SoundTrack_Cologne 14 awards European Talent Award, Peer Raben Music Award, SEE THE SOUND Award for Best Music Documentary, Lifetime Achievement Award and the Best German Live Music TV-Show Award

SoundTrack_Cologne 14 • August 23rd - 27th 2017

The juries of SoundTrack_Cologne 14 have made their decisions. Thomas Chabalier, France won the WDR Film Score Award, Emer Kinsella, Ireland and Jessica Kelly, UK received an Honourable Mention. Martin B. Janssen won the Peer Raben Music Award. The SEE THE SOUND Award for Best Music Documentary went to Liberation Day by Morten Traavik and Uģis Olte.

During the award ceremony composer Bruce Broughton received the Lifetime Achievement Award of SoundTrack_Cologne.

As composer Jean-Michel Bernard states in his laudation:
“I consider Bruce a composer who belongs to the small circle of the “Hollywood Greats“, on the same level as Jerry Goldsmith, Alex North, Lalo Schifrin and John Williams, for example.
Of course there is “Silverado“, “Young Sherlock Holmes“, “Heart of Darkness“ and so many other scores which have in common faultless quality and precision. Bruce must have Swiss ancestry...“

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The winner of the European Talent Competition is Thomas Chabalier, Emer Kinsella and Jessica Kelly received an Honourable Mention.

Since its very beginning the European Talent Award is a central event of SoundTrack_Cologne. The work of all competition participants, who created a new world of music and sound for a muted short film, show how differently a soundtrack can tell a film.

The members of the jury were composer Claudius Brüse, sounddesigner Jef van Even, as representative of Chaussee SoundVision, Music Supervisor Robert Kraft, orchestra manager Corinna Rottschy of the WDR Funkhausorchester and producer and CEO of Kontrastfilm Tidi von Tidemann.

The WDR Filmscore Award goes to Thomas Chabalier, France. He wins a one-day recording session of one of his own compositions with the WDR Funkhausorchester.

The jury statement:
“Thomas Chabalier’s impressive and dynamic score to “Little Thing” excelled due to its effective support of drama while demonstrating high quality musical structure and a rich harmonic language. The occasionally comedic orchestrations paid precise attention to spotting details. The jury enjoyed in particular the impressionistic start and the fresh sounding jazz ending. The overall excellent mock-up quality presented the sound of the instruments in interesting and variable ways.“

An Honourable Mention goes to Emer Kinsella, Ireland.

The jury statement:
“Emer Kinsella’s score for “Little Thing” demonstrated the pleasant usage of textures and created a good overall atmosphere. The dramatic arc created by the music was very good while also professionally leaving sufficient room in the soundtrack for sounddesign.”

An Honourable Mention of the SoundTrack_Cologne programming team goes to Jessica Kelly:
“When the ETC talents send in their entries, usually the only vocals to be heard are those contained in choir samples ... But this year there were two entries that were different: They were songs. Both songs were nicely done, but one of them was simply outstanding, since it manages to balance song and story, music and visuals in a most sophisticated way.
To be honest: We faced the idea of a song with doubt, and we ended up being touched and impressed. That's more than you could expect. So we informed the STC staff about their discovery - and the STC staff decided to express their respect to a truly promising new voice. A young female composer's voice from Edinburgh, Scotland.
The first Special Mention by the STC programming team in the history of SoundTrack_Cologne goes to ...: Jessica Kelly. Congratulations!
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The Peer Raben Music Award goes to Martin B. Janssen for his music for the film Still, directed by Adrien Boublil.

The members of the jury were film music agent George Christopoulos, director Mareike Wegener and film composer Gary Yershon.

To quote the jury:
“The winning film is evidence of a high level of creative collaboration. The score’s dramatic arc and its narrative qualities were so powerful that the director and composer could take the artistic decision to remove the dialogue. The music sustains its beauty while supporting the very strong concept of the film.”

The award for the best music in a short film is endowed with 1.500 Euro and remembers composer and SoundTrack_Cologne Honorary Award Winner Peer Raben (1940-2007) who was best known for his work for the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
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SEE THE SOUND Award for Best Music Documentary 2017 goes to Liberation Day by Uģis Olte and Morten Traavik

In a very impressive manner the film documents the unusual journey of the Slovenian cult band Laibach to North Korea to perform a live show in Pyongyang during the 70th National Liberation Day of Korea, celebrating the end of Japanese occupation in 1945.

To quote the jury:
“The film gives us a surprisingly rare insight into the life of North Koreans living under a strict ideology. The band struggles to work within this dogma as they try to pass their songs through censorship while the situation at the borders of the split country heats up.
For 35 years Laibach has famously portrayed totalitarian regimes in shape of exaggerated and ironical music performances. Every song is peppered with these allusions. The bands artistic examination of the techniques and orchestration of totalitarianism takes a paradox effect during their work in Pyongyang. As the film progresses it appears more and more unclear what is staged and what is intended manipulation. Uģis Olte and Morten Traavik have accomplished to document this distressing but also entertaining clash of art and politics in an extraordinary film.”

The jury were last year's winner Yoon-ha Chang (I Go Back Home – Jimmy Scott), film critic Jessica Düster and director Nicole Wegner. The prize is endowed with 2.500 Euro.

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For the second time SoundTrack_Cologne supports its commitment to high quality music presentation on TV with the prize for the Best German Live Music TV Show. Awarded is a TV format, not a specific single show, in the field of popular music.

The SEE THE SOUND Award for Best German Live Music TV Show goes to Berlin live, a production of ARTE.

In the jury were Olaf Karnik, author, journalist and DJ, Fiona Latten, chief subeditor of TVT.media and Sarah Roellinger, DJ Monibi and radio host at Campusradio Köln. The award goes to the producers and broadcaster, the prize money of 2,500 euros goes to the production company.

The Jury’s statement:
“The viewer feels like to be in the center of action – on the shoulders of a concert-goer with the best view of the stage, the reactions of the crowd or the club ambiance. Thanks to interesting camera work, illumination, directing and a glance offstage, Berlin live presents the authentic representation of indie concerts in a midsize Berlin location. For the future we can imagine an extension of the musical spectrum.”