Cry Wolf wins Best Danish Series, Best Screenplay at THIS Series Awards

Other award winners Friday evening were Netflix’s The Chestnut Man, which picked up three statuettes including the Audience Award, and SVT’s Thin Blue Line, voted Best Nordic series.

This year’s jury of THIS Series Awards in Aarhus consisted of Ann Lind Andersen, Nordisk Film TV‘s film & TV Series expert, Keld Reinicke, media advisor-series expert, Pernille Bech Christensen, executive producer at TV2 Fiction, Rasmus Thorsen, Cosmo Film co-founder and producer, and Kim Leona, head of scriptwriting at the Danish Film Institute.

In their statement, the jury said they gave the prestigious Best Series award to Cry Wolf for the quality of the direction, the excellent acting - in particular from Flora Ofelia Hofman Lindahl, youngest ever to receive the Actor Award at the last San Sebastián Film Festival.

Cry Wolf’s writer Maja Jul Larsen also won in her category for “her ability to handle a complex story and to keep the audience on the edge.”

Cry Wolf has received numerous accolades this year including the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for Best Screenplay of a Nordic TV drama in Göteborg, and a Golden Eye for Best International TV Drama at the Zurich Film Festival.

The Chestnut Man produced by SAM Productions for Netflix won Best Crime Series, Best Director (Mikkel Serup) and the Audience award. The serial killer thriller adapted by The Killing’s creator Søren Sveistrup from his own best-selling eponymous novel, has received rave reviews since its September 29 launch on the US streamer. Reinicke called The Chestnut Man “one of the best Danish full-length detective stories of the last 10 years."

The Swedish realistic cop drama Thin Blue Line produced by Anagram Sweden for SVT was voted Best Nordic drama series (ahead of Viaplay’s Pørni and NRK’s Exit 2) for “its portrayal of an environment that you believe in and that you engage in.”

Last August the series won Best TV Drama and Best Programme of the year at the annual Kristallen Swedish TV Awards. A second season is due to premiere on the Swedish pubcaster later next year.

Fredløs (lit Outlaw’) produced by Strong Productions/SplayOne for DR3 won Best mini-series. The jury praised the outstanding acting from Besir Zeciri and collaboration between director Laurits Flensted-Jensen, writers Babak Vakili and Malte Jagd Miehe-Renard, who “created a meaningful series about a man in conflict.”. The series follows a former refugee, Mohammed, who seeks a quiet life with his girlfriend Ida, but loses everything when one day he is remanded in custody for an armed robbery.

Other award winners were the following:

• Best Comedy Series: Klovn S8 created by Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam for Nutmeg Productions/TV2 DK.
• Best Returning Series: 29-season V (33), created by Julie Rudbæk, Jesper Zuschlag & Maj-Britt Landin for Drive Studios/XeeTV.
• Best Talent: Arian Kashef (The Chestnut Man, When the Dust Settles).

THIS Series Awards 2021 held on Friday at Filmby Aarhus, closed the five-day media conference THIS dedicated to future stories & engagement, and the Aarhus Series Festival, both attended by 175 speakers and participants from 150 media companies.