Praising its deft, unsentimental and confident mixture of action and intimacy as well as a magnificently unfussy lead performance, the Nordic Council Film Prize jury, consisting of 15 equally prominent and handpicked Nordic cinema experts, bestowed its 2018 award upon the Icelandic film Woman at War [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benedikt Erlingsson
intervista: Benedikt Erlingsson
scheda film]. Recipients Benedikt Erlingsson (direction, screenplay and production), Ólafur Egill Egilsson (screenplay), and Marianne Slot and Carine Leblanc (production) will share a prize of DKK 350,000 (almost €47,000) “in recognition of film as an art form, based on the collaboration between these main contributors”. 

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Woman at War stars Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir as Halla, a music teacher in her seemingly tranquil middle age. As soon becomes apparent, Halla sometimes takes a break from her cheerful everyday routine in order to partake in some forceful eco-activism directed at the local aluminium industry. In the middle of planning her boldest and most outrageous sabotage operation yet, she receives a letter from the adoption agency that she contacted four years ago and had all but forgotten about. Which, to put it mildly, thickens the plot.

Since its hit premiere in this year’s Critics’ Week at Cannes, where it won the SACD Award for Best Screenplay, Erlingsson’s warmly eccentric take on environmental advocacy (he has described his heroine as part Gandhi, part Pippi Longstocking) has picked up a sizeable batch of festival awards from different corners of the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, Woman at War is also Iceland’s candidate for consideration in the Best Foreign-language Film category of the forthcoming Oscars (see the news), and it is one of the three finalists for the European Parliament's LUX Prize (see the news).

Woman at War is the 15th recipient of the Nordic Council Film Prize, generally regarded as the most prestigious film award in the Nordic region. The other nominees this year were Denmark’s Winter Brothers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Elliott Crosset Hove
intervista: Hlynur Pálmason
scheda film] by Hlynur Pálmason, Finland’s Euthanizer [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Teemu Nikki
scheda film] by Teemu Nikki, Norway’s Thelma [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eili Harboe
intervista: Joachim Trier
scheda film] by Joachim Trier and Sweden’s Ravens [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jens Assur
scheda film] by Jens Assur.

The first Nordic Council Film Prize was handed out in 2002 to celebrate the Nordic Council's 50th anniversary and has, since 2005, been annual. Previous winners include The Man Without a Past [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Aki Kaurismäki, You, the Living [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pernilla Sandström
intervista: Roy Andersson
scheda film] by Roy Andersson, Antichrist [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Lars von Trier
scheda film] by Lars von Trier, Louder Than Bombs [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joachim Trier
scheda film] by Joachim Trier and Of Horses and Men [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benedikt Erlingsson
scheda film] by Benedikt Erlingsson, which makes Erlingsson the only doubly awarded director thus far.

The Nordic Council Film Prize was awarded together with the Nordic Council’s Music Prize, Literature Prize, Youth Literature Prize and Environment Prize. The grand ceremony was held in conjunction with the 70th session of the Nordic Council at the Oslo Opera House on 30 October.