Ruben De Gheselle

Ruben De Gheselle (1991) is an award-winning Belgian film composer recognized for his intimate, minimal, and hypnotic scores. With a background in contemporary classical music, he has become one of Belgium’s most sought-after composers for film and television, creating music that evokes depth and emotion with just a few notes.

His work has been featured in acclaimed international productions that have earned nominations and awards at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including Young Hearts (Berlinale), Clara Sola (Cannes, Guldbaggen), There Was, There Was Not (True/False, DOC NYC), A Cops & Robbers Story (Sundance, DOC NYC), Tiong Bahru Social Club (Golden Horse Awards), and the Canneseries-winning Lockdown.

For his score to the internationally acclaimed Young Hearts by Anthony Schatteman, Ruben has been nominated for the Belgian Film Composer of the Year award, alongside his work on Emily Mkrtichian’s There Was, There Was Not. Both scores highlight his intimate and nuanced approach to film composition, further cementing his reputation as one of Belgium’s most talented composers.

In television, Ruben has scored several international series, most recently the Belgian-Irish drama Northern Lights (TG4 / multiple national awards), the Irish series Showkids (TG4 / BBC), the Channel 4 crime drama Patience (with Hannes De Maeyer), hailed as “Channel 4’s biggest drama of 2025 so far” with a second season in production, and the upcoming German series Naked (ARD, with Eloi Ragot).

Ruben’s work has been widely recognized: he received the Ensor Award for Discovery of the Year (2022), the Grand Prix for Best Music at Music & Cinema Marseille (2022), and the prestigious Georges Delerue Award at Film Fest Gent (2021) for his score to Clara Sola—an honor previously awarded to composers such as Howard Shore, Astor Piazzolla, and Bruno Coulais. Earlier distinctions include prizes at Annecy, Angers, and the Reale Film Festival, as well as being named “Choice of Klara” by Belgium’s national classical radio and his selection as a Berlinale Talent in 2017.

Most recently, Ruben composed the scores for two high-profile premieres: Voor de Meisjes (Our Girls), directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike van Diem and chosen as the opening film of the Netherlands Film Festival, and Koning van de Zwervers (King of the Wanderers), the opening film of the Cinekid Festival.

He is currently scoring Noor, a feature documentary by Jérôme le Maire - chronicling the construction of the world’s largest solar power plant in Southern Morocco while following the story of the shepherd-turned-guardian - the Second Season of Patience, continuing the Channel 4 crime drama, following the success of its first season and Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s upcoming second feature and gothic tale The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands.