Thora Lorentzen’s Absolute Beginners wins Prix Europa Best Docu series

Picked at the time among five Nordic Talents to watch (SEE OUR STORY CLICK HERE), Lorentzen had impressed the 2017 Nordic Talents jury consisting of Juho Kuosmanen (Compartment No.6), Maria Bäck (I Remember When I Die), producer Lina Flint (The Guilty), NRK Head of Drama Ivar Køhn and Cannes Marché du Film rep Julie Bergeron who were convinced that she would bring her strong personal voice and sensitivity to Absolute Beginners (Efterskole).

The series follows for a full year - from August 2019 - a group of teenagers as they enrol at the music boarding school Klejtrup Musikefterskole. Lorentzen captures the youngsters’ emotional turmoil, as well as the eventful year under Covid-19.

Produced by Bullitt Film’s Rikke Tambo Andersen for DR, with support from the Danish Film Institute and the West Danish Film Fund, the six-part docu series premiered on DRTV June 13, 2021.

Watch the trailer here:

The Best European documentary series Prize to Absolute Beginners was handed out on Friday by an alliance of 26 European pubcasters and organisations.

Other Prix Europa Nordic winners included:

• Norway’s Faith Can Move Mountains winner of the TV Iris Award, celebrating cultural diversity. Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s documentary about a group of Greek orthodox nuns trying to build a convent on a Fjord against some resistance by locals, was produced by Medieoperatørene. `
• Finland’s Donate Your Speech (Yle) awarded Best Digital Media Project. The project co-developed by Yle, Helsinki University and VAKE, was set up to gather freely produced speeches in Finnish for use in the development of AI and speech recognition.
• Sweden’s Manipulator( SR), about online sexual abuse, awarded Best Radio Documentary.

Elsewhere, the Prix Europa-Best TV European drama went to Albatros, (Belgium), the Best TV movie award to Nobody's Child (France), Best European Documentary to Shadow Game (Netherlands).

The European journalist of the year award went to two imprisoned young Belarusian journalists - Katsiaryna Andreyeva and her 23-year old camera woman Darya Chultsova. The women were sentenced to two years in a correctional labour colony because they live-streamed for five hours a protest against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

A total of 15 European radio, television and digital Awards from 12 countries were handed out a Prix Europa at an on-site ceremony in Postdam, streamed live.