The smash-hit series about the fishing quota collected nine awards at Iceland’s national film & TV awards.

Sunday evening’s Edda awards ceremony at the Háskólabíó cinema in Reykjavik was another triumphal night for the Vesturport creative collective behind the event series Blackport.

The character-driven drama commissioned by RÚV and Arte France, won in several top categories such as Drama Series of the year, Lead Actor for Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Lead Actress for Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, and Best Screenplay for Garðarsson, Björn Haraldsson, and Mikael Torfason. The writing trio had picked up last year the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize-Outstanding writing of a Nordic drama series.

In the film category, Iceland’s Oscar candidate Beautiful Beings directed by Gudmundur Arnar Guðmundsson for Join Motion Pictures, won Best Film while Hlynur Pálmason, collected two Eddas for his feature drama Godland - Best Direction and Best Cinematography (Maria von Hausswolff). The director won a third statuette for his short Film Nest, which scooped the same award at the Danish Robert film awards.

A Letter from Helga directed by Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir picked up two statuettes for the supporting actors Anita Briem and Björn Thors, while Welcome Árni, by Viktoría Hermannsdóttir and Allan Sigurðsson, won Best Documentary.

Honoured by her peers, Laufey Gudjónsdóttir, former director of the Icelandic Film Centre, said: "We all know how much it takes to make a good film and how much work is behind the success of Icelandic filmmaking. It takes creativity, professionalism, incredible perseverance, and courage. To celebrate all of this, it is very important to rely on the support of policy makers who have truly stood behind the industry.“

“Of course, we all want more and different things, but it is fantastic to have this solid support, without which this would not be possible. It is also especially gratifying how the new Icelandic film policy has further strengthened the pillars of film education, film literacy, among others,” she said on stage.

Another pillar of the Icelandic film industry-director Ágúst Gudmundsson, who was a key figure in the 70’s-80’s when Icelandic cinema saw a rapid growth, was honoured for his contribution to filmmaking in Iceland. In his acceptance speech he spoke in favour of cultural content in Icelandic language and diversity of films for cinemas, television, and all other media.

Nordisk Film & TV Fond was associated to 14 Edda awards for Blackport, Beautiful Beings, Godland, and A Letter to Helga. The Edda Awards ceremony was broadcast live on RÚV.

Selected List of Edda Film and Television Awards 2023:

  • Best Feature Film
    Beautiful Beings by Gudmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Join Motion Picture)
  • Best Director
    Hlynur Pálmason-Godland
  • Best Screenplay
    Gisli Örn Garðarsson, Björn Haraldsson, Mikael Torfason -Blackport
  • Best Leading Actor
    Gísli Örn Garðarsson-Blackport
  • Best Leading Actress
    Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir-Blackport
  • Best Supporting Actor
    Björn Thors-A Letter from Helga
  • Best Supporting Actress
    Anita Briem-A Letter from Helga
  • Best Fiction Series
    Blackport (Vesturport)
  • Best Documentary
    Welcome Árni by Viktoría Hermannsdóttir, Allan Sigurðsson
  • Best Short Film
    Nest by Hlynur Pálmason (Snowglobe, Join Motion Pictures)
  • Best Children and Youth
    Randalín and Mundi: Days in December
  • Best Special Effects
    Guðjón Jónsson (VFX Supervisor) Monopix, ShortCut, MPC, Union VFX, Filmgate-Against The Ice
  • Best Costume Design
    Margrét Einarsdóttir, Rebekka Jónsdóttir-Blackport
  • Best Makeup
    Kristín Júlla Kristjánsdóttir-Blackport
  • Best Original Score
    Herdís Stefánsdóttir and Kjartan Dagur Holm-Blackport
  • Best Sound
    Gunnar Árnason-Quake
  • Best Editing
    Kristján Loðmfjörð-Blackport
  • Best Cinematography
    Maria von Hausswolff-Godland
  • Best Production Design
    Atli Geir Grétarsson and Ólafur Jónasson-Blackport
  • Medal of Honour
    Ágúst Guðmundsson

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