International Film Music Critics Association Winners Announced!

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2016
IFMCA AWARDS; “ARRIVAL” TAKES SCORE OF THE YEAR, JUSTIN HURWITZ AND “LA
LA LAND” WINS THREE OTHERS


FEBRUARY 23, 2016 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA)
announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2016, in the 2016 IFMCA
Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for his work
on the critically acclaimed science fiction drama “Arrival,” directed by Denis Villeneuve,
starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. IFMCA member Jon Broxton said that
“Jóhannsson’s approach to solving the film’s musical problems [is] absolutely fascinating, and
the way he was able to musically convey some of the film’s more challenging cerebral ideas
involving language and communication is astonishingly accomplished,” while IFMCA member
Daniel Schweiger said that Jóhannsson “brilliantly captures both a sense of wonder and fear
with beholding the mind-boggling, verbally-scrambled unknown, as whale cry motifs join with
alternately moaning and chattering voices, backed by a strong orchestral sound that serves as
a powerful universal musical translator in a way that’s both harmonically understandable,
and profoundly strange.” This is the first IFMCA Award win of Jóhannsson’s career, him
having previously been nominated for Best Original Score for a Drama Film for “The Theory
of Everything” in 2014.

Composer Michael Giacchino is named Composer of the Year for the second year in a row,
having written four outstanding works spanning multiple genres in the past year. His work
in 2016 included the action-packed Marvel comic book fantasy film “Doctor Strange,” the
socially aware Disney animated film “Zootopia,” the third installment of the rebooted Star
Trek franchise “Star Trek Beyond,” and the score for the first of the Star Wars spinoff films,
“Rogue One”. IFMCA member James Southall called “Rogue One” “a very impressive
achievement indeed,” while IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen described “Doctor
Strange” as “a mystical, optimistic, and smart superhero score with an alluring primary
identity and generally excellent combination of electronic and ethnic accents with standard
orchestral and choral elements.” This marks the fourth time Giacchino has been named
Composer of the Year, following his previous wins in 2004, 2009, and 2015.

Composer Justin Hurwitz won three awards – Breakthrough Composer of the Year, Best
Original Score for a Comedy Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year – all for his work
on the massively popular and critically acclaimed musical comedy-drama “La La Land”
directed by Damian Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. “La La Land” is only
the second full theatrical score of Hurwitz’s career, and for it he wrote a jazz-inspired
orchestral score, and half a dozen original songs (with songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin
Paul), the melodies of which flow through the majority of the underscore. IFMCA member
Mihnea Manduteanu called “La La Land” “delightful and playful” and claimed that it captures
“what it means to fall in love, to play, to dream,” while IFMCA member Jon Broxton heralded
the score as “a masterpiece”.

The various other genre awards are won by Abel Korzeniowski for his music for the darkly
stylish revenge drama “Nocturnal Animals”; Christopher Young for his wildly exciting action
score for the Chinese historical adventure “Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The
Monkey King 2]”; James Newton Howard for his score for lush and whimsical fantasy score
for the Harry Potter prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”; Laurent Perez del
Mar for his evocative, emotional music for the French animated film “La Tortue Rouge [The
Red Turtle]”; and Panu Aaltio for his wonderful music for the Finnish nature documentary
“Järven Tarina [Tale of a Lake]”.

In the non-film categories, composer Ramin Djawadi wins the award for Best Original Score
for a Television Series for his magnificent work on the sixth series of the critically acclaimed
HBO fantasy drama “Game of Thrones,” while composer Austin Wintory wins the award for
Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the second year in a row, this
time for his work on the meditative, dream-like undersea adventure game “Abzû”.

Oakland, California-based Intrada Records is named Film Music Record Label of the Year in
recognition of their ongoing excellence in restoring and releasing the most beloved film
scores of the past. They were also honored with the award for Best New Archival Release -
Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score for their lavish expanded release of Elmer
Bernstein’s classic 1956 score “The Ten Commandments,” which IFMCA member Craig Lysy
described as “one of the finest [scores] ever written and a glorious example of Golden Age film

scores”. Finally, Burbank, California-based La La Land Record and producer Mike Matessino
wins the award for Best New Archival Release – Compilation for their superb re-mastered
release of “The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection”, a compilation of the timeless 1990s
dinosaur adventure scores “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World”.


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COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS


FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
Arrival, music by Jóhann Jóhannsson


COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
Michael Giacchino


BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
Justin Hurwitz


FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
“Epilogue” from La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
Nocturnal Animals, music by Abel Korzeniowski


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The Monkey King 2], music by
Christopher Young


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, music by James Newton Howard


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
La Tortue Rouge [The Red Turtle], music by Laurent Perez del Mar


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
Jarven Tarina [Tale of a Lake], music by Panu Aaltio


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
Game of Thrones, music by Ramin Djawadi


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Abzû, music by Austin Wintory


BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
The Ten Commandments, music by Elmer Bernstein; album produced by Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson; liner notes by Frank K. De Wald; album art direction by Joe
Sikoryak (Intrada)


BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - COMPILATION
The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection, music by John Williams; album produced by Mike Matessino; liner notes by Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)


FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
Intrada Records, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson



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The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an association of online, print
and radio journalists who specialize in writing and broadcasting about original film,
television and game music.

Since its inception the IFMCA has grown to comprise over 65 members from countries such
as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,
and the United States of America.

Previous IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to John Williams’s “Star
Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015, Hans Zimmer’s “Interstellar” in 2014, Abel
Korzeniowski’s “Romeo & Juliet” in 2013, Mychael Danna’s “Life of Pi” in 2012, John
Williams’s “War Horse” in 2011, John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon” in 2010, Michael
Giacchino’s “Up” in 2009, Alexandre Desplat’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in
2008, Dario Marianelli’s “Atonement” in 2007, James Newton Howard’s “Lady in the Water”
in 2006, John Williams’s “Memoirs of a Geisha” in 2005 and Michael Giacchino’s “The
Incredibles” in 2004.


For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association go to
www.filmmusiccritics.org , visit our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @ifmca, or contact
us at press@filmmusiccritics.org.