NT 2013 Danish Film School Win It All At Nordic Talents

The National Film School of Denmark that hosted the 13th Nordic Talents with Nordisk Film & TV Fond had a clean sweep last Friday at the awards ceremony in Copenhagen, as all four possible wins were handed out to its graduating students. Two of the winning students are from Sweden, one from Denmark and one from Iceland, a proof of the school’s ability to attract talents from the entire Nordic region.

The Swedish documentary filmmaker Maria Bäck (see story below) who had moved the 200+ Nordic Talents audience with her poetic 30 minute film Mother is Godportraying her mentally-ill mother, ended up winning the top NOK 250,000 Nordic Talents Pitch Prize for her project I Remember When I Die in which patients will be asked to choose the memory they will think of when they die. 
The NOK 50,000 Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize was handed out to the Icelandic Hlynur Pálmason for his project Winter Brothers, a brothers’ odyssey set in a religious worker environment in winter.  The director had already displayed his craft as filmmaker with his graduation film The Painter, winner of Best Danish Short Film in Odense a few weeks ago. 

The five member jury (pictured) comprising Icelandic producer Agnes Johansen, filmmaker Ruben Östlund, YLE Commissioner Erkki Astala, filmmaker Tobias Lindholm, and Norwegian Film Institute’s Documentary Commissioner Kristine Ann Skaret stated about Maria Bäck: “It's hard to deal with heavy subjects in a light manner. But here we have a filmmaker who not only has the courage and skill to do that but who already has developed a specific, coherent visual language, and who is able to invest herself wholeheartedly into the film."

The jury’s comment about Hlynur Pálmason was the following: “We were impressed by his graduation film which proved his ability to create a special universe. And especially in one pitch we could already imagine the images of the new world the film maker is going to create for us. Here, we believe, is a true Nordic talent, who we look forward to pulling us through his new universe with two brothers and a gas tank."

The parallel SF Award for Best Children and Family Pitch (SEK 30,000) went to the animation project Billy and Reed’s Excellent Adventures, introduced by Danish scriptwriter Simon Weil and producer Lian Yang. The SF Jury said: “We would like to reward a project which we think will be a film full of fantasy, adventures and energy, but still with a great comment on modern society underneath. We can't say it any better than the writer himself: what makes you different makes you unique.”

The second parallel award, the SEK 30,000 Filmlance Seriously Big Humour Student Film Award was given out to the documentary Blessed Be This Place by Swedish director Carl Olsson. The multi-plot story about our search for identity and a place to belong was produced by Julie Waltersdorph Hansen, just like Pálmason’s films. Filmlance’s Jury described the film as ‘an intelligent story about everyday life told in a visual way with extreme precision when it comes to framing, lighting and editing. Within this frame we get to meet the most likeable characters on a journey with a common end. The jury smiled and sat in silence when this film with its subtle humour ended with the final line; it snows!”
Commenting on the overall quality of the 28 graduation films and 18 pitches performed to an audience of over 200 industry people and soon to be film professionals, Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s documentary consultant Karolina Lidin felt there was ‘an impressive range of genres, voices and visions’. “The jury had a difficult task with so different and vibrant contenders, but it is hard to disagree with the final choice of the Main Prize Winner. Maria Bäck's graduation film, Mother is God, and her new project, I Remember when I Die, immediately show her unique talent of treating serious, complex subjects with cinematic originality and a disarming lightness of touch. From a documentary standpoint, it was a truly promising batch of aspiring documentarians we were presented with during Nordic Talents. Lots to look forward to!!
The National Film School of Denmark’s graduating student Julie Waltersdorph Hansen praised the pitching training supervised by Karoline Leth and Paul Tyler. “Besides being the venue to tune your pitch to the finest, the pitch preparation was also a good platform for networking with your new Nordic colleagues since all the Nordic Film schools are represented. “

Pálmason felt the idea of screening the graduation films before the pitches was ‘extremely clever’. “It shows that Nordic Talents is all about filmmakers and their work. We are not performers. The audience is given a chance to evaluate the most important thing, before the pitches, which is the film.”
 
Previous Information
Nordic Talents 2013

When:  11-13 September 

Where: Copenhagen
             The National Film School of Denmark

• May 3 - On-line applications are now open for projects to be pitched by graduating students from Nordic film schools. Click: apply.nordictalents.com   
• June 17 - Applications close for projects to be pitched by graduating students from Nordic film schools.

• June 14 - PARTICIPANTS REGISTRATON IS NOW OPEN - CLICK HERE.

April 4, 2013 - Press Release Update
Nordic Talents Readies Its 13th Edition From September 11-13, 2013
Dates have now been set for the popular Nordic Talents annual rendez-vous in Copenhagen,co-organised by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the National Film School of Denmark.

From September 11-13, the Danish film school will turn again into a Nordic creative hub and networking platform for graduating film students, producers and financiers from the Nordic region.

