These are the finalists of the International Film Music Competition

On September 30, 2023, the International Film Music Competition will take place for the 11th time during the 19th Zurich Film Festival's "Cinema in Concert" gala event at the Tonhalle Zurich. It is organised and implemented by the ZFF and the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich AG in collaboration with the Forum Filmmusik. Entrants were asked to create and submit a new and original score for the short film AU REVOIR JÉRÔME.

From the approximately 150 anonymously submitted compositions, three favourites have now been selected, and their composers will be invited to the ZFF. They will rehearse their compositions together with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich before they are world premiered under the musical direction of Frank Strobel in the presence of the jury during the "Cinema in Concert" gala event. “The Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich has established a strong reputation in the field of film symphonies. To look ahead in this genre and provide a stage for young composers is essential for us as an institution,” says Head of Artistic Department of Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich Marc Barwisch.

This year's jury, which is presided over by Oscar-winner Volker Bertelmann, will choose and announce the winning composition on the same evening, before presenting the winner with the Golden Eye for "Best International Film Music 2023", an award endowed with a 10'000 Swiss franc cash prize. "The ZFF is a film festival that is committed to promoting new talent and strives to connect this new talent with established greats from the film industry. This is also underscored by the IFMC, which features an Oscar winner as its jury president for the third year in a row, presenting a huge incentive for the young composers," explains Artistic Director Christian Jungen. "We also want to use the IMFC to demonstrate to a wider audience the tremendous importance of film music, without which a cinematic work would be only half as emotional."

These are the nominees

Carl Falkenau

This is the second time that Carl Falkenau has been nominated for the "Best International Film Music" Golden Eye. The Swedish-German composer's list of credits includes soundtracks for Scandinavian TV shows and symphonic arrangements for a variety of Swedish artists. One of his projects at the moment is Missa Cruciatus, a monumental mass in 8 movements with a scheduled premiere in 2024. It is dedicated to "Ukraine and All Creatures on Earth". In addition to the work he does in his own recording studio, Carl also teaches piano at the Lund Culture School in Sweden.

Elliot Murphy

Currently living in Berlin, the Irish cellist and composer Elliot Murphy is also a second-time nominee for the "Best International Film Music" Golden Eye. His broad compositional focus ranges from aleatoric music, where some elements of the work are left to chance, to classical folk music. He is also an accomplished cellist across a variety of styles, improvisation being the most dominant. His list of current projects includes improvised cello performances with live-electronics for theatre and the release of his own album.

Cian McCarthy

Born in Ireland, Cian McCarthy currently lives in New York, where he splits his time between orchestrating musical theatre and composing for multimedia. His previous credits include serving as the music director and conductor on such hit Broadway productions as MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL and THE BOOK OF MORMON. He has also worked in recent years as an orchestrator on various projects, including the new musical LEMPICKA, which is due to hit Broadway soon.