The Finnish Oscar entry Purge collected the most awards at Finland's national Jussi film awards held in Helsinki on Sunday evening, but Maarit Lalli's feature debut Almost 18 (Kohta 18) won the biggest awards for Best Film, Director and Script. Meanwhile Iceland announced the nominations for its own national Edda awards and Baltasar Korm
The Jussi gala was a triumphal evening for sleeper film Almost 18 (Kohta 18), which debut director Maarit Lalli produced and co-wrote with her son Henrik Mäki-Tanila, one of five main actors. The episodic teenage drama was released domestically by Nordisk Film.
Finland's Oscar entry Purge and third biggest Finnish film of 2012 collected five Jussi awards for Best Actress (Laura Birn), Supporting Actress (Liisi Tandefelt), Cinematography (Rauno Ronkainen), Sound Editing (Kirka Sainio) and Make Up (Riikka Virtanen). The drama based on Sofi Oksanen's best-selling novel was one of four films supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond that received 9 out of 15 Jussi awards. The sci-fi comedy Iron Sky won Best Set Design, the Nordic Council Film Prize nominee The Punk Syndrome Best Documentary and Best Editing, and the documentary Canned Dreams Best Music. For the full list of Jussi awards, check: www.ses.fi/en/home.
Iceland's annual Edda Film and Television Awards will be handed out on February 16 in Reykjavik, and the nominations for this year's awards were announced on January 30. Baltasar Kormákur's drama The Deep which was shortlisted for an Oscar, leads with 16 nominations including Best Film, Director and Script. Óskar Thór Axelsson's crime thriller Black's Game and Reynir Lyngdal's thriller Frost are running in the same main categories with 15 and 4 nominations each. Another strong candidate is the TV series The Press Season 3, competing in 10 categories including Best Director (Óskar Jónasson). For the full list of Edda nominations, check: www.icelandicfilmcentre.is.
Nordisk Film & TV Fond has supported The Deep, Black's Game and The Press Season 3.