04/11/2002

The Swedish Film institute chose Lukas Moodysson’s Lilja4-ever - the crude story of a young Russian girl trying to survive in a hostile environment fuelled by drugs and prostitution. Since Lilja 4-ever was made almost entirely in Russian, it seemed initially that it contravened Academy rules according to which most of the dialogue must be that of the country of origin but fortunately for Moodysson, an exception was made when the Academy decided that other languages – except for English –are allowed if they contribute to the storyline.
The Danish Film Institute nominated Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts) by Susanne Biers.
No surprises from Finland. After winning the very first Nordic Council Award (Euros 47,000) for best film of the year – the presentation is scheduled for the evening of 29 October in Helsingfors - the Grand Prix of the jury in Cannes and a FIPRESCI, the frontrunner to represent Finland at the Oscars always had to be Aki Kaurismäki’s The Man without a Past.
The Czech Republic’s choice was Wild Bees by Bohdan Slama, a grotesque and ironic look at traditional village life that owes nothing to modern life. After forty years of communism, all that remains is a church that’s falling apart and the main event of the year is the firemen’s ball.
First presented at this year’s edition of Locarno, the Swiss choice was Aime Ton Père by Jakob Berger, starring Gérard Depardieu as Léo Shepherd, a reclusive writer in his fifties. On learning that he has won the Nobel Prize for literature, Léo decides to travel to Stockholm on a motorbike but his son, Paul (Guillaume Depardieu) has other ideas.