Wichita, KANSAS – The Tallgrass Film Festival is awarding the 2010 Ad Astra to Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated composer Rolfe Kent.

Kent is an award-winning composer who has scored over 40 films which include small independent films and large Hollywood productions. Some of his most recent work includes the Zac Efron film “Charlie St. Cloud” (released July 30, 2010) and both 2009 George Clooney films: the Oscar-nominated “Up In The Air” (for which Kent won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy) and “Men Who Stare At Goats.” Kent has won numerous BMI Film Music awards for his work, including for the films “Legally Blonde” (2001), “Legally Blonde 2″ (2003), and “Sideways” (2004). His score for “Sideways” was also nominated for a Golden Globe. Kent was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for the original Showtime series “Dexter” (2006).

The Ad Astra award, named for the Kansas state motto “Ad Astra Per Aspera” (To The Stars Through Difficulty), is given to those who dedicate their lives and make significant contributions to the art and process of moviemaking. Previous winners include Oscar winning actress Cloris Leachman, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman and Oscar nominated actor Seymour Cassel.

Kent, born and raised in England to a non-musical family, now lives in Los Angeles while occasionally traveling the world to add to his collection of uncommon musical instruments. He has been pursuing a career in film composition since the age of 12 but has avoided formal music training, instead studying theology and psychology at the University of Leeds in Yorkshire. There he joined a band and started creating compositions for stage plays at festivals. He went on to do work on a British television series and then short films for broadcast in America where he met director Alexander Payne. Together they would go on to do such films as “Citizen Ruth” (1996), “Election” (1999), “About Schmidt” (2002) and “Sideways.”

“Up In The Air” director Jason Reitman said, “Rolfe is the only composer working today that I know of, who does exactly what he does, which is extraordinarily subtle comedy. There are a lot of composers doing drama, a lot do good orchestral, some do quirky music and others do broad and romantic comedy music, but between his work with me, Alexander Payne and a couple of others, Rolfe has almost found his own genre—subtle comedy that does not tell the audience what to think. Jerry Goldsmith was able to do that with a 100-piece orchestra. Rolfe’s genius is that he’s able to do it with two instruments.”

The Tallgrass Film Association will present Kent with the Ad Astra at a ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 23 during the Tallgrass Film Festival. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A with Kent.