Amanda listens to Babycall leading race for Norwegian prizes

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

20/06/2012 - Norwegian director Pål Sletaune’s psychological thriller Babycall [trailer], which was launched at last year’s International Rome Film Festival to win Best Actress for Sweden’s Noomi Rapace, leads the race for the 2012 Amanda, Norway’s national film prizes.

At a press conference in Oslo yesterday (June 19), Chairman of the Amanda committee and head of the Norwegian International Film Festival Gunnar Johan Løvvik announced that Babycall has received eight nominations against Jannicke Systad Jacobsen’s Turn Me On, Goddammit! [trailer] and Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st [trailer, film focus] (six) and Arild Andresen’s The Orheim Company [trailer] (five).

Five juries appointed by film industry organisations under chairman Jan Eggum judged last year’s 28 Norwegian productions to find candidates for the 17 prizes, which will be awarded during a TV2-televised ceremony hosted by Norwegian actress Ingrid Bolsø Berdal on August 17, in the Haugesund Concert Hall-Festiviteten – kicking off the 40th Norwegian International Film Festival .

Sletaune’s Babycall will compete for Best Norwegian Film with Jacobsen’s Turn Me on, Goddammit!, Andresen’s The Orheim Company and a documentary, which was theatrically released, Even G Benestad-August B Hanssen’s portrait of Norwegian pop artist Hariton Pushwagner. In the Best Director category, Andresen is up against Morten Tyldum (Hodejegerne (Headhunters) [trailer]) and Joachim Trier(Oslo, August 31st).

Best Foreign Film will be found among Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist [trailer, film focus], Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret, Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy [trailer] and Ruben Östlund’s Play [trailer, film focus].