INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

• BEAR MCCREARY LEADS LIST OF NOMINATED COMPOSERS WITH SIX NOMINATIONS

• ANIMATED FILMS, TELEVISION SHOWS, DOMINATE ‘SCORE OF THE YEAR’ CATEGORY

• SHORT FILMS INCLUDED AS A NEW CATEGORY FOR FIRST TIME

FEBRUARY 13, 2025. The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2024, for the 21st annual IFMCA Awards. Composer Bear McCreary leads the list of composer nominees with six nominations, followed by Kris Bowers, who has four.

Four of American composer McCreary’s nominations are for his work on the second season of the Amazon Prime fantasy television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is nominated as Score of the Year and Best Television score, and also received two nominations for Composition of the Year. McCreary also received a Comedy Score nomination for his work on the Kevin Smith’s nostalgic coming-of-age film The 4:30 Movie, and was himself nominated for Composer of the Year; his work in addition to The Rings of Power and The 4:30 Movie includes a creative and entertaining score for the horror flick Imaginary, and music for the latest seasons of multiple TV shows such as Outlander, Halo, and Masters of the Universe, which he wrote along with his staff composers at Sparks & Shadows.

IFMCA member Jon Broxton wrote that Season Two of The Rings of Power was “the equal of the score for Season One in every way, because not only does McCreary revisit each of his fantastic recurring themes, he augments them with a handful of brand new ones, and incorporates them all together to create a dramatically potent, musically compelling, emotionally satisfying, intelligently structured blockbuster that, to me, confirms why this type of leitmotivic approach to film scoring is the pinnacle of the art.”

Similar to McCreary, American composer Bowers’s nominations are all for his work on one film: the animated sci-fi adventure film The Wild Robot, based on the popular children’s novels by Peter Brown. Bowers was also nominated for Composer of the Year; in addition to The Wild Robot his output in 2024 comprised Season 3 of the Regency-era romantic costume drama Bridgerton, and his reggae-inspired score for the Bob Marley biopic One Love, vastly different scores which perfectly illustrate his range and versatility.

IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen wrote that The Wild Robot was “an outstanding animation score, balancing the frenzy of action and appeals of the heart with skill and achieving the same impressive peace between the organic and synthetic elements,” and went on to say that “the family theme's powerful dominance of the soundscape in several late scenes ensures the score's position as among the genre's best.” Similarly, IFMCA member Daniel Schweiger described the score as “a musical lesson in nature and nurture that’s majestically played by Bowers, who opens up his richly melodic style to epic new heights as his energetically emotional score talks to the animals, and teaches a mechanoid to care, all while casting a warm spell on the audience for this acclaimed fable that stands humanistically tall in the annals of Hollywood robots, no more so than in a particularly exhilarating duck migration scene that’s all about how to use a symphonic score to channel a sense of wonder and make a robot musically human.”

The other nominees for Score of the Year are Avatar: The Last Airbender by Japanese-American composer Takeshi Furukawa, Here by American composer Alan Silvestri, and Kensuke’s Kingdom by British composer Stuart Hancock. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a live-action TV series for Netflix based on the 2005 animated TV series of the same name, which follows the adventures of a twelve-year-old ‘avatar’ named Aang who can magically manipulate all four elements – water, air, fire, and earth. IFMCA member John Mansell described Furukawa’s score for Avatar as “a powerful and imposing musical work that perfectly underlines and enhances the various scenarios and situations on screen,” saying that it “oozes a lush, lavish, and modern cinematic flair.” Similarly, IFMCA member Anton Smit called it "a stunning orchestral score" and highlighted "the extraordinary way Furukawa is able to add emotion to the music".

Here is the 20th collaboration between composer Silvestri and director Robert Zemeckis, and is a fascinating ‘experiment’ film which tells the story of a specific place throughout time – from the era of the dinosaurs through the ice age, to the dawn of humanity, pre-Columbian native Americans, and then after a house is built on that spot, the different families who live there, from the Colonial era to the present day. IFMCA member Jon Broxton wrote that Here was a “classic Silvestri score in every sense of the word,” and said that at times the score was “staggeringly beautiful,” while praising the fact that the film contained music “which isn’t afraid to accentuate and enhance a film’s drama and emotion with music that is equally dramatic and emotional”.

