Hildur Guonadottir, Nicholas Britell Win Top Honors at World Soundtrack Awards

Hildur Guðnadóttir and Nicholas Britell took top honors at the 20th World Soundtrack Awards on Saturday during the Ghent Film Festival.

Iceland-born, Berlin-based Guðnadóttir was named Film Composer of the Year for her Oscar-winning score for “Joker.” She won last year’s TV Composer of the Year for her Emmy-winning score for the HBO series “Chernobyl.”

American composer Britell was named TV Composer of the Year for his music for the second season of HBO’s “Succession.” He was last year’s WSA award winner for Film Composer of the Year for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Vice,” so Britell and Guðnadóttir essentially switch places from last year’s honors.

WSA Discovery Of the Year went to American-born, Paris-based composer Bryce Dessner for his music for “The Two Popes.” The WSA Public Choice Award, chosen by fans from around the world, went to Madrid-born, Los Angeles-based Alfonso G. Aguilar for his music for the Netflix animated feature “Klaus.”

The Original Song award went to Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell for their song “Stand Up” from the slavery drama “Harriet”; both were Oscar-nominated for the song, and Erivo for Best Actress.

Among the other awards announced Saturday: Belgian composer Hannes De Maeyer was honored for Best Original Score for a Belgian Production for his music for Sven Huybrechts’ film “Torpedo” and Georgian composer Ana Kasrashvili received the Sabam Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer; she is the first female composer to win that competition.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to Lebanese-French composer Gabriel Yared, who won the 1996 Oscar for “The English Patient” and whose other scores include “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Cold Mountain,” “Camille Claudel,” “City of Angels” and “Judy.”

Said Yared: “I have been a major supporter of the WSA since its inception 20 years ago. Over these years, I observed the WSA evolve and thrive, contributing to the launching of many young composers’ careers with the Discovery Award. As a result of the recognition and fantastic promotion received from the WSA, many of these musicians are highly prolific composers working in Hollywood today. Equally, the WSA provides opportunities for the composers to meet up with industry experts in a professional environment, paving the way for future collaborations.”

This year’s ceremony was streamed online, with winners accepting via video. Dirk Brosse conducted the Brussels Philharmonic in music of both Yared and fellow special guest Alexandre Desplat (“Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Shape of Water”).