Norwegian zombie comedy Grandmonster and Butterfly starring Renate Reinsve are among the winners at the Norwegian International Film Festival H
Norwegian zombie comedy Grandmonster and Butterfly starring Renate Reinsve are among the winners at the Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.
Vegard Dahle’s Grandmonster won the Best Pitch Award, from the 21 titles in the Nordic Co-Production Market, and is invited to participate in the Producers Network at Cannes film festival.
It follows an American dropout who triggers a zombie outbreak at a Norwegian nursing home, while trying to save her grandmother from dementia. Jon Vatne produces for Syden Pictures.
The jury credited “to a project that takes on the universal subject of aging – and adds a generous dose of cheeky humour, horror, and, apparently, zombies with dentures. They convinced us that silliness and horror can travel remarkably well across borders. We left the pitch confident that this team has the energy, the humour, and the creative spark to bring that same spirit to the film.”
The Midpoint Talent Award went to Elisa Kujala’s Finnish project Elektra, produced by Nora Kuusisto for Dionysos Films. It centres on a brilliant teenage game developer who discovers that the greatest threat to her success centres not in her toxic workplace, but within her own ambition. The prize includes script development guidance from a Midpoint Institute mentor.
The Storyline Production Award for project with greatest international appeal went to Ea Johanne Sandberg and Alpha Nord’s Anathema, a co-production between Denmark, Norway and Germany, produced by Anne Borggaard Sorensen and Janne Hjeltnes for Norway’s Empathitude Pictures. The film follows a woman living in a valley with her mother and a man called Brother, where violence and grief simmer below a façade of denial – before Brother disappears.
The industry awards were part of the New Nordic Films platform, which closes tomorrow (August 28) having started on August 25, and held morning pitching sessions for the Co-Production Market on Wednesday and works in progress titles on Thursday.
The public festival also presented its awards, including the Norwegian Critics’ Award to Itonje Soimer Guttormsen’s Butterfly starring Renate Reinsve, about two sisters who journey into the tourist machine of Gran Canaria.
The Audience Award went to Anthony Maras’ D-Day thriller Pressure starring Brendan Fraser; while Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals Of Amziah King starring Matthew McConaughey won the Ray of Sunshine Award, for the film that “excites and spreads the most joy”, according to the festival.
In New Nordic Films, the NOK 20,000 ($2,140) Next Nordic Generation Award for best graduation film from the Nordic film schools went to Clara Vida’s Groupies, with special mention for Andre Vaara’s Sister Of Mine.
The festival welcomed guests including Cristian Mungiu, who presented a screening of his Palme d’Or-winning Fjord, filmed in Norway, to open New Nordic Films.
Special events included the arrival outside the festival hotel of the Draken Harald Harfagre ship, the world’s largest operational Viking ship, which was used extensively in the filming of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
. A cocktail event for festival guests was held on the vessel, with local cider and herring served.
The Nordic Film Commission also hosted a separate boat trip to Rovaer island near Haugesund for producers attending the festival, including members of the delegation attending the event as part of its French focus.
The festival closes with Ingvild Soderlind’s The Murder Of Benjamin, a true-story crime drama about the 2001 murder of Norwegian teenager Benjamin Hermansen.
