International Film Critics Association (IFMCA) 2012 Award Nominees Announced

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS AWARD NOMINATIONS REVEAL MOST OPEN RACE IN YEARS, WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS FOR DANNA, DESPLAT, VELÁZQUEZ, WILLIAMS

FEBRUARY 7, 2013 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2012. The largest numbers this year are, for the most part, split evenly between four composers, all of whom received four nominations: MYCHAEL DANNA, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ and veteran composer JOHN WILLIAMS.

The nominations for Danna, Velázquez and Williams were each for a single score – director Ang Lee’s vivid shipwreck drama LIFE OF PI, director Juan Antonio Bayona’s harrowing tsunami drama THE IMPOSSIBLE [LO IMPOSIBLE] and director Steven Spielberg’s look at the last months of the life of Abraham LINCOLN, respectively.

Desplat’s nominations were for his body of work in 2012 which included writing IFMCA Award-nominated music for the quirky comedy MOONRISE KINGDOM, the storybook animation RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, and the contemporary war thriller ZERO DARK THIRTY, as well as for the 1970s espionage thriller ARGO, the realistic French romantic drama RUST AND BONE [DE ROUILLE ET D’OS], the Italian satirical comedy REALITY, and the French-language biopic CLOCLO.

The other nominees for Film Score of the Year are the ambitious sci-fi drama CLOUD ATLAS by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil (two nominations), and director Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy prequel THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY by Howard Shore (two nominations).

Danna, Desplat, Velázquez and Williams are also short-listed for Film Composer of the Year along with DANNY ELFMAN, who enjoyed a stellar year composing music for such popular and successful films as DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENWEENIE, HITCHCOCK. MEN IN BLACK III, PROMISED LAND and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.

The IFMCA recognizes emerging talent in the film music world, and this year is no exception. The nominees in the Breakout Composer of the Year category include young Spanish composer ZELTIA MONTES for her work on the Spanish feature drama VILAMOR; composer DAN ROMER and composer/director BENH ZEITLIN for their captivating bluegrass-flavored score for the critically acclaimed BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD; JOSEPH TRAPANESE for his work on the animated TV show TRON: UPRISING; NATHAN JOHNSON for his unconventionally percussive music for the acclaimed sci-fi thriller LOOPER; and composer/conductor NIC RAINE, a long time associate of the late John Barry and contributor to Silva Screen and Tadlow Music’s series of re-recordings, who has begun to establish his own musical voice through his score for the German-language thriller WIR WOLLTEN AUFS MEER.

As it has in previous years, the IFMCA takes pride in honoring composers from across the film music world; this year’s international nominees include French composer Philippe Rombi for his work on director François Ozon’s thriller DANS LA MAISON, Finnish composer Panu Aaltio for the beautiful nature documentary score METSÄN TARINA, UK-based Portuguese composer Miguel d’Oliveira’s score for the BBC documentary SHAKESPEARE & US, Argentinean composer Federico Jusid’s music for the Spanish TV series ISABEL, and Japanese composer Naoki Sato’s contribution to the Japanese TV series PRICELESS.

Several composers are receiving their first ever IFMCA Award nominations this year, including JON BRION (Paranorman, Animation), ROBERT FOLK (There Be Dragons – Secretos de Pasión, Drama), PASCAL GAIGNE (Los Mundos Sutiles, Documentary), GRANT KIRKHOPE (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Video Game), WALTER MURPHY (Ted, Comedy), FREDERIK WIEDMANN (Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Television), and the team from Blizzard Entertainment led by RUSSELL BROWER and NEAL ACREE (World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Video Game).

The International Film Music Critics Association will announce the winners of the 9th IFMCA Awards on February 21, 2013.

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THE NOMINEES

2012 Film Categories

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

• CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, music by Howard Shore
• THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna
• LINCOLN, music by John Williams

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• MYCHAEL DANNA
• ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
• DANNY ELFMAN
• FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ 
• JOHN WILLIAMS

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• NATHAN JOHNSON
• ZELTIA MONTES
• NIC RAINE
• DAN ROMER & BENH ZEITLIN
• JOSEPH TRAPANESE

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• ANNA KARENINA, music by Dario Marianelli
• THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna
• LINCOLN, music by John Williams
• THERE BE DRAGONS - SECRETOS DE PASIÓN, music by Robert Folk

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• MOONRISE KINGDOM, music by Alexandre Desplat
• SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN, music by Dario Marianelli
• THE SESSIONS, music by Marco Beltrami
• SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, music by Danny Elfman
• TED, music by Walter Murphy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM

• THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, music by James Horner
• DANS LA MAISON, music by Philippe Rombi
• THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, music by Hans Zimmer
• SKYFALL, music by Thomas Newman
• ZERO DARK THIRTY, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM

• CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, music by Howard Shore
• JOHN CARTER, music by Michael Giacchino
• PROMETHEUS, music by Marc Streitenfeld, additional music by Harry Gregson-Williams
• SINISTER, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• BRAVE, music by Patrick Doyle
• FRANKENWEENIE, music by Danny Elfman
• PARANORMAN, music by Jon Brion
• RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, music by Alexandre Desplat
• SECRET OF THE WINGS, music by Joel McNeely

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• KINGDOM OF PLANTS, music by Joel Douek, Freddy Sheinfeld and Elik Alvarez
• LOS MUNDOS SUTILES, music by Pascal Gaigne
• METSÄN TARINA, music by Panu Aaltio
• SAMSARA, music by Lisa Gerrard and Michael Stearns
• SHAKESPEARE & US, music by Miguel d’Oliveira

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

• “The Cloud Atlas Sextet for Orchestra” from CLOUD ATLAS, music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
• “The Impossible Main Title” from THE IMPOSSIBLE, music by Fernando Velázquez
• “John Carter of Mars” from JOHN CARTER, music by Michael Giacchino
• “Pi's Lullaby” from LIFE OF PI, music by Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri
• “The Peterson House and Finale” from LINCOLN, music by John Williams

Other 2012 Categories

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES

• DOCTOR WHO, music by Murray Gold
• DOWNTON ABBEY, music by John Lunn
• GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, music by Frederik Wiedmann
• ISABEL, music by Federico Jusid
• PRICELESS, music by Naoki Sato

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

• JOURNEY, music by Austin Wintory
• KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING, music by Grant Kirkhope
• RESISTANCE: BURNING SKIES, music by Jason Graves and Kevin Riepl
• STARHAWK, music by Christopher Lennertz
• WORLD OF WARCRAFT: MISTS OF PANDARIA, music by Russell Brower, Neal Acree, Sam Cardon, Edo Guidotti and Jeremy Soule

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• BEN-HUR, music by Miklós Rózsa; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Mike Matessino and Neil S. Bulk; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Film Score Monthly)
• CONAN THE BARBARIAN, music by Basil Poledouris; album produced by Nick Redman and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Nick Redman; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)
• HOOK, music by John Williams; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mark G. Wilder, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Daniel Schweiger; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)
• STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, music by Jerry Goldsmith; album produced by Didier C. Deutsch, Mike Matessino, Bruce Botnick, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys and David C. Fein; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)
• STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, music by Alexander Courage, George Duning, Jerry Fielding, Gerald Fried, Sol Kaplan, Samuel Matlovsky, Joseph Mullendore and Fred Steiner; album produced by Lukas Kendall, Neil S. Bulk, Jeff Bond, MV Gerhard, and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeff Bond; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (La-La Land)

BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN/ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, music by Max Steiner; conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by William Stromberg, John Morgan and Anna Bonn; liner notes by James V. d’Arc, Ryan Brennan and Curt Hardaway; album art direction by Jim Titus (Tribute Film Classics)
• NOTRE DAME DE PARIS – THE MUSIC OF MAURICE JARRE, music by Maurice Jarre; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick; liner notes by James Fitzpatrick and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Damien Doherty (Tadlow)
• QUO VADIS?, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Nic Raine; album produced by James Fitzpatrick and Luc Van de Ven; liner notes by Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by GINKO DIGI (Prometheus/Tadlow)
• THE RED HOUSE, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Allan Wilson; album produced by Kevin Kaska and Douglass Fake; liner notes by Dan Robbins and Frank K. DeWald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)
• WINGS, music by J.S. Zamecnik; conducted by Peter Boyer and Ira Hearshen; album produced by Dominik Hauser, Jeannie Gayle Pool, Dan Goldwasser, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys; liner notes by Jeannie Gayle Pool; album art direction by Dan Goldwasser (La-La Land)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

• INTRADA RECORDS, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson
• LA-LA LAND RECORDS, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys, Neil S. Bulk, Dan Goldwasser
• MOVIESCORE MEDIA, Mikael Carlsson
• QUARTET RECORDS, Jose M. Benitez
• TADLOW MUSIC, James Fitzpatrick

Read more about the IFMCA and past award winners