German Documentary Film Music Award 2015

The award for contemporary film compositions.

Presented on 9th May 2015 during DOK.fest Munich
20:00. Audimax at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München

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The German Documentary Film Music Prize was conceived to draw attention to the field of music and composition. It sees itself as a platform to promote the work of composers and the value of music as a narrative element within documentary film.

Contemporary film compositions are awarded with a prize worth EUR 2,500, donated by the funding body, Deutschen Komponistenverbandes DKV, and supported by Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung.

This year the prize goes to John Gürtler, Jan Miserre and Lars Voges, a collective of composers known as Paradox Paradise, for their score for the film ABOVE AND BELOW by Nicolas Steiner, CH/D 2015, 118 mins (produced by Filmakademie Baden Württemberg/Maximage).

The film by Nicolas Steiner follows some of life’s survivors on the margins of American society: Rick and Cindy in the sewer system of Las Vegas, Dave in an abandoned bunker and April on her Mars mission in the Utah desert. Above and Below is a cinema film that doesn’t just present its protagonists but creates distinct worlds and in doing so achieves a deep intimacy.

The jury’s statement on the awarding of the 2015 German Documentary Film Prize to Paradox Paradise reads: “The film music of John Gürtler, Jan Miserre and Lars Voges is striking in its complexity and dramatic potency. The musical element develops the emotional strength that arises from the narrative and creates discrete dramatic structures that don’t just support the narrative but produce their own narration. In its own way, the work plays on American musical traditions and breathes new life into them. It is versatile, innovative and modern and impressively produced without being ostentatious.”

The Berlin collective, Paradox Paradise, composes and produces soundtracks and songs with the consistent goal of creating authentic and individual film scores that they record live in their studio. The collective consists of the multi-instramentalists and singers, John Gürtler, Jan Miserre and Lars Voges, who among them have won awards including the German Film Music Prize and the Gema Musikautorenpreis. Their music is associated with jazz as well as blues, electronic music and classical.

The 2015 jury members were:

The funding body of the Deutschen Komponistenverband supports artistic work in the field of musical art. The Versicherungs-kammer Kulturstiftung is a foundation for the promotion of contemporary art and music. Thereby it promotes both the dissemination of culture as well as individual artists.