Woman at War’s Benedikt Erlingsson will be among the presenters of the Nordic Council awards ceremony available tonight for streaming or TV viewing from 21.10 CET.

The streaming link is https://www.norden.org/en/awar...

Instead of the grandiose Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall, originally set to host the annual event, the Nordic Council awards will be announced tonight from the cosy homes or favourite places of a handful of prestigious presenters.

These include Iceland’s President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson who will introduce this year’s Nordic Council Children & Young People’s Literature Prize, former winner Benedikt Erlingsson, presenter of the Nordic Council Film Prize, multi-instrumentalist and former winner Gyða Valtýsdóttir presenter of the Nordic Council Music Prize, comedian/artist Zinat Pirzade, presenter of the Nordic Council Literature Prize, and Kira Lennert Olsen and Nuiana Hardenberg presenters of the Nordic Council Environment Prize. 

Festivities during the virtual ceremony hosted by writer/journalist Halla Oddný Magnúsdóttir will include performances from Icelandic indie folk/rock band Of Monsters and Men, world-renowned pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and the Icelandic Dance Company. 

The DKK 350,000 Nordic Council Film Prize will be shared equally among the screenwriter(s), director, and producer(s) of each five nominated films.  This year’s candidates are:

  • Denmark’s Uncle (Onkel) by writer/director Frelle Petersen, produced by Marco Lorenzen
  • Finland’s Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Koirat eivät käytä housuja) by writer/director Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, co-written by Juhana Lumme, produced by Aleksi Bardy and Helen Vinogradov 
  • Iceland’s Echo (Bergmál) by writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson, produced by Rúnarsson, Live Hide and Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir
  • Norway’s Beware of Children (Barn) by writer/director Dag Johan Haugerud, produced by Yngve Sæther
  • Sweden’s Charter by writer/director by Amanda Kernell, produced by Lars G. Lindström and Eva Åkergren.

Over the last few days and months, audiences across the Nordics were invited to discover or watch again the five nominated films, as part of special events organised by local partners,  with the support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond, administrator of the Nordic Council Film Prize, on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

The local partners were Camera Film and the Grand Teatret in Denmark, the Love & Anarchy Helsinki Film Festival in Finland, Bíó Paradís in Iceland, the Oslo Cinematheque in Norway and Kulturbyrån in Sweden. 

For further information on the Nordic Council Film Prize CLICK HERE.

The annual Nordic Council awards are traditionally handed out in conjunction with the Nordic Council Session, which has been cancelled this year due to Covid-19, although live streams during this Session Week, focusing on the Nordic cooperation under the pandemic are available - CLICK HERE.