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Gabriel Yared is one of the most prominent and successful composers of his generation. Born in Lebanon, but working and living in Paris, the composer has produced over 70 scores and soundtracks since the beginning of the 1980ies, including music for films by renowned filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Jacques Annaud and Jean-Jacques Beineix.

On the 8th edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, American composer Angelo Badalamenti will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Marianne Faithfull. The British singer will hand over the prize during the closing night of the 35th Ghent Film Festival on 18 October. A large part of the evening will be dedicated to the music of Angelo Badalamenti, who in the past collaborated with Marianne Faithfull for the soundtrack of La Cité des Enfants Perdus.

The competition for film music composers, which is organised every year by the Ghent Film Festival with the support of SABAM, is going European for the first time! All young European composers are given the chance to compete for the main prize of 2,500 Euros, as well as having their composition performed live by the Brussels Philharmonic during the presentation of the World Soundtrack Awards on 17 October. This is the official closing event of the 36th edition of the Ghent Film Festival, which takes place from 6 till 17 October 2009. Candidates can register up to 30 June 2009.

With a film focus on China, a film music concert by the Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi and an exhibition on the Japanese animation art anime, the 36th edition of the Ghent Film Festival feels particularly Asian. In addition, film music remains central to the festival programme with various film music concerts, the award ceremony of the World Soundtrack Awards and a film music seminar.

The first competition for young European film music composers organised by the Ghent International Film Festival with the support of Sabam is a big hit. 76 composers from allover Europe have registrated with participants from Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Austria, Germany, Romania, Estonia and many other countries.

The composers Alexandre Desplat and Marvin Hamlisch will be the guests of honour at the 9th World Soundtrack Awards, the key event of the 36th Ghent Film Festival on Saturday 17 October in Music Centre De Bijloke in Ghent. The Brussels Philharmonic will be playing music from The Girl with the Pearl Earring, The Queen, The Painted Veil and Lust Caution among others. The American composer Marvin Hamlisch, who created unforgettable music for films such as The Way We Were and The Sting, will receive the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award.

Three-time Oscar winner and much-lauded film composer Marvin Hamlisch will be the guest of honour and recipient of the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award at the 9th World Soundtrack Awards, which close the 36th Ghent International Film Festival on October 17th.

The World Soundtrack Academy has announced the list of nominees for the three principal categories in the World Soundtrack Awards, the pre-eminent international prizes for the recognition of film music: Film Composer of the Year, Best Original Score of the Year and Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film. The names of the winners will be proclaimed on Saturday, October 17 at the closing event of the Ghent International Film Festival.

With the festival focus on Asia, and composer Shigeru Umebayashi as special guest, this year's film music seminar will be focusing on the use of sound and music in contemporary Chinese film. The morning kicks off with a brief overview of Chinese film, in all its sensory splendour, by renowned sinologist Anne Sytske Keijser. Since the eighties (and the Chinese New Wave), Chinese film has been more heavily focused on the aesthetic experience, communicated through sound and image, than on conventional narrative. Music plays a pivotal role, with sounds mixed and edited in a very specific way to complement the director's vision. Anne Sytske Keijser and Martine Huvenne will demonstrate the effects in a number of sound and film clips.

The World Soundtrack Academy releases the list of nominees for the World Soundtrack Discovery 2009. The name of the winner will be announced on October 17 at the World Soundtrack Awards ceremony, the closing event of the Ghent International Film Festival.