- The composer, conductor, founder and director of the Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife, Fimucité, is one of only four Spsnish composers on the list.
Last night, Canarian composer and conductor Diego Navarro, founder and director of the Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife (Fimucité), became a new member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the 'Oscar Academy'. The news was announced yesterday in the Academy's annual welcoming of new members. Navarro thus joins a small elite of film music composers on a list which includes only three other Spaniards: Alberto Iglesias, Javier Navarrete and Zeltia Montes.
Navarro himself is “overcome with emotion”. “Taking into account that the proposal came directly from fellow members of the Academy and its musical branch, who, in their own words, have considered my candidacy due to my work as a composer and conductor and my contribution to the dissemination of film music, the honor is even greater," he said. "It is a dream come true, and wonderful news on top of our progress with the concerts in this year's “coming-of-age” edition of FIMUCITÉ. It seems that the stars have aligned”.
Diego Navarro is a member of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Musimagen, SGAE, World Soundtrack Awards Academy, and in 2019 he was invited to be part of the European Film Academy (EFA).
Diego is the director and father of FIMUCITÉ, Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife an event that celebrates its eighteenth edition this year, and is an international benchmark in the universe of film music. Today, it is the oldest festival of its genre in the world. Maestro Navarro has established himself internationally as one of the main promoters of music written for the screen, becoming one of the most renowned conductors in the field of music direction for film. In November 2022, he received the Gold Medal for cultural merit from his hometown, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in recognition of his career as a composer, conductor and head of FIMUCITÉ. In 2023, the Cabildo of Tenerife granted him the title of “Illustrious Son of the Island of Tenerife”.
Currently, he is considered one of the most relevant voices in film music in Spain and is the most prolific and awarded Canarian composer of the genre. He works in both film and television. His filmography includes successful titles such as 'Atrapa la Bandera' (Enrique Gato), winner of a Goya and multiple awards, or 'The Photographer of Mauthausen' (Mar Targarona), among others. He has received national and international nominations and awards such as that for Best Music for his score for the thriller 'El Cuco' (Mar Targarona) awarded at the 24th edition of the Costa del Sol International Fantastic Film Festival, the nomination for the prestigious World Soundtrack Awards awarded by the Ghent Film Festival for the drama 'Passage to Dawn' (Andreu Castro), or the double nomination for the IFMCA AWARDS (International Film Music Critics Association Awards of music for film) for 'Atrapa la Bandera'. ‘The Photographer of Mauthausen’ obtained two nominations for best orchestral score at the 11th Gaudí Awards and the 2nd Spanish Audiovisual Music Awards, respectively.
His most recent works have received great reviews from the specialised press, with the highlights being the films 'Dos' (Mar Targarona) and NETFLIX original 'The Wasteland' (David Casademunt). Both films were in the streaming platform's Worldwide Top 5 in January 2022, and, during the second week of that month, 'The Wasteland' became the most viewed non-English speaking film in the world on NETFLIX, and quite the phenomenon.
In 2024, the composer completed the composition of several projects, including the international animation co-production 'Super Klaus' (Canada – Spain) directed by Steven Majaury, a film that will be released at Christmas 2024, and 'Mariposas Negras' directed by David Baute, which recently premiered in the official section at Annecy, the most important animation festival in the world. The film is another international co-production (Spain – Panama) focused on the drama of emigration as caused by climate change, told through the eyes of three women from different continents and ethnicities. Both projects are generating enormous interest in international markets and animation festivals, and have already guaranteed international distribution in numerous countries.
In his role as conductor, it is worth highlighting a large number of world premieres of soundtracks of important productions, both from Hollywood and Europe. Special mention must go to the historic official concerts celebrating the centenary of Universal Pictures Studios (Fimucité), the centenary of ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors & Publishers) at the FMF in Krakow, the DreamWorks Animation Studios concert (Fimucité), the 40th anniversary of the Hollywood film music label Varèse Sarabande (Edinburgh – Glasgow tour) and the official concert of HBO and NETFLIX (FMF in Krakow), to name but a few.