German composer Volker Bertelmann was named best film composer at the Ghent Film Festival’s prestigious World Soundtrack Awards on Wednesday for his work on Edward Berger’s “Conclave” and James Hawes’ “The Amateur.” This is Bertelmann’s second time winning the award, having won just two years ago for his scores for “The Sailor” and “Memory of Water,” as well as for his Oscar-winning score for “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
Bartelmann was unable to attend the ceremony, but sent a video message thanking Berger and Hawes “for the opportunity to experiment.” “I think it’s so great to have a director who lets you do what you like when you can push the boundaries and experiment a little bit more. It’s a collaborative process, but ultimately you have to find your voice.”
British composer Daniel Blumberg, who won this year’s Best Original Music Oscar for his work on Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, was awarded the Discovery of the Year award. Several other awards were also presented at the ceremony, which included a concert by the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dirk Brosse. Theodore Shapiro won Best Television Composer for “Disconnection,” while Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard also repeated their Oscar feats, winning Best Original Song for “El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez.”
While accepting the award, Shapiro thanked the “fired man.” “I’m grateful to be working on a show that provides such an incredibly generous space for the music to have a true voice and character within the show. Not every project gives the music that kind of space, so I want to thank Ben Stiller for his vision of what the language of this show will be. I’m grateful to have him as a friend.”
This year marks the 25th edition of the World Soundtrack Awards. The event has its roots in Belgium’s Ghent Film Festival, which wisely recognized the need to set itself apart from similar film festivals in the 1980s. The festival’s focus on film music eventually settled on the World Soundtrack Awards and its parent organization, the World Soundtrack Academy, in 2001.
This anniversary called for a “unique celebration,” and the WSA chose to honor two “absolute legends of the game” in Philip Glass (The Hours) and Michael Nyman (The Piano). The pair received Lifetime Achievement Awards and will be further honored at the festival Thursday with a special concert entitled “Minimalism in Movement: Glass, Nyman and Beyond.” Their music will be performed live alongside works by contemporary minimalists Emily Levineise-Farouche (All of Us Strangers) and Martin Phipps (Napoleon).
WSA also highlighted two guests of honor: Debbie Wiseman and AR Rahman. Wiseman was one of the most prolific British and television composers of his time, with works including Tom and Viv and Olivia and the Wilde. Rahman, on the other hand, is a two-time Oscar winner and is “arguably the greatest Indian composer in film working today.” He has many credits in Bollywood and won an Oscar for his role in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
“Bugonia” composer Jerskin Fendrix returned to Ghent after making history at the award in 2024, becoming the first person to win both the Best Film Composer and Discovery of the Year awards for his work on Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.” Jerskin, who is also the composer of Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” said on stage before the award-winning music was performed live that he was at a stage where he had “no other choice” but to continue collaborating with the Greek director.
“I was writing songs even before I started working with Yorgos,” he says of the beginning of their collaboration. “Songwriting can be very self-centered to some extent, and when you write a song like ‘Poor Things,’ you have to wipe yourself off the desk. I think working on these scores with Yorgos gave me a lot of artistic empathy. It really, really helped. He’s really supportive. Overall, I feel very lucky.”
World Soundtrack Award 2025, Provided by: WSA
To celebrate their 25th anniversary, WSA has released a triple album that includes: Debbie Wiseman: Music for Film and Television features all-new studio recordings by the British composer of Edie and Tom and Viv. “Craig Armstrong: Music for Film” is an expanded reissue of the first album released by the festival in 2007. and World Soundtrack Awards – 25th Anniversary Celebration, a limited edition vinyl set that culminates over 20 years of WSA history and includes live recordings of memorable live and studio performances from the festival.
The full list of winners is below:
Film composer of the year:
Volker Bertelmann – “Conclave”, “The Amateur”
TV composer of the year:
Theodore Shapiro – “Disconnect” (Season 2)
Best original song:
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” – by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard. Performed by Zoe Saldaña and Carla Sofia Gascón
This year’s discoveries:
Daniel Blumberg – “The Brutalist”
Public Choice Award:
Leticia Panzanel-Garlic – “Hola Frida”
Game music award:
Lorient Testard – “Clare Obscur: Expedition 33”
Belgian Film Composer Award (presented by Sabam):
Ruben de Gesell – “Young Heart”, “It Was and It Was Not”
Best Original Work by a Young Composer (Courtesy of Vienna Synchron Stage):
Kim Bong Seop
Lifetime Achievement Award:
philip glass and michael nyman
