Matija Strniša

© Lotte Thor

Biography

Among Matija Strniša's latest projects is the David Wnendt directed episode A Light Blue Day of the anthology Punishment as well as the 7-part TV-series Glauben (The Allegation) by director Daniel Prochaska, written by best-selling German author Ferdinand von Schirach. Glauben premiered as the sole German entry in the official competition of Cannes International Series Festival 2021 and received multiple awards, among them the Dior Grand Prize. Strniša’s score was nominated in the category Best Music at CANNESERIES.

He also composed the soundtrack for the internationally successful South Korean feature film Beol-sae (House of Hummingbird) which had its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival 2018, went on to win the KNN Audience Award as well as the NETPAC Award and was premiered in Europe at the 2019 edition of Berlin International Film Festival where it was awarded the Grand Prize in the "Generation 14plus section" as Best Film. Bora Kim's debut premiered in North America at the Tribeca International Film Festival and received multiple awards there, among others as Best International Narrative Feature. Strniša's score for House of Hummingbird was nominated for Best Score at the prestigious 56th Grand Bell Awards in South Korea in early 2020, won the Best Score Award at the 2019 Valencia International Film Festival - Cinema Jove and was released on Lakeshore Records.

Matija Strniša's music has been recorded by the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, he co-composed for The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, produced by West German Radio (WDR), winning the award for the Best Children’s German Radio Play. The feature film Meteorstrasse opened the "Perspective on German Cinema" section at Berlinale (2016) and received a nomination for the Best Debut prize. In the same year, Matija Strniša received a nomination for the German Film Music Award in the category Upcoming Talent Award. In 2017, he composed the music for Paths, which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Teddy Award as well as for the German Film Critics Association Award in the category Best Feature Debut.

Matija Strniša studied clarinet at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, electronic composition at the University of Arts Folkwang in Essen, as well as composition at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf and is a member of The European Film Academy.

Film

Punishment - A Light Blue Day (Strafe - Ein hellblauer Tag), 2022
Directed by David Wnendt

Music: Matija Strniša and Jaspar Libuda
Anthology series

The Allegation (Glauben), 2021
Directed by Daniel Geronimo Prochaska
Written by Ferdinand von Schirach
7x30' (Season 1)
International Premiere: Cannes International Series Festival 2021
Dior Grand Prize - Cannes International Series Festival 2021
Nomination Best Music CANNESERIES

Snow Leopard, 2020 (in progress)
Directed by Fidel Devkota
short film

The Angel of History, 2019
Directed by Eric Esser
short film

Beyond the Tide, 2019
Directed by Jan Mocka, Ingo Monitor
short film

House of Hummingbird (Beol-sae), 2018
Directed by Bora Kim
feature film
World Premiere - Busan International Film Festival 2018
European Premiere - Berlin International Film Festival 2019
US Premiere - Tribeca Film Festival 2019

Golan Swimming Pool, 2018
Directed by Esther Zimmering
Documentary
World Premiere - Film Festival Max-Ophüls-Preis 2018
Nomination for Best Music in a Documentary Film 2018 (Max Ophüls-Preis)

Paths, 2017
Directed by Chris Miera
Feature Film
World Premiere - Berlin International Film Festival 2017

The Forgotten Army, 2017
Directed by Signe Anstrup
Documentary

Meteor Street, 2016
Directed by Aline Fischer
Feature Film
World Premiere - Berlin International Film Festival 2016
Nomination German Film Music Award in the category Upcoming Talent 2016

The Power that remains behind, 2016
Directed by Chris Miera
Feature Film
Nomination for Best Feature Film Music at the 2016 Music + Sound Awards

For Sahara
, 2016
Directed by Andrea Cazzaniga
Short Film

What Should You Become, When You’re Already Grown Up?, 2016
Directed by Sara Stäuble
Short film

Taxi City, 2016
Directed by Jan Mocka
Documentary

Arabic Circus, 2015
Directed by Jan Mocka
Documentary

Open Cage, 2015
Directed by Sinisa Galic
Feature Film

© RTL / MOOVIE GmbH / Luis Zeno Kuhn

SCORE FOR ANTHOLOGY SERIES

PUNISHMENT - A LIGHT BLUE DAY

Director: David Wnendt
Music: Matija Strniša and Jaspar Libuda

High-end German anthology based on short stories by Ferdinand von Schirach about punishment, guilt, justice, and vigilantism

In A LIGHT BLUE DAY, directed by David Wnendt and scored by Matija Strniša and Jaspar Libuda, the story of a suspected murderess told backwards reveals an unexpected answer to the question of guilt.

Premiere: Munich Film Festival 2022

© Stephan Rabold/MOOVIE/TVNOW

SCORE FOR TV-SERIES

GLAUBEN (The Allegation)

Director: Daniel Prochaska
Music: Matija Strniša

25 defendants, 300 trial days and a legal scandal that has gone down in the history of jurisprudence: In a thrilling legal drama, bestselling author Ferdinand von Schirach transports the so-called "Worms Trials", a German legal scandal from the nineties into the present. The result is a gripping, current legal drama about hysteria in social media, collective anger and how the hunger for revenge can overlook the victims.

The Allegation premiered as the sole German entry in the official competition of Cannes International Series Festival 2021 and was awarded amongst others with the Dior Grand Prize. Matija Strniša’s score was nominated in the category Best Music at CANNESERIES.

FILMSCORE

HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD (Beol-sae)

Director: Bora Kim
Music: Matija Strniša

Set against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Seoul in 1994, a lonely 14 year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Deprived of attention from her family, she roams the neighborhood with her best friend, attempts romantic relationships with both girls and boys alike and is sent to the hospital with an unclear diagnosis. When Young-ji, a new teacher, arrives, she becomes the first adult Eun-hee feels really understands her.

World Premiere - Busan International Film Festival 2018 (KNN Audience Award; NETPAC Award)
European Premiere - Berlin Intl. Film Festival 2019 (Grand Prix of Generation 14plus International Jury for Best Film)
US Premiere - Tribeca Film Festival 2019 (Best International Narrative Feature; Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film; Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film)

Best Score Award for Matija Strniša at the 2019 Valencia International Film Festival - Cinema Jove
Nomination "Best Score" at the 56th Grand Bell Awards, South Korea

Virtual Cinema and VOD-release in the US and Canada: June 26, 2020