Max de Wardener
Max de Wardener is a BAFTA-nominated composer, arranger, and bassist from the UK. He has worked in many contrasting musical environments, from film scores and classical commissions to performing at international electronic music festivals, building his own instruments, and playing bass in Zimbabwean Mbira bands. His foundational film credits include two scores for acclaimed Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski, Last Resort and Woman in the Fifth, as well as Rowan Joffe’s debut, Secret Life, starring Matthew Macfadyen.
More recently, Max collaborated with Gazelle Twin for the BFI-funded horror The Power (Shudder). In 2023, he was BAFTA-nominated for his music for The Elon Musk Show (72 Films) and scored the Sky Cinema thriller Dead Shot (Sky Cinema), starring Amara Meen, Colin Morgan, Mark Strong, and Felicity Jones. His extensive documentary work includes collaborations with Sarah Gavron on Village at the End of the World, Kevin Macdonald on It Takes a Flood, and Jerry Rothwell on both Heavy Load and Donor Unknown.
As an arranger, Max has written orchestral works for artists such as Emilíana Torrini (IcelandSymphony Orchestra), Damon Albarn (Concertgebouw), Matthew Herbert (LondonSinfonietta), and Gazelle Twin (BBC Concert Orchestra). His concert music includes a percussion concerto for Colin Currie (ONBA), and he made his Proms debut in 2022 with a work written for the Indian virtuoso Kala Ramnath.
Recent releases of his own music include Music for Detuned Pianos, an album of unusually tuned piano music featuring Kit Downes (ECM), and Kolmar, written for Thomas Bloch performing on the Cristal Baschet and Ondes Martenot. His compositions have also been recorded by Oliver Coates on Towards the Blessed Islands and by the LSO on The Panufnik Variations.
FILM
Feed (2026)
Production Company: Ripple World Pictures
Director: Marco van Belle
Producers: Jacqueline Kerrin, Dominic Wright
Dead Shot (2023)
Production Company: Upper Street
Directors: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
Producers: Rebecca L. Brown, Chris Coen, Brian Coffey, Thorsten Schumacher
It Takes A Flood (2021)
Production Company: Docsville Studios
Director: Kevin Macdonald, David Charap
Producers: Katie Buchanan, Lawrence Elman
The Power (2021)
Production Company: Air Street Films
Director: Corinna Faith
Producers: Rob Watson, Matthew James Wilkinson
TV
The Zelensky Story (2024)Production Company: 72 Films / BBC
Director: Louis Lee Ray, Michael Waldman
Producer: Jecca Powell
The Zelensky Story (2024)Production Company: 72 Films / National Geographic / Hulu
Director: Marian Mohamed
Producers: Laura Spence, Alec Webb, David Glover, Daniel Lindsay
The Elon Musk Show (2022) – BAFTA-nominated score
Production Company: 72 Films
Directors: Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones, Marian Mohamed
Producer: Marian Mohamed
The Trump Show (2021)
Production Company: 72 Films
Director: Rob Coldstream
Producers: Kate Quine
Nova (2020)
Production Company: ARTE
Director: Lucy Haken, Joby Lubman
