WRITTEN BY: Annika Pham
Magnus Gertten and Simon Lereng Wilmont’s films were among six Nordic documentaries awarded on Tuesday evening in Malmö at the closing night of the festival.
Nelly & Nadine won the coveted Best Nordic Documentary award worth €11,000, the latest of a long list of recognitions that started at the Berlinale Panorama where the film was handed out the Teddy Jury Award.
The Swedish film produced by Ove Rishøj Jensen of Auto Images, tells the unlikely story of two women falling in love in Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944 and their destinies.
In its statement, the Nordisk Panorama jury said: “This film has succeeded in making alive unknown faces from history, highlighting a deeply human and tender love story. Masterfully using the archive, poetic visual language and approaching its main characters with love and empathy and deep respect. Opening gradually layers of love, memory, identity and friendship, so the voices from the past speak to us in the context of today’s challenges.”
The prize was sponsored by the Nordic public broadcasters DR, SVT NRK, Yle and RÚV.
Read our interview with Magnus Gertten: CLICK HERE.
The €5,000 prize for New Nordic Voice sponsored by AVEK and Film i Skåne went to the film Moosa Lane by Danish filmmaker Anita M. Hopland.
In her film, the director follows her Pakistani family of 25 people, living one roof in Karachi. Her experience puts her own life in Denmark in perspective.
The jury said: “The winning film is a visually poetic film that juxtaposes the longing of being free from the bonds of your homeland and the yearning of getting to belong somewhere.
The camera is present and insisting and it has many strong and heart-warming moments from everyday life of a family. The filmmaker shows incredible discipline and dedication in her process.”
The film which world premiered at CPH:DOX was produced by Sara Stockmann of Sonntag Pictures with Håvard Wettland Gossé of Norway’s Spætt Film.
The €2,500 City of Malmö Audience Award went to Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made of Splinters, which depicts social workers looking after an orphanage in Eastern Ukraine, as war is taking its toll on the families living near the frontline.
Since its world premiere in Sundance where Lereng Wilmont won Best Director from the World Cinema Documentary section, the Danish film has collected numerous awards including Best Nordic Documentary in Göteborg.
The director worked closely during production with the local NGO Voices of Children (see our separate story: CLICK HERE). .
Six months into the conflict, the NGO is still collecting funds to help Ukrainian families.
See story: CLICK HERE.
The film was produced by Monica Hellström of Final Cut for Real.
Read our interview with Simon Lereng Wilmont: CLICK HERE.
Nordisk Panorama’s €5,000 Best Nordic Short Film Award sponsored by the Danish Film Directors and Swedish Film Directors went to Norway’s From.Beyond by Fredrik S. Hana, described as a “kaleidoscopic depiction of alien life on earth.
The Honourable Mention Award went to The Diamond by Sweden’s Vedran Rupic.
The €1,500 Young Nordic Award sponsored by Nordisk Panorama was handed out to Sweden’s Inside the Aquarium by Göteborg Valand film school’s alumna Lina Berger.
This year 64 documentaries competed at the 33rd Nordisk Panorama. The Forum industry sidebar presented 24 pitches of documentaries looking for co-financing.
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