by Icelandic Ragnar Kjartansson and crafted by Orr.
List of HARPA winners:
2010 | Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck | Postia pappi Jaakobille | Finland
2011 | Copenhagen Gaute Storaas | Elias og jakten på havets gull | Norway
2012 | Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson | Kronjuvelarna | Sweden
2013 | Norway Tuomas Kantelinen | Puhdistus | Finland
2014 | Espoo | Matti Bye | Faro | Sweden
2016 | Berlin | Johann Johannsson | Lifetime achievement | Iceland
2016 | Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Rams | Iceland
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Under sandet | Denmark
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Lifetime achievement | Denmark
2018 | Berlin | Daníel Bjarnason | Undir trénu |Iceland
2019 | Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson | Kona fer í stríð | Iceland
2020 | Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Brüllop, begravning och dop | Norway
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days:
SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere) Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
Norsk Komponistforening (Norwegian Society of Composers)
Music Norway
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
MXD Music Export Denmark
For media requests and additional information:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1.310.230.5678
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and carried out as a cooperation between the HARPA partners and Nordische Botschaften.
Press release 05.12.19
NOMINEES FOR 10TH ANNUAL HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSER AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Composers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden nominated,
with the winner to be announced on Feb 24th during
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days at Nordische Botschaften in Berlin.
Berlin, 05.12.19 – The composer organizations from the five Nordic countries announced the nominees for the 10thAnnual HARPA Nordic Film Composer Awards. The nominees are Kåre Bjerkø (Denmark) for “The Truth Will Out”, Panu Aaltio (Finland) for “Luontosinfonia”, Gyda Valtysdottir (Iceland) for “Mihkel”, Gaute Storaas (Norway) for “Bröllup, Begravning och Dop”, and Anders Niska & Klas Wahl (Sweden) for “Balloons over Babylon.” The five nominated composers show once again the versatility, high quality, and strong individual grit of Nordic music talent.
The award ceremony will take place on Monday, Feb 24th at the Auditorium of the Felleshus of the Nordic Embassies/ Nordische Botschaften, Rauchstrasse 1, 10787 Berlin as part of the Nordic Film Music Days.
The winner of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2020 will be selected by an international jury, consisting of Davíð Þór Jónsson, (Film Composer and 2019 HARPA award winner, Iceland), Christine Aufderhaar (Film Composer, Switzerland), Florian Vollmers (Festival Management, Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany), Jean-Michel Bernard (filmcomposer. France) and George Christopoulos (Music Agent, Greece).
Since 2016 the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Awards have been taking place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlinale Film Festival. Building on past experiences, and with new impulses and collaborators, the Nordic Film Music Days will bring exciting and innovative composers for media music from the Nordic countries to Berlinale. It’s a great opportunity to meet Nordic composers, listen to their music and learn from their work. The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days, in collaboration with EAVE producers, Berlinale Talents, and European Film Market, will take place on Sunday, Feb 23rd and Monday, Feb 24th. During those two days, audience members will have the opportunity to watch the five nominated movies and listen to the scores, witness engaging panels and insightful talks, attend the HARPA Award show, and mingle with Nordic composers & composer organizations during the award after-party with music entertainment.
All events and activities are open to the public and free of charge with sign-up.
Sign-Up for the HARPA Awards: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harpa-award-show-tickets-84527456899
Sign-Up for the After-Party: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/harpa-after-party-tickets-84527817979
The full program for the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days lectures and talks will be announced on Feb. 1st.
About the nominated composers:
Kåre Bjerkø (Denmark) for “Det som Göms i Snö”
Statement: “It is extremely nice when someone appreciates my work.
As a film composer, you often disappear into the role of a form of craftsman, so this nomination is clearly something I am proud of.”
For more information: http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/karingre-bjerkoslash-dk.html
Panu Aaltio (Finland) for “Nature Symphony - Luontosinfonia”
Statement: “I'm truly honored and humbled to receive the nomination among all the amazing competition this year. I'm particularly happy it is for this exact film, which has been so important to me personally. There's huge possibility in taking people on a nature adventure where they bring the narrative from their own experience. I think it can lead to deeper empathy and understanding.”