Kensuke’s Kingdom is a British animated film adapted from the beloved children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, and follows the adventures of a young boy who is washed overboard from his parents’ yacht and is marooned on a seemingly uninhabited desert island. IFMCA member James Southall said that Stuart Hancock’s music “channels the great fantasy scores of the 1980s and to some extent 1990s, in particular John Williams,” and wrote that there was “something special about it … the sheer artistry that’s gone into it … sometimes the orchestration is florid, but never for the sake of just being so. Most of the time it is actually very delicate, and at all times it feels like there isn’t a note here that isn’t serving some purpose”.

The other composers nominated for Composer of the Year are Volker Bertelmann, Alexandre Desplat, and John Powell. German composer Bertelmann’s work in 2024 included the IFMCA-nominated score for the acclaimed drama Conclave – set in the Vatican during the selection of a new pope – as well as scores for the remake of the 1990s Gothic action thriller The Crow, the remake of the 1980s Patrick Swayze action film Road House, and two acclaimed TV series, Dune: Prophecy and The Day of the Jackal, among others, each showcasing his versatility at writing excellent music across multiple genres and mediums.

Similarly, French composer Alexandre Desplat showed great deal of creativity in his work in 2024, which included music for the drama The Piano Lesson based on August Wilson’s acclaimed stage play, the Holocaust-themed French animated film La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises, the biopic of the acclaimed WWII photojournalist Lee Miller starring Kate Winslet, and the true-life sports drama Unstoppable, as well as the satirical HBO TV series The Regime, which he co-scored with Alex Heffes.

Finally, British composer John Powell is recognized for his work adapting and scoring Wicked, the smash hit screen musical based on the acclaimed 2003 Broadway show by Stephen Schwartz; the Christmas-themed animated adventure That Christmas, and the fun animated comedy Thelma the Unicorn, about a pink unicorn who dreams of becoming a pop star. Both Wicked and That Christmas are also nominated in their respective genre categories.

Each year the IFMCA makes special efforts to recognize emerging talent in the film music world, and this year is no exception. The nominees in the Breakthrough Composer of the Year category are a diverse group, spanning continents and styles. British composer Daniel Blumberg is recognized for his score for the critically acclaimed epic drama The Brutalist, which looks at the life and experiences of a Hungarian-born architect as he emigrates to the United States in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

New Zealand composer Stephen Gallagher impressed members with his rousing, epic orchestral score for the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is set around 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and tells the story of the legendary king Helm Hammerhand. American composer Mick Giacchino, son of IFMCA-winning composer Michael Giacchino, broke out with his modernistic film noir-inspired score for the HBO/Max TV series The Penguin, which tells the story of the comic book villain and underworld crime boss Oz Cobb in the aftermath of the events of the 2022 film The Batman.

Finnish composer Lauri Porra, the great-grandson of classical composer Jean Sibelius, is recognized for his darkly romantic breakout orchestral score for the drama film Stormskerry Maja, which is based on the acclaimed book series ‘Myrskyluodon Maija’ by author Anni Blomqvist, and looks at the life of a woman trying to survive on the bleak Åland Islands in the 19th century. Finally, American composer Wilbert Roget II impressed members with his outstanding work on three high-profile video games in 2024 – Pacific Drive, Star Wars: Outlaws, and Helldivers 2 – as well as the Netflix Gundam TV series Requiem for Vengeance, all of which showed Roget’s mastery of large orchestral forces, as well as the technical and thematic range required of all successful contemporary composers. The Brutalist (Drama), The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Animation), The Penguin (Television), and Star Wars: Outlaws (Game) are also all nominated in their respective genre categories.

As it has in previous years, the IFMCA takes pride in honoring composers from across the film music world. In addition to the ones already mentioned, this year’s international nominees include: Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov for his work on director Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious sci-fi epic Megalopolis, Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski for his score for the mysterious horror/thriller The Watchers, French composer Raphaël Dargent for his rousing throwback score for the fascinating paleontology documentary Why Dinosaurs?, Spanish composer Arturo Cardelús for his music for the animated adventure film Dragonkeeper, and Turkish composer Pinar Toprak for her beautiful nature documentary score Our Living World.

