---
name: "Alva Noto"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alva-noto"
fi1m_id: "alva-noto"
imdb_id: "nm3067426"
tmdb_id: 2118673
wikidata_id: "Q683009"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "18 September 1965"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-21T03:27:34.335976+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alva Noto

## Identity

Alva Noto

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alva-noto
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alva-noto
- **IMDb ID:** nm3067426
- **TMDB ID:** 2118673
- **Wikidata ID:** Q683009
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsten_Nicolai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q683009, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3067426/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2118673

Composer. Born 18 September 1965 in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 18 September 1965, Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany
- **Active:** 2015–2017
- **Also known as:** Carsten Nicolai
- **Frequently works with:** [Alejandro González Iñárritu](https://film.one/person/alejandro-g-inarritu.md), [Mary Parent](https://film.one/person/mary-parent.md)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsten_Nicolai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q683009, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3067426/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2118673

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Revenant*](https://film.one/film/the-revenant.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Alva Noto is the stage name of German composer and visual artist Carsten Nicolai. Born in Chemnitz in 1965, he studied landscape architecture at the Technical University of Dresden before turning to art and music. He is known for his work in electronic music, often under minimalist and reductionist approaches, and co-founded the Raster-Noton record label (later NOTON).

Nicolai has collaborated extensively with Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Their joint work includes the original score for the 2015 film *The Revenant*, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, on which they were joined by Bryce Dessner for additional music. Nicolai has also composed for other projects and maintains a parallel career as a visual artist with exhibitions at major institutions worldwide. He has been a professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts since 2015.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, screendaily.com, wqxr.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Flesh and Sand* (2017), Fi1m 78, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/flesh-and-sand.md)
- *The Revenant* (2015), Fi1m 74, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-revenant.md)

## Complete filmography (17)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Rocket Girl* (2025), Original Music Composer
- *run 002* (2024), Sound
- *Leningrad. Stimmen einer belagerten Stadt* (2024), Original Music Composer
- *Stalingrad - Stimmen aus Ruinen* (2023), Music
- *Gilgamesh: She Who Saw the Deep* (2022), Music
- *Moskau 1941 - Stimmen am Abgrund* (2021), Music
- *Likemeback* (2019), Original Music Composer
- *Closing Time* (2018), Music
- *Flesh and Sand* (2017), Music — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/flesh-and-sand.md)
- *Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto: The Glass House* (2016), Music
- *The Revenant* (2015), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-revenant.md)
- *Future Past Perfect Pt. 07 (Vortex Bosporo)* (2015), Sound
- *Future Past Perfect Pt. 04 (Stratus)* (2013), Sound
- *Future Past Perfect Pt. 06 (White Building)* (2011), Sound
- *Uni Acronym* (2011), Music
- *Future Past Perfect Pt. 03 (U_08-1)* (2010), Music
- *Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto with Ensemble Modern: utp_* (2008), as Original Music Composer

## Gallery

- ![Sculptures in Stuttgart, Carsten Nicolai, Polylit, 2006 (2009)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-5ba4c47522c7.jpg) Sculptures in Stuttgart, Carsten Nicolai, Polylit, 2006 (2009) — Kamahele, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/0032-Stuttgart-Nicolai.JPG/1280px-0032-Stuttgart-Nicolai.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-2152e02c87b5.jpg) A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) — Non Event, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Alva_Noto_%26_Byetone_Live_at_Middlesex_%283600578682%29.jpg/1280px-Alva_Noto_%26_Byetone_Live_at_Middlesex_%283600578682%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-98f502a38abe.jpg) A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010) — Non Event, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Alva_Noto_Live_at_Middlesex_%283599768805%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-f356d10540df.jpg) A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010) — Non Event, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Alva_Noto_Live_at_Middlesex_%283600580178%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-69feb41ce880.jpg) A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) — Non Event, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Alva_Noto_Live_at_Middlesex_%283600580332%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010)](https://film.one/media/person/106849/gallery-737f7c436ff5.jpg) A June 04, 2009 Non-Event (photo: Susanna Bolle) (2010) — Non Event, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Alva_Noto_Live_at_Middlesex_%283600580384%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alva-noto