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Ilari Heinilä for Sebastian
The electronic score by Finnish composer Ilari Heinilä for Sebastian (director Mikko Mäkelä) blends seamlessly into the soundscape, enhancing its foreboding atmosphere. It mirrors the inner turmoil of LGBTQ writer Max, whose secretive double life results in conflict, which eventually leads him toward self-acceptance and pride his actions.
Heinilä’s composition is not only beautiful but thoughtfully placed, enhancing the narrative while staying true to the film’s tone and vision.
Elikia Peti-Peti, Finnish National Jury
Ilari Heinilä
Blending the rebellious spirit of DIY punk rock with the atmospheric allure of electronica, Ilari Heinilä is a musical artisan whose sound defies conventions. His most recent film, Sebastian (directed by the critically acclaimed Mikko Mäkelä), premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. In collaboration with Will Quiney’s trailer house, Acid, Heinilä has secured placements in notable projects, including a TV spot for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Describing his music as “organic electronica,” Heinilä explores the duality between organic sounds and electronic production techniques. The result is a sonically adventurous, richly textured tapestry that captures the essence of a musical journey through seamless artistry.
Ilari Heinilä has created original music for a wide range of media projects, showcasing his talent and dedication to the craft.
Beyond music and sound, he is also passionate about tattoos and sailing.
More information about Harpa Award and Nordic Film Music Days
The composer organizations from the five Nordic countries have selected their national nominees for the 15th annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on February 15th during this year’s Nordic Film Music Days in Berlin.
Every year HARPA Nordic Film Music Days awards the HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award, highlighting outstanding Nordic film composers. Nominees are selected by national juries from the Nordic countries and the selected composers represent a wide range of films, from biographical stories to documentaries.
The five nominated scores for HARPA Nordic Film Composer Awards 2025 range from anarchistic experimental improvisation, brooding expansive electronic soundscapes, a playful orchestral symphony, soul-searching ambient jazz and bittersweet contemplative piano, harp and strings, all of them commonly steeped in a Nordic heritage.
DENMARK / Christian Balvig for Roja Pakari & Emilie Adelina Monies’ The Son & The Moon
Danish composer Christian Balvig took a documentary-style approach to scoring The Son and the Moon, composing on the go and recording ideas on his phone. His demos shaped the film’s editing, and he later re-recorded pieces using personally significant instruments, like his parents’ piano, to match the film’s intimate, harrowing story.
Christian’s compositions are both fragile and powerful, instilling hope and presence in the gravity surrounding Roja’s illness
Diana Quieros, Martin Strange & Thomas Krag, Danish National Jury
FINLAND Ilari Heinilä for Mikko Mäkelä’s Sebastian
The electronic score by Finnish composer Ilari Heinilä for Sebastian blends seamlessly into the soundscape, enhancing its foreboding atmosphere. It mirrors the inner turmoil of LGBTQ writer Max, whose secretive double life results in conflict, which eventually leads him toward self-acceptance and pride his actions.
Heinilä’s composition is not only beautiful but thoughtfully placed, enhancing the narrative while staying true to the film’s tone and vision.
Elikia Peti-Peti, Finnish National Jury
ICELAND Högni Egilsson for Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch
Icelandic composer Högni Egilsson explores longing and memory in his elegant score for Touch. Using piano, harp and a string quintet, he creates an intimate atmosphere for the two lonely characters searching for their past. Composed during filming, Högni engaged closely with the director but crafted the music independently, focusing on mood and emotion.
The respect and care that Högni’s music shows for the narrative makes it an integral part of the film – a seamless addition to the storytelling
Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Hilmar Oddsson and Pétur S. Jónsson, Icelandic National Jury
NORWAY Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, Andréa Louise Horstad, Kristoffer Lo & Eivind Helgerød for Johan Fasting, Kristin Grue & Silje Storstein’s MAKTA
Norwegian composer Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim was asked to craft a rough, anarchistic score for Power Play, reflecting the show’s unconventional style. Collaborating with Eivind Helgerød, Andréa Louise Horstad, and Kristoffer Lo, they improvised the music. Set in the 70s and 80s, the series contrast period elements with a modern, Dogma-inspired Nordic filmmaking approach.
The music brings us back to the dusty, smoke-filled eighties with its analogue, acoustic instruments, as if it’s made by an avantgarde band from the time period Christine Hals, Kenneth Ishak & Lars Ole Kristiansen, Norwegian National Jury
SWEDEN Carl Henrik Lörstad for Christian Ryltenius’ Who are you, Mamma Moo?
Swedish composer Carl Henrik Lörstad crafted a classic orchestral score for the animated film Who Are You, Mamma Moo? The music captures Mamma Moo’s whimsical antics resulting from her dreams of being more than a cow. There’s music throughout the film, which shows the impressive dedication required of the composer to create this score.
