A few months after Susanne Bier's Oscar for In a Better World, two Scandinavian upcoming filmmakers collected major awards in Hollywood last Saturday at the 38th Student Academy Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills. Norway's Tuba Atlantic by Hallvar Witzø (photo) won a Gold Medal and Sweden's Bekas by Karzan Kader a Silver Medal in the Foreign Students category.

52 participants from 32 countries were nominated in the Foreign student category, but only Norway, Sweden and Germany made it in the final round. It was the first time a Norwegian film won at the Student Academy Awards.

Written by Linn-Jeanethe Kyed, Tuba Atlantic is a drama comedy about Oskar (70) who is told that he has only six days left to live. Before it's too late, he wants to put things right with his brother who lives in the US. Inger, a public death angel, is sent out to help Oskar through his remaining days. The 25 minute film was Witzø's 2010 graduation film from the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer. It screened at this year's Nordic Talents in Copenhagen, where Bekas won the Nordic Talents Award.

Set in the Kurdish part of Northern Iraq in the early 90's, Bekas was Kader's 2010 graduation film from Stockholm's Academy of Dramatic Arts. It focuses on two homeless brothers who dream of escaping their war-torn homeland to live with their superhero Superman in the US. The feature length version produced by Sonet Film in co-production with Finland's Helsinki Filmi will start shooting in September. The film received support - among others - from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.