04/09/2014 - Lars von Trier’s film is competing with Concrete Night, Of Horses and Men, Blind and Force Majeure for the honour and €47,000

While Danish director Lars von Trier’s own cut of Nymphomaniac [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Louise Vesth
film profile] – one-and-a-half hours longer than the first version – is screening at Venice and will shortly be theatrically released in Denmark (see news here and here), his portrayal of a 50-year-old self-confessed nymphomaniac (French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg) describing her erotic experiences has been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize – the biggest in the Nordic countries – which comes with €47,000 in cash. 

The other nominations announced yesterday (3 September) by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond include Norwegian director Eskil Vogt’s feature debut, Blind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile], and Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile]. Finland and Sweden’s competitors have just been submitted as their countries’ candidates for the Oscar nomination as Best Foreign-Language Film – Finnish director Pirjo Honkasalo’s Concrete Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) and Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure (Turist) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] (see news). 

“The five nominated films represent the crème de la crème of contemporary Nordic cinema – their depiction of human emotions and natural forces shows a surprising diversity,” said Petri Kemppinen, managing director of the Oslo-based Nordisk Film & TV Fond, which administers the award. They will be on show in Oslo’s Filmens Hus during the Nordic Film Weekend, from 25-26 October, and the winner will be announced on 29 October during the Nordic Council’s session in Stockholm. 

Vogt’s Blind, which was on the Norwegian Oscar Committee’s shortlist for Oscar submissions, last month received four Amandas – Norway’s national film prize – including Best Director, on top of the awards it snagged at Berlin, Copenhagen and Krakow, among others. Most recently, it took home the Silver Méliès for Best European Film at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.

Produced by Oscar-nominated Icelandic director Fridrik Thór Fridriksson, Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men has also been appreciated by both local and foreign audiences. On the international festival circuit, it has collected 12 awards, including the Golden Iris for Best Film in Brussels, and Iceland’s Film & TV Academy gave it six Eddas, including Best Feature and Best Director.