The Last Viking emerged as the big winner at the 2026 SVEND Awards, held on Thursday evening in Svendborg as the closing event of SVEND Filmdage. The movie, directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, was named Danish Film of the Year, while its leading man, Mads Mikkelsen, was crowned Danish Actor of the Year. Fellow cast member Nikolaj Lie Kaas also received the Honorary Award, for his more than three decades of prominent work in Danish film, giving the movie a particularly strong presence among the evening’s prizes.

The SVEND Awards are audience-driven honours, with nominations in the film categories based on box-office performance in Danish cinemas and those in the television categories determined by viewing figures. The 2026 nominees were drawn from films released between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, while the acting nominees were selected by a professional jury chaired by culture journalist Maria Månson, and featuring Daniel Bentien (Kino.dk), Dorte Wiedemann (FAFID) and Klaus Hansen (FilmFyn).

For the second year running, Trine Dyrholm was named Danish Actress of the Year, this time for her performance in Jeanette Nordahl’s romantic drama Beginnings. The actress thus follows up her 2025 victory, which she achieved thanks to another audience-backed recognition for The Girl with the Needle.

Television productions also featured prominently among the winners. Molly Blixt Egelind was named Danish Actor in a TV Drama Series for her performance in TV2’s The New Nurses, season 7, while the trophy for Danish TV Drama Series went to Jonas Alexander Arnby’s DR series The Uniform.

In the children’s and youth categories, The Children of Silverstreet Take a Stand, directed by Mehdi Avaz, took home the prize for a Danish production, while the animated sequel Zootopia 2 by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, distributed by The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic, was named International Children’s and Youth Film of the Year. The Foreign Film of the Year gong went to the biographical musical drama Michael by Antoine Fuqua, distributed locally by UIP.

The Hope of the Year Award went to actress Freja Klint Sandberg, who was recognised for her breakthrough work in Danish film and television. The prize was one of the evening’s honours dedicated to emerging talent.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 2026 SVEND Awards:

Danish Film of the Year
The Last Viking – Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark/Sweden)

Danish Children’s and Youth Film of the Year
The Children of Silverstreet Take a Stand – Mehdi Avaz (Denmark/Germany)

Foreign Film of the Year
Michael – Antoine Fuqua (USA/UK)

Foreign Children’s and Youth Film of the Year
Zootopia 2 – Jared Bush, Byron Howard (USA)

Danish Actress of the Year
Trine Dyrholm – Beginnings (Denmark/Sweden/Belgium)

Danish Actor of the Year
Mads Mikkelsen – The Last Viking

Hope of the Year
Freja Klint Sandberg

Danish TV Drama Series of the Year
The Uniform – Jonas Alexander Arnby (DR)

Danish Actor in a TV Drama Series of the Year
Molly Blixt Egelind – The New Nurses 7 (TV2)

Honorary Award
Nikolaj Lie Kaas