On 18 October 2017, the international film music scene gathered in Ghent for the 17th edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, the prestigious film music prizes of Film Fest Gent.
The annual World Soundtrack Awards Gala & Concert celebrates outstanding achievements in scoring music for motion pictures and TV series and is attended by scores of international composers and film music professionals. Guest of honour this year is world-renowned trumpeter, composer and band leader Terence Blanchard, known for his long-running collaboration with director Spike Lee for whom he scored such films as Malcolm X, 25th Hour, Clockers and Inside Man. During the concert, Blanchard will also be performing work from Sugar Hill and the HBO documentary series When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.
We also welcome last year's Discovery of the Year Award winner Joe Kraemer, who collaborated with Christopher McQuarrie on The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to David Shire, whose versatile career includes scores for the original version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Saturday Night Fever and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. The concert line-up, with Shire on piano, also includes themes from Return to Oz and Farewell, My Lovely.