Whether reflecting the depth and emotion of a film’s content and subjects, propelling a narrative forward or serving as a character in its own right, musical scores play an essential role in the impact of a nonfiction film. This award celebrates those diverse musicians who successfully married music to film. Previous winners in this category include Max Richter for Waltz with Bashir (2009), Danny Grody, Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri and Kenric Taylor for October Country (2010), Norbert Möslang for The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy (2011), John Kusiak for Tabloid (2012), Dial.81 for Detropia (2013), Yasuaki Shimizu for Cutie and the Boxer (2014), Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for 20,000 Days on Earth (2015), Laurie Anderson for Heart of a Dog (2016), David Byrne, LeeAnn Rossi and Aaron Rosenblum for Contemporary Color (2017), Philip Glass for Jane (2018), Ishai Adar for Shirkers (2019), Matt Morton for Apollo 11 (2020), Vincent van Warmerdam for The Mole Agent (2021), Dan Deacon for Ascension (2022), Nicolas Godin for Fire of Love (2023) and JD Samson for 32 Sounds (2024).
