Hildur Gudnadóttir wins Oscar for Best Original Score

The Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadóttir has won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for her score for the film Joker. In doing so, she became the first Icelander ever to win an Oscar and the first woman to win Best Original Score since the score categories were combined in the year 2000.

Gudnadóttir received a standing ovation when the award was announced. In her acceptance speech, she said, “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters, who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”

The past weeks and months have been filled with success for Gudnadóttir. She previously won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice awards, and Hollywood Music in Media awards for her Joker score. She also won a Grammy and an Emmy for her score to the critically acclaimed HBO drama series Chernobyl.

Gudnadóttir began to create the music for the Joker immediately after reading the script, which, according to lead actor Joaquin Phoenix, helped set the tone and became a key motivating factor during the process of evolving his character.

Gudnadóttir has won two Icelandic Edda Awards for her scores to Baltasar Kormákur's feature The Oath (2017) and the TV series Trapped (2016).She is also known for her scores for the films Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) and Tom of Finland (2017).

The Icelandic Film Centre, on behalf of the entire Icelandic film community, would like to congratulate Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadóttir for her Academy Award.