For more information: http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/panu-aaltio-fi.html
Gyda Valtysdottir (Iceland) for “Mihkel”
Statement from director Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon:
“From the first day that I meet Gyda, 15 years ago, I felt that she was a musical genius and I was just waiting for the right moment for us to collaborate. Filmmaking is a huge marathon and it was many years later when I had written this script Mihkel when I saw her again. By total accident I went to a concert by Gyda. There she was performing like a beautiful creature from a unknown planet, this was the sound and mood I had been looking for. I asked her after the concert if we could meet for a coffee, due to that I had a film coming up. I gave her the script, she liked it and then the real work began. It was wonderful to work with her, so amazing, she is a hard working composer full of beautiful ideas, and here we are today.“
For more information: http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/gyetha-valtyacutesdoacutettir-is.html
Gaute Storaas (Norway) for “Bröllup, Begravning Och Dop”
Statement: “For everybody expressing themselves, it is important to be seen, and when it’s your actual profession, it’s vital. It is such a nice message to get, and I feel very fortunate to be chosen as my country’s nominee. I know they have considered works by colleagues I have the deepest respect for, and it makes me humble and grateful. I received the award in 2011. That was a pleasant shock, and I think it helped put my name on the radar of film workers in the neighboring countries. The last decade, I have actually been working more in Sweden than in Norway, and I wholeheartedly support the Nordic idea.“
For more information: http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/gaute-storaas-n.html
Anders Niska & Klas Wahl (Sweden) for “Balloons over Babylon”
Statement: ”As an artist or composer you struggle all the time composing and creating. Sometimes everything flows and at other times you are just stuck. When I got the news about this nomination I was working very hard but I came nowhere. All of a sudden everything changed! It means a lot to us and it shows that we are doing something right!
It’s the relationship with people like Folke Rydén and other creative filmmakers that makes it fun. When you bring something to the table or try to push things from your comfort zone, you need trust. I think we got that in Balloons Over Babylon. So, to get nominated is just so much more than the music for us.”
For more information: http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/niska--wahl-se.html
For images of all nominated composers: https://tinyurl.com/rfcp6u3
About HARPA Nordic Film Composer Days and HARPA Nordic Film Music Awards:
Since 2009 the Nordic film composers from the five Nordic countries have met twice a year.
As part of the strategy to put more attention to Nordic Film Music the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was created. By meeting at Nordic Film Music Days, the film and media composers are also exchanging ideas, and thereby strengthening the awareness of the working situation of the film and media composers in each country.
Working from a multifaceted musical palette with a vast variety of experiences to draw from, the Nordic film and media composers are known for their ability to do whatever it takes to tell the story; whatever it takes to serve the film.
List of HARPA winners:
2010 | Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck | Postia pappi Kaakobille | Finland
2011 | Copenhagen Gaute Storaas | Elias og jakten på havets gull | Norway
2012 | Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson | Kronjuvelarna | Sweden
2013 | Norway Tuomas Kantelinen | Puhdistus | Finland
2014 | Espoo | Matti Bye | Faro | Sweden
2016 | Berlin | Johann Johannsson | Lifetime achievement | Iceland
2016 | Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Rams | Iceland
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Under sandet | Denmark
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Lifetime achievement | Denmark
2018 | Berlin | Daníel Bjarnason | Undir trénu |Iceland
2019 | Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson | Kona fer í stríð | Iceland
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days:
SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere) Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
Norsk Komponistforening (Norwegian Society of Composers)
Music Norway
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
MXD Music Export Denmark
For media requests and additional information:
White Bear PR | Thomas Mikusz
[email protected] | +1.310.230.5678
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordic Film and tv foundation and carried out as a cooperation between the HARPA partners and Nordische Botschaften.
Press release Tue. 12.02.19
HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award 2019 goes to composer Davíð Þór Jónsson and his director Benedikt Erlingsson.
