24/08/2010

Sara Johnsen’s Upperdog [+see also:
trailer
film profile] triumphed last Friday evening at the annual Amanda Awards ceremony in Haugesund, turning five of its eight nominations into awards, including Best Norwegian Film and Best Director.

Upperdog was produced by Asle Vatn (Producer on the Move 2010) and Christian Fredrik Martin, his partner at Friland Film.

Three European actors won major awards for their parts in Norwegian films. Poland’s Agnieszka Grochowska won Best Actress for Upperdog, and Stellan Skarsgård and Gunilla Röör, both Swedish thespians, picked up Best Actor for A Somewhat Gentle Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans Petter Moland
film profile] and Best Supporting Actress for Angel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], respectively.

The children’s film Knerten [+see also:
trailer
film profile] received three Amandas – for Best Children’s Film, Production Design/Cinematography and Visual Effects – quite a coup for the debut feature of stand-up comedian turned director Åsleik Engmark. Knerten sold over 350,000 admissions in Norway last year and a sequel will soon hit Norwegian screens.

Another feature debut, Margreth Olin’s Angel, a tough drama about drug addiction, grabbed the Audience Award.

Other top winners were Gunnar Vikene and Torun Lian, who received Best Screenplay for the youth film Vegas [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; Ingar Helge Gimle, Best Supporting Actor for An Ordinary Day at Work; and Michael Haneke, picking up yet another prize, the Best Foreign Language Film Amanda, for The White Ribbon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Haneke
film profile], released in Norway by Arthaus.

The Amanda Awards are the prelude to the Norwegian International Film Festival, which opened Saturday with the screening of local film Limbo by Maria Sødahl, for which Swedish actress Lena Endre won the “Norwegian International Film Festival and Liv Ullmann’s Honorary Award”.

For the full list of Amandas, please click here.