Alex Heffes (; born 2 September 1971) is a British film composer. His film scores include those for the BAFTA-winning '' Touching the Void'', and Oscar-winning movies ''

One Day in September ''One Day in September'' is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Michael Douglas provides the sparse narration through ...

'', ''

The Last King of Scotland ''The Last King of Scotland'' is a novel by journalist Giles Foden, published by Faber and Faber in 1998. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel, which interweaves fiction and ...

'', and ''

Inside Job An inside job is a crime committed by a person in a position of trust, or with the help of someone either employed by the victim or entrusted with access to the victim's affairs or premises. Inside Job may also refer to: Books * ''Inside J ...

''. Heffes was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications out ...

for his work on '' Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom''.

Early life and career

Heffes was born in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, and learned the piano from an early age. He graduated from Oxford University with first class honours and started his professional life playing keyboards and writing and arranging for commercials and TV (his band is featured playing in jazz club scenes in the film Circus). This led to him becoming assistant to composer

Simon Boswell Simon Boswell (born 15 October 1953) is an English film score composer, conductor, producer and musician. His body of work includes over 100 credits. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Original Television Music for the drama s ...

with whom he scored over 20 movies including ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and ''

Cousin Bette ''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette'') is an 1847 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family. Bette works wit ...

''. He also collaborated on

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's score to ''

Women Talking Dirty ''Women Talking Dirty'' is a 1999 British comedy film directed by Coky Giedroyc and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Gina McKee and James Nesbitt. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Women Talking Dirty'' written by Isla Dewar, who also wrote the ...

'' and worked with members of Blur.

Film scoring

In 1999, after a chance meeting with Kevin Macdonald he wrote the score to the Oscar winning documentary ''

''. This led to a long collaboration with Macdonald, on films such as ''Touching the Void'', '' State of Play'' and ''The Last King of Scotland''. During the production of ''Last King of Scotland'' he travelled to Uganda to produce the songs and score in the movie. He has worked with many notable directors including

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

('' The Program''),

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company is Mirabai Films. Among her films are '' Mississippi Masala'', '' The Namesake'', the Golden Lion–winning '' Monsoon Wedding'', ...

(''

Queen of Katwe ''Queen of Katwe'' is a 2016 American biographical sports drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. Starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl livi ...

''),

Justin Chadwick Justin Chadwick (born 6 December 1968) is an English actor and television and film director. He directed episodes of ''EastEnders'', ''Byker Grove'', ''The Bill'', ''Spooks (TV series), Spooks'' and ''Red Cap (TV series), Red Cap'' before dire ...

(''

The First Grader ''The First Grader'' is a 2011 Biographical film, biographical drama film directed by Justin Chadwick. It stars Naomie Harris, Oliver Litondo, and Tony Kgoroge. The film is inspired by the true story of Kimani Maruge, a Kenyan farmer who enrolled ...

, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom''),

Peter Webber Peter Webber (born May 1968) is a British film and television director and producer whose debut feature film as a director was '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003). He subsequently directed '' Hannibal Rising'' (2007). Early life Webber took ...

(''

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'') and

Catherine Hardwick Catherine Hardwicke is an American film director, production designer, and screenwriter. Her directorial work includes ''Thirteen'' (2003), which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, ''Lords of Dogtown'' (2005), ''The Nativity Story ...

(''

Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Brothers Gr ...

''). He contributed additional arrangements to Tim Burton's ''

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''. In 2011 he released his first solo album, ''Face to Face''. The album was created by improvising on location in a series of one on one collaborations with artists such as

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

and

Tunde Jegede Tunde Jegede (born 28 January 1972) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist in contemporary classical, African and pop music, who is of Nigerian descent and born in England and as a child travelled to Africa to learn the art of the kora. He is a ...

. The tracks with Matthew Barley were recorded in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe, a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

and won an Ivor Novello Award in 2012 for ''

''. He always conducts his own orchestral scores and frequently plays piano on his scores.

Works

Film score

Television

Awards and nominations

*Nominated: 2007 BAFTA TV Awards Best Original Television Music - '' Tsunami: The Aftermath'' *Nominated: 2007 European Film Award, European Composer - ''

'' *Won: 2009

ASCAP Award The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

for Top Box Office Films - '' State of Play'' *Won: 2011 World Soundtrack Awards, Discovery of the Year - ''

'', '' The Rite'' *Nominated: 2012 Black Reel Awards, Best Original Score - ''

'' *Nominated: 2012 Image Awards, Outstanding Soundtrack Album - ''

'' *Won: 2012 Ivor Novello Awards, Best Original Film Score - ''

'' *Nominated: 2013

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

Best Original Score for a Motion Picture - '' Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'' *Nominated: 2016 Online Film & Television Association Awards, Best Music in a Non-Series - '' Roots (2016)'' *Won: 2016 Hollywood Music In Media Awards, Original Score for a TV Show/Mini Series - '' Roots (2016)'' *Nominated: 2021 Ivor Novello Awards, Best Original Film Score - ''

A Suitable Boy ''A Suitable Boy'' is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. ''A Suitable Boy'' is set in a newly post-indepe ...

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffes 1971 births Living people English film score composers English male film score composers People from Beaconsfield Musicians from Buckinghamshire Ivor Novello Award winners