Four awards will be handed out with cash prizes ranging from NOK27,000 to NOK250,000. Graduating students from Nordic film schools can apply to pitch a new project from May 3rd, 2013.

Eighteen pre-selected projects by Nordic graduating students will get a chance to win the NOK250,000 Nordic Talents Pitch Prize and NOK50,000 Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize granted as development money from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Past winning projects that have become successful films include Rúnar Rúnarsson's Volcano, Jan Rahbek' s animation film Marco Macaco, and Karzan Kader's Bekas. 

For the second year the major Nordic players Svensk Filmindustri and Filmlance International will sponsor two awards: the ‘SF Award for Best Children and Family Pitch' and ‘Filmlance Seriously Big Humour Student Film Award'. 
Svensk Filmindustri's award will go to the pitched project offering the strongest potential to attracta children and/or a family audience. Unlike last year where the SF award was attached to a SEK100,000 cash prize and a 12 months first option/last refusal option from the Scandinavian major, the SF award is now set at SEK30,000 and has no option attached. 
Last year's ‘SF Award for Best Children and Family Pitch' went to the National Film School of Denmark graduate Maremi Watanabe for Prince of Xmas. 
The Filmlance Seriously Big Humour Student Film Award worth again SEK30,000 is given out as a personal scholarship to be shared between the director, writer and producer of the most humorous graduation film from the Nordic film schools. 

Last year's award received by Norwegian director Liv Karin Dahlström for her comedy Jarle India Unni had to be withdrawn due to rules and regulations from the Norwegian Film School. Nevertheless Filmlance International has reiterated its desire to support Nordic Talents and to incentivize the making of ‘seriously funny' Nordic projects. So the Filmlance award will be handed out again this year. 

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Aim of Nordic Talents
The aim is to introduce graduating students from the Nordic film schools to the Nordic producers and financiers, and - equally important - to give the producers and financiers the opportunity to meet the future talent. A Nordic network is essential for the industry - and Nordic Talents is the platform to meet.
From Pitch to Film
Many former Nordic Talents award winning projects have become successful films; among others Norwegian director Erik Richter Strand's feature Sønner (Sons), the Swedish documentary Armbryterskan från Ensamheten (The Armwrestler From Solitude) by Lisa Munthe and Helen Ahlsson, the Finnish feature Run Sister Run by Marja Pyykkö, the Icelandic feature Volcano by Runar Runarsson, the Danish feature Marco Macaco by Jan Rahbek and the Swedish feature Bekas by Karzan Kader.

Who and How To Apply?
All graduation students form the Nordic film schools have been invited to send in one, or more, pitch(es) for a fiction-, TV-series-, documentary-, animation- or game project. 

The closing date is 9 am 17. June.
Applicants must use our online application form (available from 3. May here on our web site). For the application we require the following information in English:
Applicant information: name, e-mail, school
Who will pitch: name, e-mail, mobile, graduation film, function
Short info on key crew involved in the project
Project information: title, category, genre, length, target audience, tagline (max 15 words), short pitch (max 40 words), short synopsis (max 300 words), visual style of the project (max 100 words), preliminary time schedule, preliminary budget amount
Optional additional project information: detailed synopsis (max 2 A4 pages), visual material (max 4 A4 pages or link/password to visual material on FTP, Vimeo etc.)

Awards
The Nordic Talents Pitch Prize - NOK 250.000 and The Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize - NOK50.000: Both awards are development supports granted by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
A production company must be on board before the grant can be activated.

The SF Award for best Children or Family Pitch - SEK 30.000 cash prize. The Filmlance Seriously Big Humour Student Film Award - SEK 30.000 cash prize. See 'Prize Information' on right.
The Jury
This years jury, who will be handing out The Nordic Talents Pitch Prize - NOK 250.000 and The Nordic Talents Special Mention Prize - NOK 50.000, consist of: Scriptwriter and director Ruben Östlund (SV), scriptwriter and director Tobias Lindholm (DK), producer for Blueeyes Production Agnes Johansen (IS), Commissioner at YLE Erkki Astala (FI) and Film Commissioner for Documentaries at NFI KriStine Ann Skaret (NO).
What Happens During Nordic Talents?
Approximately 25 graduation films will be screened.
18 pre-selected projects by Nordic graduating students will be pitched for the jury and the audience. 
Each project will be given 5 minutes to pitch and the jury will have 5 minutes to ask questions. 

A moderator will run "the show" - NOTE: the language is English. 
A match-making session will give participants the possibility to meet in creative groups to exchange advice and ideas. 

The award ceremony closes the event.

Who is Invited?
The Nordic Film industry and Nordic film school graduation students of 2013 are invited. 

Nordic Talents is free of charge and includes lunch, dinner, coffee and tea etc. 

There is a maximum of 200 participants - based on first come first serve. 

CANCELLATION
Please note, if you register and cannot come - you MUST cancel your participation. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
NORDISK FILM & TV FOND