Rolf-Hans Müller Prize for Film Music 2023 Awarded to Marvin Miller

Film composer Marvin Miller wins the Rolf-Hans Müller Prize for Film Music 2023, awarded for his composition for the ZDF tivi film “Das Märchen vom Frosch und der goldenen Kugel” (The Fairy Tale of the Frog and the Golden Ball). The prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, is given for his music, which the seven-member expert jury praised as fantastically crafted, significantly enhancing the film’s value. The award ceremony takes place tonight (December 1, 2023) during the TeleVisionale Film and Series Festival in Baden-Baden.

Jury’s Rationale

The jury explains their choice: “Marvin Miller’s music for the ZDF tivi film ‘Das Märchen vom Frosch und der goldenen Kugel’ skillfully guides the young viewers through the film. Miller achieved an artfully composed score, shimmering with orchestral colors. He excels in the design and handling of his music in the context of the demanding adventure/fantasy genre. The many genre-typical musical transitions between expressive themes, empathetic underscoring, slapstick, and action cues are very well crafted. Miller succeeds in composing expressively to the image, giving the music a dramaturgical function. In addition to the varied use of orchestral colors, Miller also focuses on medieval sound colors and the use of Far Eastern instruments. Thus, the composer locates the action in the colorful and multi-layered fairy-tale world the film tells. The score unleashes emotions on the mood and emotional level and supports the action in a special way.”

Jury members included: Prof. Fola Dada (lecturer, singer, composer), Dr. Irene Klünder (SWR), Prof. Nanna Schmidt (University of the Arts, Berlin), Bernd Künzig (SWR), Prof. Dr. Thorsten Lorenz i. R. (PH Heidelberg), Fabian Zeidler (winner of the Rolf-Hans Müller Prize 2022), and Max-Peter Heyne (MFG).

About the Composer

Marvin Miller, born in 1988 in Augsburg, initially worked on several short films at the start of his career. Together with Ralf Wengenmayr, he composed the film music for the TV crime drama “Die Tote aus der Schlucht” (2014) and Denis Gansel’s children’s book adaptation “Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer” (2018) and Michael “Bully” Herbig’s “Ballon” (2018). For “Ballon,” both were nominated for the German Film Award 2019. Miller also composed for various other film projects like Ilker Çatak’s “Es gilt das gesprochene Wort” (2019) and “Das Lehrerzimmer” (2023), the latter being nominated for the German Film Award 2023 in the category Best Film Music.

Rolf-Hans Müller Prize for Film Music

Since 1992, the Rolf-Hans Müller Prize for Film Music honors emerging composers for their outstanding film music. The prize, organized by Südwestrundfunk, is jointly sponsored by the Rolf-Hans Müller Foundation Baden-Baden and the MFG Media and Film Society Baden-Württemberg. Rolf-Hans Müller, a longtime conductor, composer, and arranger associated with the former SWF (now SWR), is the prize’s namesake. Previous winners include Fabian Zeidler (2022), Michael Künstle (2021), Richard Ruzicka (2018), Julian Maas and Christoph M. Kaiser (2016), Martina Eisenreich (2014), Daniel Sus (2012), Rainer Bartesch (2010), Natalia Dittrich (2008), Marco Hertenstein (2006), Karim Sebastian Elias (2004), Florian Appl (2002), Johannes Kobilke (2000), Jörg Lemberg (1998), Ralf Wienrich (1996), Frank Loef (1994), and Nikolaus Glowna (1992).