Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for the film Joker. Hildur became the first solo woman to win a Golden Globe in the same category on January 4.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards yesterday. The ceremony will take place on February 9, 2020, in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is the only woman nominated in the category of Best Original Score and the fifth woman in Oscar history to be nominated in the category. Her fellow nominees are Alexandre Desplat (Little Women), Randy Newman (Marriage Story) Thomas Newman (1917), and John Williams (Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker).
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Hildur related her experience of a distinctly Hollywood moment: “My husband got an ear infection, so I’m actually at the doctor’s office[,] and one of the nurses just came up and congratulated me! […] For a girl from a small town in Iceland, it’s kind of surreal to be sitting in a doctor’s office in L.A. and be congratulated by the nurse.”
Hildur Guðnadóttir is a classically trained cellist who has been composing for film and television for nearly two decades. On Sunday, January 4, Hildur earned a Golden Globe in the same category, becoming the first solo woman in history to win. She had previously won an Emmy for her work on the T.V. series Chernobyl. Iceland Review spoke to Hildur in 2019.
Seven Icelanders have earned Oscar nominations in the past: director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson for Börn náttúrunnar (Best Foreign Language Film); Björk Guðmundsdóttir and Sjón for I’ve Seen It All (Best Original Song); filmmakers Rúnar Rúnarsson and Þórir Snær Sigurjónsson for Síðasti bærinn (Best Short Film); Sturla Gunnarsson for After the Axe (Best Documentary Feature); and Jóhann Jóhannsson for Sicario and The Theory of Everything (Best Original Score).