Concluding an Award Show at the beautiful Auditorium of the Felleshus of Nordische Botschaften, Tuesday February 12th 2019 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was handed out for the 9th time as a part of Nordic Film Music Days 2019.
Nomination text
This year's five nominated scores for the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award were vastly different between them but separately they were truly the perfect fit for the stories they were composed for.
A supernatural drama from Norway, THELMA, fused atmospheric electronic elements with beautiful acoustic melodic lines. A Danish tale, QEDA, set on a dystopian future, was equally served by a score that was cruising between the ambient evocative score and the immersive sound design. On the contrary the story of GOLIAT didn't want to evoke the audience but to awaken it, like its protagonist, gradually, powerfully yet subtly. The nominated score from Finland, for the high concept of the historical drama, LAUGH OR DIE, from its first frame set the tone of a lyrical, comical and tragic journey, all at the same time. And similarly the determined Icelandic female lead of WOMAN AT WAR, was accompanied by her own... band, that set the tone not only to her story, and the narrative's rhythm, but the character itself, too.
This exact last element, together with the exquisite originality of the score and its usage within the film, has lead the jury of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award to give the best score award to WOMAN AT WAR. In film scoring the criteria are never solely musical but also include the creative collision of the craftsmanship of a director and a composer. Hence, specifically this year's award goes to both the director composer Davíð Þór Jónsson and the director Benedikt Erlingsson, for the distinct and highly original result their collaboration generated both musically and visually. With this Award this year we wish to further encourage the filmmakers to see music as a significant element of the story that elevates the story's impact and not just as a formulaic ingredient that becomes somewhat important during post-production.
Jury
Composer Christine Aufderhaar (Switzerland)
Filmmusic agent George Christopoulos (Greece)
Festival manager Florian Vollmers (Germany)
Nomination video (where David is telling about the cooperation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV0vOZSjeW4
Link to press photo
ABOUT HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award
Since 2009 the Nordic film composers from the five Nordic countries have met twice a year.
As part of the strategy to put more attention to Nordic Film Music the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was created. Each of the Nordic countries has been given a free hand to develop an individual profile, collaborative partners and arena for the award ceremony.
From 2010 through 2014 the price was handed out in each of the Nordic countries in conjunction with a local film festival.
By meeting at NFMD, the film- and media composers are also exchanging ideas, and thereby strengthening the awareness of the working situation of the film- and media-composers in each country.
Working from a multifaceted musical palette with a vast variety of experiences to draw from, the Nordic film and media composers are known for their ability to do whatever it takes to tell the story; whatever it takes to serve the film. You can say that Nordic composers make their movies and directors win prices.
In the seminars and workshops Nordic Film Music Days 2019 will also focus on cooperation.
Full program here http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/program-2019.html
List of HARPA winners:
2010 | Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck | Postia pappi Kaakobille | Finland
2011 | Copenhagen Gaute Storaas | Elias og jakten på havets gull | Norway
2012 | Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson | Kronjuvelarna | Sweden
2013 | Norway Tuomas Kantelinen | Puhdistus | Finland
2014 | Espoo | Matti Bye | Faro | Sweden
2016 | Berlin | Johann Johannsson | Lifetime achievement | Iceland
2016 | Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Rams | Iceland
2017 | Berlin and Cannes Sune Martin | Under sandet | Denmark
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Lifetime achievement | Denmark
2018 | Berlin | Daníel Bjarnason | Undir trénu |Iceland
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days
SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC
STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
Music Norway
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
Concluding an Award Show at the beautiful Auditorium of the Felleshus of Nordische Botschaften, Tuesday February 12th 2019 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was handed out for the 9th time as a part of Nordic Film Music Days 2019.
Nomination text
This year's five nominated scores for the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award were vastly different between them but separately they were truly the perfect fit for the stories they were composed for.
