Of the seven MA theses nominated, Juan Carlos Méndez Álvarez's thesis, entitled "Hauntologies of Music in Latin American Cinema" from 2023 (supervisor: Dr. Michiel Kamp, Utrecht University) was unanimously chosen by the jury as the winner of the Hélène Nolthenius Prize 2024. The jury consisted of Carine Alders, Dr. Ruxandra Marinescu and Prof. Dr. Pieter Bergé. 

Méndez Álvarez proposes a special method (the hauntological method) to study the role of music in Latin American cinema. He analyzes the soundtracks of three recent films: Lucrecia Martel's Zama (2017), Pablo Larraín's Ema (2019), and Alfonso Cuarón's Roma (2019).

The jury is most impressed by the originality of the subject, the very well-researched methodology and the way in which the thesis combines various complex theories and concepts from various fields into an original and fruitful method that invites further applications. The analysis addresses not only postcoloniality, the obvious topic, but also a number of personal and political issues in the case studies. Méndez Álvarez's task, then, is to convince the reader that he is not just seeing ghosts, but that his method reveals important musical connections and insights between these films that are unique to Latin American cinema.

The award ceremony will take place during the KVNM student congress, which is currently scheduled for 3-4 April 2025. Announcements about this congress will follow in the coming weeks.