For the first time ever, the IFMCA is delighted to include scores for short films as a brand new competitive category. The scores included in this first ever group of nominees are the stop-motion animation An Almost Christmas Story about a young owl and little girl lost in New York City trying to get home for Christmas, with music by Daniel Hart; the Spanish-language animated film Carmen y la Cuchara de Palo [Carmen and the Wooden Spoon], about a little girl’s relationship with her grandmother, with music by Iván Palomares; the nostalgic animated fantasy Go For Grandma by Fabrizio Mancinelli; the powerful WWII-era drama The Ice Cream Man by Nami Melumad; and the music-themed documentary The Only Girl in the Orchestra by Laura Karpman.

Several composers are receiving their first ever IFMCA Award nominations this year in addition to the aforementioned newcomers; these are Chris Benstead (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare/Action-Adventure), Jon Ehrlich (We Were the Lucky Ones/Television), Jon Everist (Star Wars: Outlaws/Game), Masashi Hamauzu (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth/Game), Mark Korven (The First Omen/Horror-Thriller), Kazuma Jinnouchi (Star Wars: Outlaws/Game), Rubén Melià (Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok/Game), Stephen Schwartz (Wicked/Fantasy-SciFi), and Mitsuto Suzuki (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth/Game).

The International Film Music Critics Association will announce the winners of the 21st IFMCA Awards LIVE on the IFMCA YouTube channel on February 27, 2025.

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SCORE OF THE YEAR

·       AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, music by Takeshi Furukawa

·       HERE, music by Alan Silvestri

·       THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary

·       KENSUKE'S KINGDOM, music by Stuart Hancock

·       THE WILD ROBOT, music by Kris Bowers

COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

·       VOLKER BERTELMANN

·       KRIS BOWERS

·       ALEXANDRE DESPLAT

·       BEAR MCCREARY

·       JOHN POWELL

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

·       DANIEL BLUMBERG

·       STEPHEN GALLAGHER

·       MICK GIACCHINO

·       LAURI PORRA

·       WILBERT ROGET II

COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

·       “Battle for Eregion” from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary

·       “End Credits” from HERE, music by Alan Silvestri

·       “Horizon Montage Begins/Closing Survey” from HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER 1, music by John Debney

·       “I Could Use A Boost” from THE WILD ROBOT, music by Kris Bowers

·       “The Sun Yet Shines” from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

·       THE BRUTALIST, music by Daniel Blumberg

·       CONCLAVE, music by Volker Bertelmann

·       HERE, music by Alan Silvestri

·       HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER 1, music by John Debney

·       YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA, music by Amelia Warner

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

·       THE 4:30 MOVIE, music by Bear McCreary

·       BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, music by Danny Elfman

·       FLY ME TO THE MOON, music by Daniel Pemberton

·       IF, music by Michael Giacchino

·       PADDINGTON IN PERU, music by Dario Marianelli

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

·       ARGYLLE, music by Lorne Balfe

·       GLADIATOR II, music by Harry Gregson-Williams

·       THE KILLER, music by Marco Beltrami

·       THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, music by Chris Benstead

·       TWISTERS, music by Benjamin Wallfisch

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM

·       DUNE: PART TWO, music by Hans Zimmer

·       GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE, music by Dario Marianelli

·       KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, music by John Paesano

·       MEGALOPOLIS, music by Osvaldo Golijov

·       WICKED, music by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM

·       ABIGAIL, music by Brian Tyler

·       ALIEN: ROMULUS, music by Benjamin Wallfisch

·       THE FIRST OMEN, music by Mark Korven

·       NOSFERATU, music by Robin Carolan

·       THE WATCHERS, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FILM

·       DRAGONKEEPER, music by Arturo Cardelús

·       KENSUKE'S KINGDOM, music by Stuart Hancock

·       THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM, music by Stephen Gallagher

·       THAT CHRISTMAS, music by John Powell

·       THE WILD ROBOT, music by Kris Bowers

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY

·       CHURCHILL AT WAR, music by Jeff Danna

·       ENDURANCE, music by Daniel Pemberton

·       OUR LIVING WORLD, music by Pinar Toprak

·       SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY, music by Ilan Eshkeri

