Nominees for the 2021 Harpa Nordic Film Composers announced

Composers/musicians Flemming Nordkrog, Pessi Levanto, the duo Bergur Þórisson & Pétur Jónsson, Marcus Paus and Jon Ekstrand are this year's nominees. They were selected by a national jury, chosen for their outstanding work in the score of a feature, documentary or TV series that premiered between July 21^st 2019 -July 21^st 2020.

Denmark’s Flemming Nordkrog was selected for his film score of Shine Your Eyes by Brazil’s Matias Mariani which premiered at this year’s Berlinale Panorama section. Jurors consisting of writer/director Lone Scherfig, film critic Ida Rud Lielsen and sound editor Morten Groth Brandt, described his composition as a “classy score which is at once meditative and thought-provoking”. “Nordkrog has created a bold, moving and inventive score, which excellently carries the mysterious twist and turns of the story in Matias Mariani's pensive French/Brasilian drama,” they said.

The Danish composer who lives in France has created music for more than 25 films, and numerous TV-series, documentaries, and short films in Denmark, France, Belgium, Brazil and the US. Those include Nikolaj Arcel’s The King’s Game, the French/Tunisian Arab Blues, the TV series Follow the Money 3 (DR) and Moloch (Arte).

He was Harpa nominated in 2010 for the Danish film The Blessing and was associated to the Oscar-winning short films This Charming Man and The Mozart of Pickpockets.

Finland’s Pessi Levanto is nominated for his film score of Psychosia by Denmark’s Marie Grahtø Sørensen, which world premiered at Venice’s Critics Week 2019. The Finnish juror, composer Juri Seppä, said Pessi Levanto´s score is “a masterful example of how not to overwrite. Everything irrelevant is cut out and every cue is on the spot. The music pays a clear homage to contemporary classical composers rather than to the more traditional film music composers. Pessi also cleverly uses material derived from Schubert´s Der Leiermann.”

Levanto is one of Finland’s most prominent film composers, known for his versatile taste for both classical and jazz/rock. He has scored 15 films, around 30 shorts and documentaries as well as commercials, and released seven records.

His credit includes Land of Hope, Swingers, the comedy hit The Renovation, the upcoming Norwegian film The Innocents by Eskil Vogt and TV series A Piece of My Heart. Levanto is also a sought-after arranger and has written dozens of orchestral arrangements for all main Finnish orchestras.

Iceland’s Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson -part of the band HUGAR, are nominated for the documentary film The Vasulka Effect by Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, which world premiered in competition at Nordisk Panorama 2019. The jurors consisting of director Hilmar Oddsson, writer/composer Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, composers Pétur S. Jónsson and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson said the film’s main characters - Steina and Woody Vasulka represent “the classical and the avant-garde, artistry and craftsmanship, the analogue and the digital and the music follows and embodies all those aspects."

Multitalented instrumentalists and musicians Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson started composing music together in 2013 and set up the band Hugar. Their self-released album of the same name racked over 30 million streams worldwide on Spotify alone. They’ve collaborates with like-minded Icelandic musicians including Björk, Sigur Rós, Ólafur Arnalds, Jóhann Jóhannson and released the album Varða on Sony Music Masterworks.

Norway’s Marcus Paus is nominated for his film score of André Øvredal’s fantasy film Mortal. Jurors including journalist Thor Joachim Haga, composers Irene Tilling and Jan Eric Mikalsen said “Mortal is an impressively mature orchestral work that feels both introvert and extrovert at the same time, painting its fantastical canvas in broad, impressionistic strokes.”

Paus is one of Norway’s most sought-after composers of his generation. His work ranges from chamber music, solo works, choral music, concertos, operas, and works for stage and screen. Among his major works are The Stolen Child, written for Ensemble 96, the operas The Witches and The Ash-Lad, and the film score of Sara Johnsen’s Upperdog. Paus was Amanda nominated this year for the film Mortal.

Sweden’s Jon Ekstrand is nominated for the film score of Jesper Ganslandt’s 438 Days. The jury consisting of composers Ulla-Carin Nyquist and Martin Jonsson Tibblin said “using a mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds in a seamless and creative way, Ekstrand fully illustrates the characters´ emotions and the different settings and places of the film.”

Ekstrand began his career under the mentorship of acclaimed sound designer Owe Svensson. In 1998 he met director Daniel Espinosa at the Stockholm Film School, and the two have been collaborating ever since on films such as the Easy Money trilogy, Child 44, and the Marvel/Sony Morbius.

To date Ekstrand has scored over 30 films and TV series. He was Guldbagge nominated in Sweden for The White People, Borg McEnroe, 438 Days and won a Robert Awards for the multi-awarded Danish film Queen of Hearts.

The Nordic Music Film Days, set up to strengthen artistic and musical interaction between the Nordic countries and beyond, is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.