ICELAND has been celebrating the success of composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, who won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for the film Joker.

It was the first time a female composer had won the Golden Globe for a solo score. Lisa Gerrard shared the award in 2001 with Hans Zimmer for the score to Gladiator.

It was also the second time in five years that Iceland has won that particular Globe. The late Jóhann Jóhannsson took the best original score prize in 2015 for his music to The Theory of Everything .

Guðnadóttir is renowned in Iceland for her film and television work. She has had a hugely successful year, having also won an Emmy award in September for her score to HBO’s Chernobyl series.

She said: “I don’t really know exactly what happened at this point for everything to explode so massively but it’s been a beautiful year and incredible to get both of these opportunities at the same time. Both projects were so different but incredible. It was all encompassing; it was really fantastic.”

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In her acceptance speech, Guðnadóttir singled out the work of Joker actor Joaquin Phoenix who won the Globe for best actor. She said: “Thank you, Joaquin, for making my job really easy with that spectacular, unbelievable performance.”

The Hollywood audience and those watching on television were probably baffled when Guðnadóttir thanked her family and dedicated the award to her son, Kári, as she said in Icelandic: “Þessi er fyrir þig.” It means: “This one is for you.”

A classically trained cello player, Guðnadóttir has also been nominated for a Bafta for Joker, and is expected to receive a nomination for the Oscars. “It’s wonderful to feel the support from Iceland during the past months,” she told mbl.is. “It’s so enjoyable to sense people’s interest in what is going on.”