Miquel Casals, wins the Gil Soundtrack Adward 2024

Miquel Casals wins the Gil Soundtrack Award 2024 with his work “Symphony of a Paradigm”

This composer from Barcelona has won the fifth International Soundtrack Award, promoted by the Viñas Familia Gil group of wineries. This concludes the biennial competition, the largest prize in the world for young composers.

A hundred participants of 29 different nationalities submitted their compositions for the original short “Off-Wine”. The young composers, aged between 18 and 35, aspired to win the largest prize in the world for a contest with these characteristics.

The winning soundtrack triumphed over the other 5 finalists, who also deserve recognition. They are “(Re)Connection”, by the Canadian Josepl Reda; “The Powers That Be” by Tim Callobre from the US; “Unartificial Roots” by the German Alexander Nikoleit; “Caught in the storm” by Irishman David Dudeney; and “Modo humano” by the Italian Gian Marco Verdone

Miquel Casals, the brilliant winner, a graduate in Audiovisual Media from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, with a master’s degree in Soundtrack Composition, is a young composer who specialises in music for audiovisuals. He is a versatile pianist with experience in short films, documentaries and video games.

Esther García Rodríguez presided over the jury. The winner of 3 Goya Awards as Production Manager and 2018 National Cinematography Prize, Esther is seen as one of the most remarkable women in the Spanish film industry. She stands out for her production model associated to creative independence and the promotion of new values. She has produced more than 90 films and numerous TV series, as well as working with Pedro Almodóvar since 1986.

In the words of Esther García Rodríguez: "This has been a beautiful experience for me, I never would have thought about all the work and time this process requires. From choosing the script, to the shooting, the montage and finally the composition, it has brought us together for yet another year. The doubts about whether I will be inspired enough to be of help have always been very present, judging the work of someone who has deployed all their energy and their knowledge to contribute values to an audiovisual work with music has been a huge responsibility”.
“Meeting the Gil family and understanding their commitment to their most treasured asset, the land, and seeing their efforts to strengthen ties between nature and culture is very moving. In every one of the work meetings we have had, their concern for both has been patently clear; the changes in nature, and how important culture is for life”. “For me, it has been an enriching process, and one I would repeat time and again, in order to grow. I would like to highlight the significant participation and quality of the works, the fact that they come from all over the world, and the importance of these prizes in terms of publicising the involvement of companies as relevant as Bodegas Gil in the promotion of culture, both of wine and of music in a country such as ours”.

The jury for this year's Soundtrack Award was completed by other talents and figures such as Lucio Godoy, Roque Baños, Constantino Martínez Orts and Juan Gil.

“Off-wine, intelligence can be artificial, but the terroir cannot" is the second short film by Gerard Vidal Cortés (Barcelona 1994), the winner of a previous screenplay executed with the prestigious centre ESCAC (Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia). The short film, filmed in Jumilla among other locations and produced by ESCAC ESTUDIO, depicts an intriguing, dystopian grape harvest that will bring two antagonistic grape-pickers into conflict: a man totally disconnected from all technology, and a woman who has no human relations whatsoever. They are both in a fully robotised environment.

During the prize-giving ceremony Miguel Gil Vera, asserted that “it is important for us to maintain our commitments and in spite of the fact that we are going through one of the most dramatic moments in our sector, due mainly to the drought we have been stricken with for three years, which has left us with innumerable losses in the vineyard, and profits amounting to 25% of what they would be in a normal year, we felt that our commitment to culture and to society should be upheld, albeit in a more modest form. We believe that generating synergies and empathy between two sectors that are vital for our society, culture and agriculture is a positive thing”.

Viñas Familia Gil: over a hundred years of commitment to the terroir and culture

Viñas Familia Gil is a group of wineries established over a hundred years ago (1916) with 11 family-run vineyards and wineries in 10 different Spanish Designations of Origin and a presence in more than 50 countries.

Its international prestige is endorsed by the quality of its wines, respect for the rich environment and land they are produced on, and the sustainability of its installations.

Gil Soundtrack Award unites film and music with the terroir, underscoring the value of our commitment and efforts to bring out the best in ourselves, day after day.

Just as Viñas Familia Gil provides a boost with its cultural patronage and each of its family-run vineyards. Assisting young talent and recovering unique grape varieties, creating wines that surprise with their quality and nuances, and great complexity and elegance, a reflection of their commitment and love of each terroir.