Denmark and Norway dominated Nordisk Panorama 2008

During six intense days, 74 films have competed in the Competition Programme of Nordisk Panorama 5 Cities Film Festval 2008 which showcase the best new short films and documentaries from the five Nordic countries. Many of them was screened to an international audience for the first time. At Nordisk Panoramas Gala Award Ceremony Tuesday evening, films from Denmark and Norway dominated.

Best Nordic Short Film

The Award for Best Nordic Short Film went to the Danish director Martin de Thurahs Young Man Falling (Ung man falder). In the category Nordic Short Film 38 films were competing for the award of 60.000 SEK sponsored by SVT (Swedish National Television). The prize was presented by an unanimous jury composed of Linda Olszewski (Shorts international, USA ), Fredrik Emilson (director, Sweden) and Laurent Crouzeix (Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, France). Jury´s motivation: "For its special tone and successful multi-layered narrative approach."

Honory Mention went to Johannes Nyholm for his film The Tale of Little Puppetboy (Den lille Dockpojken) in appreciation of the director´s artistic voice.

The Canal+ Prize

The Canal+ Prize, selected amongst the competing films in Best Nordic Short Film by the Canal+ representatives, consists a purchase of the film for Canal+ broadcasting in France and Africa. The winners of this award are the Danish directors Thomas Glud and Lars Wass with the film Out of Spjald (Væk fra Spjald).

Best Nordic Documentary

The prize for best documentary film went to the film Big John (Blod & ære) directed by Håvard Bustnes (Norway). 22 films was competing in Nordic Documentary for the award of 60.000 SEK sponsored by SVT (Swedish National Television). The members of the jury Sean Farnel (Hot Docs, Canada), Artur Liebhart (Planete Doc Film Festival, Polen), Line Halvorsen (Director, Norway), Malin Björkman- Widell (SVT, Sweden) and Paz Lazaro (Berlin Filmfestival, Deutschland) awarded the film with the motivation: "A film witch is once hard-hitting, human and full of heart. This was simply a great story, well-told, engaging and surprising the jury with its depth of emotion and its suspense."

The jury made two Honorary Mentions in this category. One to the film Lies (Lögner) directed by Jonas Odell (Sweden) : "A film which masterfully brings distinct visual style to compelling documentary stories".

And also to John Websters Recipes for Disaster: "A film wich takes an important worldwide problem and through an entertaining, practical approach raises the conscience and empowers its audience."

Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne Award

Documentaries up to 30 mins also competed for the new award Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne Award for Short Documentary and the award of 30.000 SEK, sponsored by Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne. The winner is Statistics (Statistikk) directed by Solveig Melkeraaen (Norway)

New Nordic Voices

For the second year around new promising Nordic filmmakers compete in New Nordic Voices. This years winner is Nikolaj Viborg from Denmark, with his film 69. This year 14 films competed for the award of 40.000 SEK which was sponsored by Film i Skåne. Members of the jury were Joakim Strand (Film i Skåne) and Greta Olafsdottir (Icelandic Film Centre) and Karen Rais-Nordentoft (Aarhus Filmfestival). The jury´s motivation:

"The New Nordic Voices Award goes to a brave film that reminds us once again how important documentary filmmaking is. When it comes to taking on challenging subjects in a more and more conform world this is a voice we need. In a violent context the film treats the subject with great gentleness and respect, with an all present camera. A film portraying youth fighting for their own place in society and the right to be diverse, facing police brutality and political ignorance".

The jury wanted to make two special mentions in this category. One to "Alone, Together" made by Annika Grof (Finland): "A film with a consistent filmic vision and language, a film that let us take part of the domestic life that we all can relate to. The filmmaker carefully let us in on the details of the everyday life and slowly it transforms into a deeper meaning".

And second special mention goes to The Last Elephant by Antti Laakso (Finland): "We want to give another special mention to a little gem of a film that combines humor with serious matters and traumatic events. It´s a film that shows fantastic craftsmanship with a great sense for details".

High resolution pictures are available here directly after the Gala Award Cermony.

For more information, interviews and photos, please contact:
www.nordiskpanorama.com

Katarina Lilliequist
Press officer
katarina@studiototal.se
+46(0)703689904