World Soundtrack Awards

The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001, are the annual awards for best film music, presented during the Film Fest Gent. The World Soundtrack Academy supports the art of film music through cultural, educational and professional activities.^[1] The event takes place yearly in Ghent, Belgium with the ceremony usually at the Capitole Concert Hall.

• Film Composer of the Year
• Television Composer of the Year
• Best Original Song
• Discovery of the Year
• Game Music Award
• WSA Industry Award
• Public Choice Award
• Lifetime Achievement Award
• Sabam Award for the Best Original Composition by a Young Composer
• Best Original Score for a Belgian Production

The award winners are announced during the annual World Soundtrack Awards Concert & Ceremony. At the concert, Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Dirk Brossé, music director of Film Fest Gent, performs a selection of music by the guests of honour and the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The official institution behind the WSAwards is the World Soundtrack Academy. The WSAcademy is an international community of screen composers and industry professionals that supports the art of film music through cultural, promotional, educational and professional activities. The WSAcademy promotes film music worldwide through the annual presentation of the WSAwards, as well as through the development of other promotional activities. The WSAcademy supports both emerging and established composers for screen.

Through the organisation of film music seminars, masterclasses, workshops and other activities at Film Fest Gent, the WSAcademy actively contributes to the education and study of this art form. The WSAcademy engages itself in the preservation of the history of film music through recordings, publications and the development of an archive.^[2]

The festival is praised as one of the first cultural organizations to turn the spotlight on film music, which gave it the status of a pioneer. It has built up a strong reputation by organizing concerts, such as the very first concert of music by Hans Zimmer.