A supernatural drama from Norway, THELMA, fused atmospheric electronic elements with beautiful acoustic melodic lines. A Danish tale, QEDA, set on a dystopian future, was equally served by a score that was cruising between the ambient evocative score and the immersive sound design. On the contrary the story of GOLIAT didn't want to evoke the audience but to awaken it, like its protagonist, gradually, powerfully yet subtly. The nominated score from Finland, for the high concept of the historical drama, LAUGH OR DIE, from its first frame set the tone of a lyrical, comical and tragic journey, all at the same time. And similarly the determined Icelandic female lead of WOMAN AT WAR, was accompanied by her own... band, that set the tone not only to her story, and the narrative's rhythm, but the character itself, too.
This exact last element, together with the exquisite originality of the score and its usage within the film, has lead the jury of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award to give the best score award to WOMAN AT WAR. In film scoring the criteria are never solely musical but also include the creative collision of the craftsmanship of a director and a composer. Hence, specifically this year's award goes to both the director composer Davíð Þór Jónsson and the director Benedikt Erlingsson, for the distinct and highly original result their collaboration generated both musically and visually. With this Award this year we wish to further encourage the filmmakers to see music as a significant element of the story that elevates the story's impact and not just as a formulaic ingredient that becomes somewhat important during post-production.
Jury
Composer Christine Aufderhaar (Switzerland)
Filmmusic agent George Christopoulos (Greece)
Festival manager Florian Vollmers (Germany)
Nomination video (where David is telling about the cooperation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV0vOZSjeW4
Link to press photo
ABOUT HARPA Nordic Film Music Days and Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award
Since 2009 the Nordic film composers from the five Nordic countries have met twice a year.
As part of the strategy to put more attention to Nordic Film Music the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was created. Each of the Nordic countries has been given a free hand to develop an individual profile, collaborative partners and arena for the award ceremony.
From 2010 through 2014 the price was handed out in each of the Nordic countries in conjunction with a local film festival.
By meeting at NFMD, the film- and media composers are also exchanging ideas, and thereby strengthening the awareness of the working situation of the film- and media-composers in each country.
Working from a multifaceted musical palette with a vast variety of experiences to draw from, the Nordic film and media composers are known for their ability to do whatever it takes to tell the story; whatever it takes to serve the film. You can say that Nordic composers make their movies and directors win prices.
In the seminars and workshops Nordic Film Music Days 2019 will also focus on cooperation.
Full program here http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/program-2019.html
List of HARPA winners:
2010 | Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck | Postia pappi Kaakobille | Finland
2011 | Copenhagen Gaute Storaas | Elias og jakten på havets gull | Norway
2012 | Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson | Kronjuvelarna | Sweden
2013 | Norway Tuomas Kantelinen | Puhdistus | Finland
2014 | Espoo | Matti Bye | Faro | Sweden
2016 | Berlin | Johann Johannsson | Lifetime achievement | Iceland
2016 | Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Rams | Iceland
2017 | Berlin and Cannes Sune Martin | Under sandet | Denmark
2017 | Berlin and Cannes | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre | Lifetime achievement | Denmark
2018 | Berlin | Daníel Bjarnason | Undir trénu |Iceland
Partners in HARPA Nordic Film Music Days
SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
Music Finland
Finnish Music Creators FMC
STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers)
Music Norway
BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
PRESS-RELEASE
Wed. 03.10.19
Wed. 03.10.19
|
As part of the HARPA Nordic Film Music Days
Monday February 11th & Tuesday Februray 12th HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award will be handed out for the 10th time. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days will once again take place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin's Tiergarten-area and in 2019 Nordic Film Music Days are inviting editors, producers, directors, sound designers a.o. to a session of informal speed-meetings with the Nordic composers. Nordic Film Music Days is an opportunity to see, hear and meet some of the Nordic film- and mediacomposers. You can attend the seminars and lectures, speed-meet composers, have lunch with them, applaud the winner of the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award and get a good beer at the afterparty. Following the great international branding around "Nordic Noir" and the popular wave of Nordic TV shows, HARPA Nordic Film Music Days offers the opportunity to present Nordic film- and mediacomposers to the film industry at the Berlinale. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days will also offer opportunities for capacity-building network meetings and workshops for Nordic film- and mediacomposers. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days is supported by the Nordic Embassies of Berlin. HARPA Nordic Film Music Days Nordische Botschaften Rauchstrasse 1, 10787 Berlin Monday February 11th and Tuesday February 12th 10 am until 7 pm See preliminary program here http://www.nordicfilmmusicdays.com/ - and sign up for our newsletter! We will be delighted to welcome you! |
WHAT IS NORDIC FILM MUSIC DAYS AND HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD?
