Grammy-Award winning artist and BMG songwriter, Sananda Maitreya, has won Best Documentary Music Score at the 2023 Kiez Berlin Film Festival for Welcome to The MadHouse: The Costa Rica Sessions.

Welcome to The MadHouse takes place during the summer of 2022 when Sananda Maitreya and his backing band The Sugar Plum Pharaohs (Marco Mengoni, Francesca Morandi & Luca Pedroni), traveled to Costa Rica to perform a selection of material from Maitreya’s 2021 studio album Pandora’s Playhouse.

The film documents and explores three weeks of rehearsals leading up to the performance. Speaking on the project, Maitreya said: “We’d determined that we might as well have the rehearsals serve the greater purpose of giving the curious a glimpse into the inner workings of what goes on behind the insulated doors when a band & crew come together to make themselves ready for a concert.”

Sananda Maitreya, formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby, rose to prominence in 1987 when his first single ‘If You Let Me Stay’ rocketed into the UK Top Ten upon its release. His album, Introducing the Hardline, was an international success selling 14 million copies worldwide. In 1988 ‘Wishing Well’ hit Number One in the US, shortly followed by ‘Sign Your Name’ which would peak at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Kiez Berlin Film Festival is associated with Berlinale and was established on the festival's 60th anniversary. The Kiez Berlin Film Festival quickly became a fan favorite as it gives audiences the opportunity to see Berlinale screenings in different locations, as the red carpet changes location from neighborhood to neighborhood (Kiez).

BMG is the proud publisher of Sananda Maitreya’s catalogue.