Nordic Council Film Prize 2012 – nominees

Five outstanding Nordic films are nominated for the coveted Nordic Council Film Prize 2012.

Five exceptional and very different Nordic films are candidates for the prestigious NORDIC COUNCIL FILM PRIZE 2012. Among the nominated directors are Nikolaj Arcel, Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, Arild Andresen and Ruben Östlund. They are all in tough competition with excellent films, one from each of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The five nominees in 2012 are:

EN KONGELIG AFFÆRE (A ROYAL AFFAIR) - Denmark
Director: Nikolaj Arcel / Writers: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg / Producers: Louise Vesth, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Meta Louise Foldager

KOVASIKAJUTTU (THE PUNK SYNDROME) - Finland
Directors: Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi / Writers: Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi, Sami Jahnukainen / Producer: Sami Jahnukainen

Á ANNAN VEG (EITHER WAY) - Iceland
Director: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson / Writer: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson / Producers: Davíd Óskar Ólafsson, Árni Filippusson

KOMPANI ORHEIM (THE ORHEIM COMPANY) - Norway
Director: Arild Andresen / Writers: Arild Andresen, Lars Gudmestad / Producers: Yngve Saether, Sigve Endresen

PLAY - Sweden
Director: Ruben Östlund / Writer: Ruben Östlund / Producer: Erik Hemmendorff

About the Nordic Council Film Prize 2012

To be nominated for the prize, worth DKK 350.000, the films must be embedded to a significant degree in Nordic culture, must be of high quality, stand out in terms of artistic originality, and combine and refine the many elements of film in a convincing and integrated manner.

The five national titles are selected by a jury consisting of three people in each of the five Nordic countries. Now that the five candidates have been chosen, a joint Nordic jury will convene to vote and select this year’s prize winner. This year’s Nordic Adjudication Committee consists of film critic Per Juul Carlsen (DK), communication manager Outi Heiskanen (FI), CEO Sif Gunarsdottir (IS), editor Silje Riise Næss (N) and film critic Fredrik Sahlin (S).

Previous winners of the film prize are Pernilla August, Thomas Vinterberg, Lars von Trier, Roy Andersson, Peter Schønau Fog, Josef Fares, Per Fly and Aki Kaurismäki. The winner of the Nordic Council Film Prize 2012 will be announced in October and will be presented with the prize at the Nordic Council’s Session in Helsinki 31 October.

In addition to the film prize, the Nordic Council annually awards a literature prize, a music prize, and a nature and environment prize. The objective of all of these prizes is to increase interest in the literature, language, music and film of Nordic neighbouring countries.