Prestigious IFMCA Award for Elliot Goldenthal: Music for Film, recorded by Brussels Philharmonic & Dirk Brossé
Film Fest Gent and Brussels Philharmonic are proud to announce that its 2024 album Elliot Goldenthal: Music for Film has been honoured with the Archival Award at the 21st IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) Awards. The award was presented by the IFMCA, an esteemed association of film music critics, in recognition of this album, which showcases the career-spanning work of American composer Elliot Goldenthal.
The winners of the 21st IFMCA Awards were revealed in a live broadcast on the IFMCA YouTube channel on February 27, 2025.
This year’s IFMCA Award for Best Archival Release went to the Film Fest Gent album Elliot Goldenthal: Music for Film. The album, released in 2024, features all-new studio recordings of selected scores by Elliot Goldenthal, performed by the Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Film Fest Gent’s music director, maestro Dirk Brossé.
[listen to the album on Spotify] [order the CD] [more about Film Fest Gent]
Beautifully recorded in Belgium by the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dirk Brossé (...), the album is accompanied by in-depth liner notes by Van Parys and Goldenthal, along with art direction by Stuart Ford. Worth noting is the fact that Brossé conducted the original Final Fantasy score, and as such this album brings their long friendship and working relationship full circle.
Film Fest Gent presented the album Elliot Goldenthal: Music for Film during the 51st film festival edition in October 2024. It was released by Silva Screen Records as part of the festival’s ongoing Music for Film series. In the past, a number of previous albums from this series received nods by the IFMCA too, in particular the festival's recordings featuring the music of Alan Silvestri (2015), Carter Burwell (2018), Marco Beltrami (2019), Gabriel Yared (2021) and Laurence Rosenthal (2023). In 2020, there was also a nomination for the album Tribute to the Film Composer in honour of the 20th anniversary of the World Soundtrack Awards.
The album Elliot Goldenthal: Music for Film includes music from some of Goldenthal’s most iconic works, such as his Academy Award-winning score for Frida (2002), which also earned him a Golden Globe and two World Soundtrack Awards. The compilation also presents two concert suites recorded in a studio for the first time. The “Grand Gothic Suite” features highlights from Goldenthal’s Grammy-nominated score for Batman Forever (1995) and his previously unreleased score for Batman & Robin (1997). The “Final Fantasia” suite celebrates his music for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001). Other notable works on the album include a suite from Alien³ (1992), Goldenthal’s ASCAP Award-winning score for Interview with the Vampire (1994), and selections from Michael Mann’s Heat (1995) and Public Enemies (2009). The album also includes the compelling “Finale” from Titus (1999), honouring Goldenthal’s enduring collaboration with director Julie Taymor.
We are deeply honoured to receive this award from the IFMCA. In a way, it is also a recognition of Film Fest Gent's entire Music for Film series, which has celebrated the impact of film music for almost two decades. This edition in particular was very special, and we would like to express our immense gratitude to Elliot Goldenthal and to everyone who contributed to this recording.
IFMCA
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is an organization of over 70 journalists, covering online, print, and radio outlets, who specialize in writing about film, television, and video game music. The association’s members hail from across the globe, including 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.
All winners and nominees of the 2024 IFMCA Awards: [filmmusiccritics.org]
Discover the full Music for Film series by Film Fest Gent: [filmfestgent.be] and [shop.filmfestival.be]