With elegant and detailed instrumentation, Lörstad manages to highlight, without oversimplifying, both the playful and the serious aspects of the film’s sympathetic message
Ulla-Carin & Ylva Fred, Swedish National Jury
An international jury will determine a winner
The 2025 jury members are:
- IS Eðvarð Egilsson (winner Harpa 2024)
- DE Michael P. Aust (Soundtrack Cologne)
- EST Hanna-Greth Peetson (Music Meets Film & Industry – Tallinn)
- US Sydney Levine (International Film Consultant)
- CAN Erica Procunier (or another Composer from Alliance for Women Film Composers)
- DE Peter Domsch (Composer and Head of Sales at European Film Market)
- KOREA (Jecheon Film Festival) – Byun Seung Min (Producer)
Highlights of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days full programme will be announced in January, but a few highlights include starting off on Saturday February 15th with feature seminars on topics such as contracts and women in film composing, along with a panel discussion showcasing this year’s nominees, introduced and moderated by last year’s HARPA Award recipient, Eðvarð Egilsson (Iceland).
A speed meeting session will once again be hosted gathering 30 Nordic composers and 30 producers & directors at the European Film Market in connection with a panel on the Life & Value of The Score spearheaded by ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance).
Another event not to be missed is the seminar on women in film composing in collaboration with Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC), followed by networking opportunities.
The first day will wrap with Award Night, announcing and celebrating the winner of the 2025 HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award.
On Sunday February 16th all the nominated films will be screened at the Nordic Embassies’ auditorium, free of charge. The films and their scores are given the best possible exposure thanks to the high-quality sound provided by GENELEC’s state-of-the-art speaker system, offering an immersive audiovisual experience and all the films will be introduced by the nominated composers.
Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award
- 2024 Berlin | Eðvarð Egilsson | Iceland| “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
- 2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
- 2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salemnkallio | Finland | “Aalto”
- 2021 Virtual | Flemming Nordkrog | Denmark | “Shine Your Eyes”
- 2020 Berlin | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Bröllop, begravning & dop”
- 2019 Berlin | Davíð Þór Jónsson and Benedikt Erlingsson | Iceland | “Woman at war”
- 2018 Berlin| Daníel Bjarnason | Iceland | “Under the Tree”
- 2017 Berlin and Cannes | Honorary award | Denmark | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
- 2017 Berlin and Cannes | Sune Martin | Denmark | “Land of Mine”
- 2016 Berlin | Honorary award | Iceland | Johann Johannsson
- 2016 Berlin | Atli Örvarsson | Iceland | “Rams”
- 2014 Espoo | Matti Bye | Sweden | “Faro”
- 2013 Trondheim |Tuomas Kantelinen | Finland | “Puhdistus”
- 2012 Reykjavik |Fredrik Emilson | Sweden | “Kronjuvelerna”
- 2011 Copenhagen | Gaute Storaas | Norway | “Elias og jakten på havets gull”
- 2010 Gothenburg | Dani Strömbäck | Finland | “Letters to Father Jacob”
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 PARTNERS
- SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
- FST (Föreningen Svenska Tonsättare)
- Music Finland
- Finnish Music Creators FMC
- STEF (Icelandic Collective Rights Management Society)
- NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists)
- BFM (Danish Organization for Film- and Media Composers)
- MXD (Music Export Denmark)
- Polyphonia (Danish Composers Network for Women & Other Gender Minorities)
- Nordic Music Days & Glasgow Film Festival
- Musikcentrum
HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2025 COLLABORATORS
- Sound Track Cologne
- EFM (European Film Market)
- Jecheon International Film & Music Festival
- Orchestral Tools
- GENELEC
- (AWFC) Alliance for Women Film Composers
The HARPA Nordic Film Music Days & Composers Award was introduced by the Nordic composer organizations in 2010. Since 2016, the award ceremony has taken place at the Nordische Botschaften in Berlin in connection with the Berlin International Film Festival. It unspooled virtually in 2021, as a hybrid event in 2022 and then back to a full live audience in 2023.
Nordic Film Music Days (NFMD) is carried out as a collaboration between the Nordic composer organizations, and Music Finland. To achieve its goals Nordic Film Music Days co-operates closely with the Nordic Embassies in Berlin.
Nordic Film Music Days is supported by Nordische Botschaften and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
For more information, contact:
Project coordinator | Lone Nyhuus | lony@filmkomponister.dk | +45 23 84 24 56
PR and Marketing | Andrea Mellerup | composers@nordicfilmmusicdays.com | +45 81 71 62 09
Production | Jesper Siberg | production@nordicfilmmusicdays.com | + 45 23 29 33 12
International Press | Manlin Sterner |manlin@manlin.se | +46 763 76 9933
