gunda

Source: Egil Håskjold Larsen/Sant & Usant

‘Gunda’

The five nominees for this year’s Nordic Council Film Prize have been unveiled at the Haugesund International Film Festival in Norway today (August 24).

The lucrative prize, now in its 19th year, comes with an award of $47,000 (DKK 300,000), which is shared equally between the screenwriter, director and producer. The winner will be unveiled on November 2 in Copenhagen.

The nominees include two films that premiered at the Berlinale: Finland’s Any Day Now from writer-director Hamy Ramezan, selected for the Generation 14plus strand this year; and Viktor Kossakovsky’s Norwegian documentary Gunda, which debuted in Encounters in 2020.

Also nominated is Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, an animated refugee documentary from Denmark that was selected for Cannes 2020 and won the grand jury prize at Sundance.

The final two nominees are Iceland’s Alma from writer-director Kristin Jóhannesdóttir which premiered in Iceland in May; and Sweden’s Tigers from writer-director Ronnie Sandahl, about a football prodigy from Sweden. Festival prizes for the latter include best film at Busan. 

Films are chosen by national committees in the five Nordic countries, with this criteria: “The nominated films must have deep roots in Nordic culture, be of high artistic quality, distinguish themselves by their artistic originality, and combine and elevate the many elements of film into a compelling and holistic work of art.”

Last year’s winner was Beware Of Children from Norway.