Since 2009 the Nordic film composers from the five Nordic countries have met twice a year. As part of the strategy to put more attention to Nordic Film Music the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award was created. Each of the Nordic countries has been given a free hand to develop an individual profile, collaborative partners and arena for the award ceremony. From 2010 through 2014 the price was handed out in each of the Nordic countries in conjunction with a local film festival. By meeting at NFMD, the film- and mediacomposers are also exchanging ideas, and thereby strengthening the awareness of the working situation of the film- and media-composers in each country. SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors) FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere) Music Finland Finnish Music Creators FMC STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society) NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists) Komponistforeningen (Norwegian Society of Composers) Music Norway BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers) HARPA Nordic Film Music Day 2019 will be carried out by Project management: Lone Nyhuus, BFM, Denmark | Kate Havnevik, NOPA, Norway | Jonas Vebner MUSIC NORWAY, Berlin | Katariina Sorsa, MUSIC FINLAND, Finland | Halfdan E, Jesper Siberg, BFM, Denmark | Staff from NORDISCHE BOTSCHAFTEN, Berlin | Graphic design: Lilienfeld, Berlin | Advisory board: Edna Pletchero, George Christopolous Collaborators: Speedmeetings | EAVE and ACE producers Please note that for the 2019 edition of the Berlinale Norway will be ‘Country in focus’ at European Film Market. |
The winners of the HARPA award 2010 - 2014 and the prize of 10.000 euro were:
2010 Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck (Finland) for the music to the Finnish film "Letters to Father Jacob" (Finland).
2011 Copenhagen Gaute Storaas (Norway) for the music to the Norwegian film "Elias og jakten på havets gull".
2012 Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson (Sweden) for the music to the Swedish film "Kronjuvelarna".
2013 Trondheim Tuomas Kantelinen (Finland) for the music to the Finnish film "Puhdistus" ("The Purge").
2014 Espoo Matti Bye (Sweden) for the music for the Swedish film "Faro"
The winners of the HARPA award 2015 - 2018 were:
2016, Berlin Atli Örvarsson for his music for the film "Rams' and honorary award to Icelandic Johann Johannsson.
2017, Berlin and Cannes Sune Martin for his music for "Land of Mine" and honorary award to Bent Fabricius-Bjerre.
2018, Berlin, Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland) for his score to the feature film Under the Tree.
Contact Information
Project coordinator, Lone Nyhuus, DENMARK
[email protected] - + 45 23 84 24 56
2010 Gothenburg Dani Strömbäck (Finland) for the music to the Finnish film "Letters to Father Jacob" (Finland).
2011 Copenhagen Gaute Storaas (Norway) for the music to the Norwegian film "Elias og jakten på havets gull".
2012 Reykjavik Fredrik Emilson (Sweden) for the music to the Swedish film "Kronjuvelarna".
2013 Trondheim Tuomas Kantelinen (Finland) for the music to the Finnish film "Puhdistus" ("The Purge").
2014 Espoo Matti Bye (Sweden) for the music for the Swedish film "Faro"
The winners of the HARPA award 2015 - 2018 were:
2016, Berlin Atli Örvarsson for his music for the film "Rams' and honorary award to Icelandic Johann Johannsson.
2017, Berlin and Cannes Sune Martin for his music for "Land of Mine" and honorary award to Bent Fabricius-Bjerre.
2018, Berlin, Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland) for his score to the feature film Under the Tree.
Contact Information
Project coordinator, Lone Nyhuus, DENMARK
[email protected] - + 45 23 84 24 56