Nordisk Panorama Award Winners 2015
Best Nordic Documentary Award
Winner: Democrats by Camilla Nielsson
Motivation: For its complexity, attentiveness to details, ability to tell the story in artful and concise way and unprecedented access to the events, we would like to give Best Nordic Documentary Award to Democrats. A film that manages to approach a unique moment in the history of Zimbabwe in an honest, straight-forward approach creating a compelling, suspenseful drama.
Jury: Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Winner of Best Nordic Documentary Award 2014 (Iceland) Martin Horyna, programmer / Karlovy Vary IFF (Czech Republic) Wendy Ettinger, co founder / Chicken & Egg (USA)
About the award: The Best Nordic Documentary Award is presented by the documentary jury to one of the 14 films in the Nordic Documentary Competition. The award goes to the director of the film.
The prize sum is 11,000 € and is sponsored by the Nordic public broadcasters DR, YLE, RUV, NRK and SVT.
Honorary Mention: Martha & Niki by Tora Mårtens
Motivation: For its cinematic energy in telling the story of two talented, driven women, for an intimate portrait of two friends on a journey of self-discovery as well as in a male competitive world, that at times can test a friendship. We would like to award the film Martha & Niki with an honorable mention.
Best Nordic Short Film Award
Winner: The Pride of Strathmoor by Einar Baldvin
Motivation: This film is a visually stunning depiction of horror. The portrait, not even hundred years old, evokes a sense of present relevance and timelessness. It visualizes an inner fear built on prejudice, which provides human mind with reasons to kill.
The film literally grabbed us by the core. It is a profound piece of very skilfully implemented work, that manages to create a dense emotional landscape -vibrant, atmospheric and very scary. Watching the film becomes an unsettling, almost physical experience. The sound design supports the powerful images, making this distorted, expressionistic nightmare complete.
Jury: Daniel Vadocky, Head of Sales / National Film Archive in Prague & Artfilmfest (Czech Republic / Slovakia) Kira Richards Hansen, Winner of the Best Nordic Short Film Award 2014 (Denmark) Paola Ruggeri, Head of Short Films / Rti Spa (Itlay)
About the award: The Best Nordic Short Film Award is presented by the short film jury to one of the 14 films in the Nordic Short Film Competition. The prize-winning film will qualify for consideration in the Short Film Category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided that the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The award goes to the director of the film.
The prize sum of 7,000 € is sponsored by the Nordic director’s associations Danish Film Directors, Directors Guild of Finland, Guild of Icelandic Film Directors, Norwegian Film Makers Association and Swedish Film Directors.
14 short films compete for the Nordic Short Film Award.
Best New Nordic Voice Award
Winner: Bird Hearts by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Motivation: Sometimes a film is just so well executed, it has to be celebrated. From script to screen, from the first scene to the very last, this film tells a familiar story in an original and most captivating way. It demands your attention and never lets it go.
Set in a young, middle class world where peoples insecurities, relationships and gender roles are put to the test, the film never looses sight of where it is going. By taking its characters and their lives seriously, it maintains a tenacious grasp on the story it is telling. It lets it unfold naturally through a seamless series of events that resonates with the audience, and teaches us to never underestimate the power of the stories we tell.
Jury: Tobias Åkesson, Head of Swedish Films & Nordic Film Lab / GIFF (Sweden), Aira Planting, Acquisitions Executive / NRK (Norway), Alexander Lind, Winner of New Nordic Voice Award 2014 (Denmark)
About the award: The Best New Nordic Voice Award is presented by the New Nordic Voices jury to one of the 14 films in the New Nordic Voices Competition. The award goes to the director of the film.
The prize sum is 3,500 € and is sponsored by Film i Skåne.
Honorary Mention: This Place is Every Place by Ane Hjort Guttu
Motivation: Every frame and word are of significance in a film that succeeds in capturing political movements on a large scale and place them in a small suburban context, giving the place an almost mythological dimension. A truly unique Nordic voice, both challenging and intriguing, that promise a lot for the future.
NP Audience Award
The favorite film of the Malmö Audience is The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer.
The prize of the audience of Nordisk Panorama – Nordic Short & Doc Film Festival is the finest appreciation a filmmaker can get.
The audience can vote for any of the 42 Nordic short films and documentaries competing in the main programme by using the voting cards handed out after the screenings.