Polish-born composer Cezary Skubiszewski, whose scores shaped Red Dog, Two Hands and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, receives the top industry recognition at the 2026 Screen Music Awards in Brisbane.
by Paul Cashmere
Cezary Skubiszewski will receive the Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen award at the 2026 Screen Music Awards on Wednesday 28 October at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane.
The recognition places the Warsaw-born composer among a select group of previous recipients that includes Bruce Beresford, Christopher Gordon, Nerida Tyson-Chew, Nigel Westlake and Rachel Perkins. Skubiszewski, a former Music Director of the awards and a 12-time winner across its categories, returns to the stage this year as the subject of the honour rather than its custodian.
Born in Warsaw in 1948, Skubiszewski began piano lessons at eight and trained classically under the choir director of the Warsaw Opera. In the early 1970s he left Poland for Paris and then London before settling in Australia. After a short period studying veterinary science in Melbourne he moved to Sydney in the late 1970s, took Australian citizenship in 1978, and joined the jazz-rock group Corroboree. Jingle writing soon followed and opened the door to television work on Sky Trackers and Neighbours.
His first feature score, Lilian’s Story in 1996, earned the Asia-Pacific Film Festival award for Best Music and established a screen career that has now stretched more than three decades. Two Hands (1999), Red Dog (2011) and The Sapphires (2012) remain among the most widely recognised Australian films of their eras, each carrying his distinctive musical signature. Parallel commercial work produced the Carlton Draught Big Ad in 2005, the VB Stubby Symphony in 2007, and major commissions for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Skubiszewski’s trophy cabinet already holds four AACTA Awards, multiple AGSC Awards, the Centenary Medal in 2003 for service to Australian society and film production, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia’s Life Achievement Award in 2010.
His son Jan has built a substantial composing career of his own. The pair have shared
four Screen Music Awards and an AGSC Award for their work on Two Hands, and later collected Best Music for a Television Series or Serial prizes for Serangoon Road and Picnic at Hanging Rock, plus Best Music for a Television Drama for High Country in 2024.
On learning of the latest honour Skubiszewski said: “Thank you very much for this wonderful honour, it came as a big surprise to me and I am deeply grateful to APRA for recognising my work with this Distinguished Service Award. This achievement belongs just as much to the incredible colleagues, mentors and family members who supported and inspired me along the way. I feel most fortunate indeed.”
The 2026 Screen Music Awards, presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, recognise excellence across 16 categories covering feature film, television series, documentary, children’s programming and short film. The ceremony begins at 5.30pm on Wednesday 28 October at Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, hosted by Rob Collins with guest presenters Claudia Karvan OAM and Ayesha Madon. Music Director for the evening is Erkki Veltheim.
Skubiszewski’s body of work has become part of the soundtrack of Australian popular culture, from cinema releases that travelled internationally to television themes and advertising campaigns that entered everyday conversation. The Distinguished Services award formalises a contribution that has already been acknowledged repeatedly by peers and audiences over three decades. For details of the full awards night program visit apraamcos.com.au/2026screenmusicawards.
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