14/04/2014 - Following prizes at Sundance and Berlin, Eskil Vogt’s debut feature has received the New Talent Grand Pix at the CPH PIX – Copenhagen International Film Festival

Norwegian director Eskil Vogt’s feature debut, Blind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile], which returned from the Berlin International Film Festival with the Europa Cinemas Label, has received the New Talent Grand Pix at this year’s CPH PIX – Copenhagen International Film Festival, which runs through to Wednesday (16 April). The prize comes with a €15,000 cheque.

“We could not resist the film's originality, style and humour, and its different layers of storytelling, which were a true pleasure to sink into,” said the jury at the awards ceremony on Friday. “Vogt crosses the boundaries of storytelling in a playful and joyous manner, consistently taking us by surprise. His tools are beautifully simple and truly cinematic.”

Produced by Hans-Jørgen Osnes and Sigve Endresen for Oslo’s Motlys, and starring Ellen Dorrit Petersen together with Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali and Marius Kolbenstvedt, Blind portrays Ingrid, who has recently lost her sight; she retreats to the safety of her apartment, where she feels in control, alone with her husband and her thoughts. At Sundance, the film collected the World Cinema Screenwriting Award.

Meanwhile, Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile] won the Politiken Audience Award in a close race – “the closest ever”, according to the festival – against Swedish director Ester Martin Bergsmark’s Something Must Break [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and German director Edward Berger’s Jack [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Erlingsson’s first feature has so far received ten international awards, having added six Eddas, Iceland’s national film prize. 

CPH PIX – Copenhagen International Film Festival will today be visited by French actress Catherine Breillat for the screening of Abuse of Weakness [+see also:
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile], based on her own experience of being defrauded of all her money by a notorious French conman in 2008. Festival director Jacob Neiiendam’s 2014 programme includes more than 160 films.