Alex Heffes
Alex Heffes is a Golden Globe nominated composer known for his scores to over 60 movies and TV series including The Last King of Scotland, Mandela Long Walk to
Freedom, State of Play, Black Mirror, Roots and many others. Originally rising to critical
acclaim with his scores to Kevin Macdonald’s Academy Award-winning film One Day In
September and Touching The Void, he has worked with many of cinema’s top
filmmakers such as Stephen Frears (The Program), Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe, A
Suitable Boy), Catherine Hardwicke (Miss Bala) and JJ Abrams (11.22.63).
Known for his great versatility, Alex has shown himself equally at home scoring fantasy (Red Riding Hood), horror (Anthony Hopkins’ The Rite), WW II drama (Peter Webber’s Emperor) action (Escape Plan & The Take) as well as acclaimed nature and family films The Elephant Queen (Apple TV+) and the BBC’s Earth: One Amazing Day.
His unique ability to collaborate with artists from different countries and cultures has been a trademark of his style. It was his iconic score to Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland that first sent Alex to Africa where he created a blend of world music and orchestral scoring. He would later return to South Africa to record sessions for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. He collaborated closely with director Tim Burton on his screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd and his solo album Face To Face features duets with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Regina Spektor.
Alex’s many awards and nominations include a Golden Globe nomination (Mandela Long Walk to Freedom) and a BAFTA nomination for the HBO drama Tsunami: The Aftermath. He has been nominated for three Ivor Novello Awards, winning for Best Film Score of the Year (The First Grader) and his score to Roots won Best TV Score of the Year at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. In 2011 he received the honor of ‘Discovery of the Year’ at the World Soundtrack Academy and in 2016 was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Recent scores include the No.1 streamed thriller on Netflix Intrusion, Going Circular which was shown to world leaders at the 2021 COP26 Climate Summit and The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness (showing in IMAX theaters) which led to over 6 million letters being sent to the US Fish & Wildlife Bureau asking for protected status for the Arctic Refuge.
Known for his great versatility, Alex has shown himself equally at home scoring fantasy (Red Riding Hood), horror (Anthony Hopkins’ The Rite), WW II drama (Peter Webber’s Emperor) action (Escape Plan & The Take) as well as acclaimed nature and family films The Elephant Queen (Apple TV+) and the BBC’s Earth: One Amazing Day.
His unique ability to collaborate with artists from different countries and cultures has been a trademark of his style. It was his iconic score to Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland that first sent Alex to Africa where he created a blend of world music and orchestral scoring. He would later return to South Africa to record sessions for Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. He collaborated closely with director Tim Burton on his screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd and his solo album Face To Face features duets with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Regina Spektor.
Alex’s many awards and nominations include a Golden Globe nomination (Mandela Long Walk to Freedom) and a BAFTA nomination for the HBO drama Tsunami: The Aftermath. He has been nominated for three Ivor Novello Awards, winning for Best Film Score of the Year (The First Grader) and his score to Roots won Best TV Score of the Year at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. In 2011 he received the honor of ‘Discovery of the Year’ at the World Soundtrack Academy and in 2016 was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Recent scores include the No.1 streamed thriller on Netflix Intrusion, Going Circular which was shown to world leaders at the 2021 COP26 Climate Summit and The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness (showing in IMAX theaters) which led to over 6 million letters being sent to the US Fish & Wildlife Bureau asking for protected status for the Arctic Refuge.