Palkintoa on jaettu vuodesta 2010 ja siihen osallistuvat ehdokkaat Suomesta, Ruotsista, Tanskasta, Norjasta ja Islannista. Suomi on voittanut palkinnon kolme kertaa.

Palkinto jaetaan Berlinalen elokuvamusiikkifestivaalien yhteydessä Nordic Film Music Days -tapahtumassa 14.2.2026.

Lue alta englanninkieliset perustelut ja lisätietoja muista ehdokkaista ja tapahtumasta.

FINLAND Panu Aaltio for Dome Karukoski’s Little Siberia

Little Siberia tells a peculiar story set in a remote Finnish village: a local priest tries to make sense of his life while protecting a valuable meteorite from all kinds of thugs. Colourful characters are presented and absurd events unfold in this absurdist dark comedy. In his quirky score, Panu Aaltio combines inventive electronic sound design with traditional Finnish folk music, creating a unique sonic world that seamlessly fits the film’s surreal mood. Bridging the otherworldly absurdity of the space realm and rural, traditional small-town people, Aaltio’s production choices form a one-of-a-kind mélange from improbable ingredients.

Crafted with high-level professionalism, Aaltio’s score weaves in and out, punctuating on-screen action just the right amount and making the score an integral part of the film’s storytelling, as only a well-crafted film score can.

Harpa-palkinnon on suunnitellut islantilainen Ragnar Kjartansson ja sen valmistaa islantilainen kultaseppä Kjartan Örn Kjartansson.

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HARPA NORDIC FILM COMPOSERS AWARD 2026 ANNOUNCES NOMINEES

The composer organizations from the five Nordic countries have selected their national nominees for the 16th annual HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award. The award ceremony will take place on February 14th 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 2026 range from inventive electronic sounds to traditional folk music, from abstract and tonal elements to unsentimental moods, and seamless tapestries of sound and image.

NOMINEES

DENMARK / Jonas Colstrup for Erik Poppe’s Quislings siste dager
Jonas Colstrup has composed an exceptionally atmospheric and bold score for Erik Poppe’s film Quislings siste dager which elevates the drama and keeps the narrative in constant tension – even in silence. The orchestral expression is varied yet deliberately restrained, allowing space for reflection. The music is unsettling, expressive, and unsentimental, carried by a fateful energy that slowly draws the story towards the inevitable. The abstract and tonal elements are well balanced, enhancing the film’s complexity and underlying tragedy with remarkable artistic precision.

FINLAND Panu Aaltio for Dome Karukoski’s Little Siberia
Little Siberia tells a peculiar story set in a remote Finnish village: a local priest tries to make sense of his life while protecting a valuable meteorite from all kinds of thugs. Colourful characters are presented and absurd events unfold in this absurdist dark comedy. In his quirky score, Panu Aaltio combines inventive electronic sound design with traditional Finnish folk music, creating a unique sonic world that seamlessly fits the film’s surreal mood. Bridging the otherworldly absurdity of the space realm and rural, traditional small-town people, Aaltio’s production choices form a one-of-a-kind mélange from improbable ingredients.

Crafted with high-level professionalism, Aaltio’s score weaves in and out, punctuating on-screen action just the right amount and making the score an integral part of the film’s storytelling, as only a well-crafted film score can.

ICELAND Viktor Orri Árnason and Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir for Poems: A Journey Through Icelandic Poetry
The film captivates the audience in a delightful, musical journey through Iceland’s poetry and landscape, impressively impacting all senses at once, in a masterfully seamless tapestry of sound and image. Viktor Orri’s and Álfheiður Erla’s original music, and their extraordinarily intimate performances, gives a rare insight into their creative process and sources of inspiration.

NORWAY Anna Berg for Dag Johan Haugerud’s Drømmer [Dreams]
The score in Drømmer may seem sparse – it moves at its own pace – but eventually we realize that it underlines the emotions of the viewer as much as the protagonist. The use of music is bold and expressive, and the result very confident and original. The music captures the seasons and atmosphere of Oslo and the undercurrents of a young person’s first love.

SWEDEN Rebekka Karijord for Rörelser [Raptures]
Rebekka Karijord’s transparent soundtrack grips listeners instantly and then gently guides us through the powerful emotions and unfolding events portrayed. With her sensitivity in handling tone, she observes suggestive and chaotic storytelling without taking sides. Her instrumentation is well chosen, tastefully reflecting the film’s time and setting through both folk and ecclesiastical themes, where Rebekka Karijord approaches the drama with a genuine and highly skilled artistic eye of the highest calibre.

An international jury will determine a winner.

The 2026 jury members are:

Kaare Christoffer Vestrheim, composer and HARPA winner 2025 (NO), Chair

Michael P. Aust, Festival Director Soundtrack Cologne (DE)
Erica Procunier, Composer, Professor, SAG Canada (CA)
Hanna-Greth Peetson, Music Meets Film & Industry@Tallinn (EE)
Christine Aufderhaar, composer (DE)
Miriam Cutler, Award-winning Film and Media Composer (US)
Matthew Whiteside, Composer, Sync Agent (UK)

Previous Winners of HARPA Nordic Film Composers Award

2025 Berlin | Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, Andréa Louise Horstad, Kristoffer Lo and Eivind Helgerød | Norway| “Makta”
2024 Berlin | Eðvarð Egilsson | Iceland| “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”
2023 Berlin | Jørund Fluge Samuelsen | Norway | “Alle Hater Johan”
2022 Hybrid | Sanna Salmenkallio | 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”

Partners of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2026

SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers & Authors)
FST (Föreningen af Svenske Tonsättere)
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)
Polyphonia

Collaborators of HARPA Nordic Film Music Days 2026

Soundtrack Cologne
EFM (European Film Market)
ECSA (European Composer and Songwriter Alliance)
Industry@Tallinn
Orchestral Tools
GENELEC

Supported by

Nordische Botschaften
Nordisk Film og TV fond
Orchestral Tools
Koda Kultur
The Finnland-Institute

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.

More information

Project manager | Minna Huuskonen | composers@nordicfilmmusicdays.com | +358 44 0881232
Production | Jesper Siberg | production@nordicfilmmusicdays.com | +45 23 29 33 12