Krakow FMF 2024 – Young Talent Award – Winners

https://fmf.fm/news/345

The winners of the FMF Young Talent Award announced!

Hernan Castro Fioravanti won the 12th edition of the international competition for young film music composers, as his score illustrating one of the scenes from The Peasants was deemed the best. His composition will be showcased during the Krakow Film Music Festival on May 25th.

The FMF Young Talent Award is a contest for young composers below the age of 35, organised as a part of the Krakow Film Music Festival. The main objective of the FMF Young Talent Award is to showcase their achievements to the general public, as well as to representatives of the film industry.

The main prize goes to the Argentinian composer Hernan Castro Fioravanti. He started learning guitar at the age of 12. Following his studies at the highly esteemed Astor Piazzola Conservatory in Buenos Aires, he won the prestigious scholarship of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied composing for film. As of today, he is living in Utrecht and working as a composer, arranger, orchestrator, teacher and sound engineer. He is taking part in a Master of Music program at the University of the Art – Music and Technology (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

In his works, Fioravanti uses a variety of guitars, orchestra instruments and synthesisers, enhancing the line-up with instruments characteristic of South America, including the ronroco. This unique combination results in sound palettes that can be tailored to the needs of each project. Recently, the composer has been nominated for the European Talent Award of the SoundTrack Cologne Festival.

The second place went to the Italian composer Francesco Berta, while the third was won by Piotr Nermer from Poland. The challenge faced by the participants was to compose their scores to an excerpt from The Peasants by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman. The adaptation of Władysław Reymont’s novel stands out thanks to the unique combination of acting and animation. Each of the 40 000 frames captured on set was subsequently recreated with oil paints. The unique aesthetics of the film turned out to be highly inspiring for young composers.

“This year’s winner of the YTA Award has demonstrated a sensitive and patient approach to the task of musically reflecting the harsh realities experienced by the characters who populate the intensely moving film The Peasants. With a classic film style and strong themes, he never led the drama, rather provided a steady emotional foundation and slowly building tension, anxiety and horror, taking us through the dramatic climax, and leaving us devastated. A good example of musical storytelling” – says Miriam Cutler, an Emmy-nominated composer who led the jury.

Fioravanti’s composition will be showcased on May 25th during the Krakow Film Music Festival. The Polish Gala: Modern Roots eventwill feature suites from 1670, Blacktail and Forgotten Love. During the evening, the ICE Krakow Congress Centre will also echo with the sound of the original soundtrack to The Peasants, played by one of its authors Łukasz “L.U.C.” Rostkowski with the Rebel Babel Film Orchestra.

As an additional prize, Hernan Castro Fioravanti will receive a Bettermaker Mastering Limiter 2.0 device, donated by Bettermaker – maker of top-of-the-range studio equipment for engineers and music producers. Since this year, the company joined the ranks of co-organisers of the FMF Young Talent Award and the FMF Audiovisual Forum – a series of festival meetings. Marek Walaszek, the founder of Bettermaker, will conduct masterclasses for young composers at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre in Lusławice, as well as open workshops at the Potocki Palace in Krakow. The participants will explore hybrid mastering using analogue equipment, while discovering the selection of Bettermaker equipment. “It is an honour and a great joy for us to be able to help develop incredibly talented artists. Since we are creating solutions for the best professionals in the industry, the decision to work with the Krakow Film Music Festival is a natural one for us,” Walaszek added.

To date, the winners have included Matthijs Kieboom (2013), Jan Sanejko (2014), Antonio Di Iorio (2015), Joep Sporck (2016), Paweł Górniak (2017), Marco Valerio Antonini (2018), Hubert Walkowski (2019), Henrik Lindström (2020), Yeakun Yoo (2021), Ignacy Wojciechowski (2022) and Szymon Sutor (2023).