Venice Days pic “Beware of Children” and Sundance alumnus “Charter” are among the five Nordic films nominated for the coveted Nordic Council Film Prize.
“Beware of Children” was directed by Norwegian scribe/helmer Dag Johan Haugerud and produced by Yngve Sæther. The drama is set in the aftermath of a tragic event in a suburb of Oslo, where the teenage daughter of a prominent Labour Party member seriously injured her classmate, the son of a high profile right-wing politician, during a school break.
“Charter,” meanwhile, world premiered at this year’s Sundance festival and marks Swedish director/screenwriter Amanda Kernell’s second feature following “Sami Blood.” “Charter” is a character study of a flawed mother who impulsively embarks on a perilous attempt to reconnect with her children after leaving them with their father to start a new life in Stockholm. “Charter” was produced by Lars G. Lindström and Eva Åkergren.
The three other nominated pics are Frelle Petersen’s “Unkle,” which played at Tokyo last year and is produced by Marco Lorenzen; Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää’s “Dogs Don’t Wear Pants,” which played at Cannes and is produced by Aleksi Bardy and Helen Vinogradov; and “Echo,” the third feature from Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson, which opened at Locarno last year and is produced by Rúnarsson, Live Hide and Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir.
All five movies will be presented Tuesday at the opening of “New Nordic Films” at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, and the winner will be announced on Oct. 27 with the Nordic Council Autumn Session in Reykjavik in Finland.
The Nordic Council Film Prize said the award’s purpose “is to raise interest in the Nordic cultural community, as well as to recognize outstanding artistic initiatives,” and added that the selection of films underscored their “high artistic quality and originality (…) and the way they combine and elevate the many elements of film into a compelling and holistic work of art in Nordic culture.”
The winning film will receive a DKK 350,000 ($56,000) prize, which will be shared equally among the screenwriter, director, and producer.
May el-Toukhy’s popular Danish film “Queen of Hearts” won last year’s Nordic Council Film Prize. Previous winners include Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Woman at War,” Selma Vilhunen’s “Little Wing,” Joachim Trier’s “Louder than Bombs,” Thomas Vinterberg’s “The Hunt,” Dagur Kari’s “Virgin Mountain,” Pernilla August’s “Beyond” and Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist.”