9TH ANNUAL WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARD NOMINEES

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE LEADS PACK WITH 3 NOMINESS FOR

9TH ANNUAL WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS

CARTER BURWELL AND HANS ZIMMER FOLLOW WITH 2 NOMINATIONS EACH

Ghent, Beligum (August 18, 2009) - The World Soundtrack Awards, the pre-eminent international film music event of the year, has announced its nominees for 2009 in 3 major categories including Best Original Score, Film Composer of the Year and Best Original Song. The winners will be announced on Saturday, October 17th at the closing of the 36th Ghent International Film Festival.

Oscar winning composers AR Rahman, Hans Zimmer, and award-winning composer Carter Burwell lead the pack with multiple nominations. Other top music names receiving nominations include Oscar winner Bruce Springsteen and Oscar nominees Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman and Michael Giacchino.

In addition, this year’s WSAs will feature live music concerts with performances by Oscar nominees Alexandre Desplat and 3-time Oscar winner and much-lauded film composer Marvin Hamlisch, who will be the guest of honor and recipient of the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award. As part of the evening’s festivities, Hamlisch will perform and conduct selected suites from some of his most famous scores, including The Way We Were, A Chorus Line and Sophie’s Choice. Past winners of the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award include Maurice Jarre, Elmer Bernstein, Angelo Badalamenti, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Sir George Martin and Alan & Marilyn Bergman, among others.

Alexandre Desplat will present a concert including suites from his films The Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Queen, Lust/Caution and his Golden Globe winning score for The Painted Veil.

2008 Discovery Award Winner Mark Streitenfeld will be on hand as well for the World Soundtrack Awards on October 17th and as part of the night’s events, the Brussels Philharmonic will perform music from Streitenfeld’s films American Gangster and Body of Lies.

Consistent with the Ghent International Film Festival’s focus on Asia this year and with the festival’s reputation as the premiere annual world film music event, Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi will present a special live concert on October 15th at the Vooruit Arts Centre in Ghent. Umebayashi has recently collaborated with some of Asian cinemas most renowned directors, including Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love, 2046, My Blueberry Nights), Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower) and Jet Li (Fearless, The Dark Sea). On October 16th, Umebayahsi will take part the festival’s annual Q&A and film music seminar, which this year will focus on the music of Chinese film.

The awards, currently in their 9th year, honor movie music that has been theatrically released between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The awards are presented by the World Soundtrack Academy which now encompasses over 300 music professionals from all over the world with a goal to promote music in film. The annual Benelux event has hosted a roster of the top names in movie music in the past 9 years including Oscar-winners Ennio Morricone, Gabriel Yared, Hans Zimmer, Maurice Jarre, Rachel Portman, Stephen Warbeck, James Netwon Howard, Gustavo Santaollala, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, as well as Patrick Doyle, Georges Delerue, Sir George Martin and Harry Gregson-Williams.

The nominees the World Soundtrack Awards 2009:

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

o CARTER BURWELL (Burn After Reading, Twilight)

o ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Coco Avant Chanel, Largo Winch, Cheri)

o DANNY ELFMAN (Milk, Taking Woodstock, Notorious)

o MICHAEL GIACCHINO (Star Trek, Up, Land of the Lost)

o HANS ZIMMER (Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons, The Dark Knight)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF THE YEAR

o BURN AFTER READING by Carter Burwell

o THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON by Alexandre Desplat

o FROST/NIXON by Hans Zimmer

o THE INTERNATIONAL by Reinhold Heil, Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek

o SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE by A.R. Rahman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR A FILM

o “GRAN TORINO” from ‘Gran Torino’

Music & Lyrics by Jamie Cullum, Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens

Performed by Jamie Cullum & Don Runner

o “JAI HO” from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

Music by : A.R. Rahman

Lyrics by Gulzar and Tanvi Shah

Performed by A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaksmi Iyver, Vijay Prakash

Published by KM Musiq ltd

o “O SAYA” from Slumdog Millionaire’

Music & Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Mathangi Arulpragasam

Performed by M.I.A. & A.R. Rahman

Published by KM Musiq ltd

o “RUN & HIDE” from ‘Je l’aimais’

Music & lyrics by Anna Chalon

Performed by Anna Chalon

o “THE WRESTLER” from ‘The Wrestler’

Music & lyrics by Bruce Springsteen

Performed by Bruce Springsteen

Published by Bruce Springsteen