20/09/2005

The Nordic Council Film Prize established for the first time this year as a permanent feature on the Nordic Council’s calendar year, has ten feature films/documentaries from Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Norway (two for each country) running for the DKK350,000 (47,000€) cash prize to be shared equally between the film’s scriptwriter, director and producer.

The prize which was awarded as a one-off in 2002 to Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s The Man Without A Past when the Nordic Council celebrated its 50th anniversary, will be given at the council’s upcoming session ceremony in Reykjavik’s City Theatre on October 26th. It will go to a feature length/documentary film that is deeply rooted in Nordic culture, characterised by an artistic originality that unites its numerous elements to a perfect work of art, and as importantly, to a film that had its domestic premiere between September 1, 2004-August 31, 2005.

"The prize reflects the success of Nordic cinema both locally and internationally", explains Svend Abrahamsen of the Nordic Film & TV Fund, established by the Nordic Council to financially support the Nordic film and television industries. "The initiative will draw further attention to Nordic films to become a corner stone in the international publicity and marketing of the year’s significant titles" he added.

The Nordic Council Film Prize 2005 nominees are the following:

Denmark
Manslaughter [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Director: Per Fly. Scriptwriters: Kim Leona, Per Fly, Dorte Høgh, Mogens Rukow.
Prod: Ib Tardini, for Zentropa Entertainments

Pusher II-With Blood On My Hands [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Director/Scriptwriter: Nicolas Winding Refn.
Prod: Henrik Danstrup for NWR Productions

Finland
The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Documentary)
Director/Scriptwriter: Pirjo Honkasalo.
Prod: Kristiina Pervilä for Millennium Film

Frozen Land
Director: Aku Louhimies. Scriptwriter: Paavo Westerberg.
Prod: Markus Selin for Solar Films

Iceland
DÍS
Director: Silja Hauksdottir. Scriptwriters: Birna Anna Björnsdottir, Oddny Sturludottir, Hauksdottir.
Prod: Baltasar Kormäkur for Blueeyes Productions

Screaming Masterpiece (Documentary)
Director/Scriptwriter: Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon.
Prod: Sigurjon Sighvatsson and Ari Alexander for Palomar Pictures, Ergis Filmproductions, Zik Zak Filmworks

Norway
Hawaii, Oslo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]
Director: Erik Poppe. Scriptwriter: Harald Rosenlöw-Eeg.
Prod: Finn Gjerdrum, Torleif Hauge, for Paradox Film

Kissed By Winter
Director: Sara Johnsen. Scriptwriter: Ståle Stein Berg, Sara Johnsen.
Prod: Christian Fredrik Martin, Asle Vatn, for Friland

Sweden
A Hole In My Heart
Director/Scriptwriter: Lukas Moodysson.
Prod: Lars Jönsson, for Memfis Film

The Guitar Mongoloid
Director/Scriptwriter: Ruben Östlund.
Prod: Anna Sohlmann, Kalle Boman, for Hinden/Länna-Ateljéerna