·       WHY DINOSAURS?, music by Raphaël Dargent

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

·       AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, music by Takeshi Furukawa

·       COBRA KAI, music by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson

·       THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, music by Bear McCreary

·       THE PENGUIN, music by Mick Giacchino

·       WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES, music by Rachel Portman and Jon Ehrlich

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

·       FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, music by Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki

·       INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE, music by Gordy Haab

·       NORDIC ASHES: SURVIVORS OF RAGNAROK, music by Rubén Melià

·       QUIDDITCH CHAMPIONS, music by Cris Velasco

·       STAR WARS: OUTLAWS, music by Wilbert Roget II, Jon Everist, and Kazuma Jinnouchi

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A SHORT FILM

·       AN ALMOST CHRISTMAS STORY, music by Daniel Hart

·       CARMEN Y LA CUCHARA DE PALO [CARMEN AND THE WOODEN SPOON], music by Iván Palomares

·       GO FOR GRANDMA, music by Fabrizio Mancinelli

·       THE ICE CREAM MAN, music by Nami Melumad

·       THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA, music by Laura Karpman

BEST ARCHIVAL RELEASE

·       BACKDRAFT, music by Hans Zimmer; album produced by Stéphane Humez; liner notes by Kaya Savas; album art direction by Kay Marshall (Intrada)

·       DINOSAUR, music by James Newton Howard; album produced by Douglass Fake, James Newton Howard, and Jim Weidman; liner notes by Tim Grieving; album art direction by Kay Marshall, John Blas, and Karen De Jong (Intrada)

·       ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL: MUSIC FOR FILM, music by Elliot Goldenthal; the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Dirk Brossé; album produced by Thomas Van Parys for Film Fest Gent; liner notes by Elliot Goldenthal and Thomas Van Parys; album art direction by Stuart Ford (WSA/Silva)

·       JERRY GOLDSMITH AT THE GENERAL ELECTRIC THEATER, music by Jerry Goldsmith; the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Leigh Phillips; album produced by Leigh Phillips; liner notes by Yavar Moradi; album art direction by Kay Marshall, Stéphane Coëdel, and Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)

·       MOONRAKER, music by John Barry; album produced by Neil S. Bulk; liner notes by Jon Burlingame; album art direction by Dan Goldwasser (La-La Land)

·       THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, music by Dimitri Tiomkin; the Royal Scottish National Orchestra cond. Richard Kaufman; album produced by Patrick Russ; liner notes by Frank K. DeWald, Warren M. Sherk, and Patrick Russ; album art direction by Kay Marshall and Stéphane Coëdel (Intrada)

·       OUT OF AFRICA, music by John Barry; album produced by Douglass Fake; liner notes by Jon Burlingame; album art direction by Kay Marshall (Intrada)

·       THE PINK PANTHER, music by Henry Mancini; album produced by Chris Malone; liner notes by Jeff Bond and Chris Malone; album art direction by Nacho B. Govantes (Quartet)

·       THE SOUND OF LALO SCHIFRIN, music by Lalo Schifrin; album produced by Stéphane Lerouge; liner notes by Stéphane Lerouge; album art direction by Gilles Guerlet and Jérôme Witz (Universal Music France-Écoutez Le Cinéma!)

·       THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, 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 REDORDS, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson

·       LA-LA LAND RECORDS, MV Gerhard, Matt Verboys

·       MOVIESCORE MEDIA, Mikael Carlsson

·       MUSIC BOX RECORDS, Cyril Durand-Roger, Laurent Lafarge

·       QUARTET RECORDS, Jose M. Benitez

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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 70 members from countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, 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 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Bear McCreary’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in 2022, Maurizio Malagnini’s Coppelia in 2021, Christopher Willis’s The Personal History of David Copperfield in 2020, John Williams’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, John Powell’s Solo in 2018, Jonny Greenwood’s Phantom Thread in 2017, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Arrival in 2016, and John Williams’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015

For more information about the International Film Music Critics Association go to www.filmmusiccritics.org, visit our Facebook page, find us on YouTube, follow us on Twitter/X @ifmca, or contact us at ifmca.main@gmail.com.