FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Columbia, SC – December 22, 2025

Pointé de Couture Wins Best Composer in Short at Paris International Short Festival

Filmmaker and composer Carol Higgins has been awarded Best Composer in Short at the 2025 Paris International Short Festival, an IMDb-qualified international festival recognizing excellence in global short filmmaking. The award honors Higgins’ original musical compositions for her short film Pointé de Couture, which premiered earlier this year and continues its international festival run.

About the Achievement

Pointé de Couture features an original score featuring several unique songs composed specifically for the film, alongside licensed material developed into derivative works through extensive editing, orchestration, and compositional expansion to serve the narrative. Higgins’ orchestral approach emphasizes rhythm, character, and emotional architecture, most notably through the persistent use of the tuba and strings section in Rose’s opening monologue along with wind instruments that help paint a playful dialogue as Rose explains what occurred. Higgins is particularly fond of her composition “All Wrapped Up In It,” which carries the emotional weight of losing her mother in childhood and exemplifies the film’s interdisciplinary approach, where music functions as narrative, memory, and emotional architecture.

Higgins expresses appreciation to the Paris International Short Festival for recognizing Pointé de Couture’s musical identity as a defining element of its storytelling, honoring her composition skills and ability to integrate composition seamlessly into the film’s narrative structure and thematic development.

About the Composer

Higgins has been composing music since childhood, with more formal orchestral training beginning in high school under the instruction of Mr. James Cooper and Mr. Patrick P. Burke at Hayfield High School in Alexandria, Virginia. There, she learned the foundations of orchestration, score organization, and instrumental balance, skills that continue to inform her interdisciplinary work across film, music, and performance.

“Music is not decoration in Pointé de Couture, it’s architecture,” Higgins said. “Each instrument carries intention, character, and subtext. This award affirms that the score is being heard not just as sound, but as storytelling.”

The Paris International Short Festival showcases international short films across multiple categories and is officially recognized as an IMDb-qualifying festival. Winners were announced as part of the festival’s November 2025 awards cycle.

Festival Information

• Paris International Short Festival
• Website: https://parisshortfestival.com/
• FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/ParisInternationalShortFestival
• Winners List: https://parisshortfestival.com/winners-november-2025/