The Soundtrack Stars Award 2023 for the best soundtrack among the films in the official selection at the 80th Venice International Film Festival goes to “Io capitano” by Matteo Garrone. It is the rule out of the Jury of the Award that honoured composer Andrea Farri, author of the music for the film (published by Sony Music Publishing) in theatres with 01 Distribution and produced by Archimede with Rai Cinema and Tarantula, Pathé and Logical Content Ventures.
“A journey,” reads the motivation, “that ignites the film with emotion and feeling by accompanying the ‘colour’ of a story that runs through the ethnic sounds of Senegalese percussion as the poignant notes that evoke memories of the distant land. A musical quest that retrieves tradition but also gives the dream and adventure of the two young protagonists the rhythm of rap.”
And a special mention from the jury goes to David Fincher’s “The Killer” for the music curated by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. “A film that,” as the motivation reads, “makes the music of the Smiths the protagonist in which the effect imagined by the director is original, convinced since the screenplay that precisely a song like How Soon is Now could become the antidote to the anxiety of its ruthless protagonist. The soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is a perfect assist to the tension and the silences of the killer narrated by Fincher.”
Levante received the award of the year for curating for the first time a soundtrack for Pilar Fogliati’s film “Romantiche” with the song “Leggera,” entirely written by the singer-songwriter and produced by Daniel Bestonzo and Antonio Filippelli, which dovetails perfectly with the film’s plot.
Subsonica received the special Soundtrack Stars Award for the music of Stefano Sollima’s Adagio (Venice 80th Competition). Subsonica is back to composing a soundtrack that is perfectly tuned to the narrative rhythm of Stefano Sollima’s film.
It is on the occasion of the 11th edition of the Soundtrack Stars Award that a new chapter dedicated to soundtracks and the authors of music for cinema opens: “Soundtrack Stars OFF,” conceived and produced by Free Event with the artistic coordination of the President of Cinema Journalists, Laura Delli Colli. Two days of meetings – to be held in May 2024 in Faenza (Ravenna), the operational headquarters of the production company as well as one of the municipalities most affected by the flooding in Romagna – dedicated to music in cinema, told by authors and protagonists, through Masterclasses, Concerts, Screenings and Photographic Exhibitions with a new language and content intended to ‘train’ not only the youngest generations of students but also to excite the new.
Conceived and produced entirely by Free Event, a group that has been a leading player in the music industry for years, the Soundtrack Stars Award, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, is a collateral Award of the Venice International Film Festival, promoted with the Italian Film Journalists (SNGCI), which enhances music in cinema in its crucial role, unavoidable in the production of a film, as an authentic protagonist among the performers on the set. The soundtrack that the award chooses each year from the movies in the Official Competition of the Festival knows how to turn into an authentic script within the screenplay, a script written with notes that accompany and enhance the emotions of each story.
The 2023 Soundtrack Stars Award Jury is composed of Laura Delli Colli (SNGCI President) and journalists Fulvia Caprara (La Stampa), Carola Carulli (Tg2), Giuseppe Fantasia (Il Foglio), Alessandra Magliaro (Ansa), Miriam Mauti (GR Rai), Flavio Natalia (Ciak), Antonella Nesi (Adnkronos), Marina Sanna (Rivista del Cinematografo, Cinematografo. it), Paolo Sommaruga (Tg1), Stefania Ulivi (Corriere della Sera), Alessandra Vitali (La Repubblica).
