Graffiti artist film wins top award

The competitive prizes for the oldest and largest film festival in Sweden were announced February 4 at a special gala ceremony at the Museum of World Culture. The Göteborg Film Festival Nordic Film Award went to Dagur Kári for Dark Horse (Voksne Mennesker). The award consists of 150 000 SEK and the Filmdraken (Film dragon) statuette.

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"To be nominated for an award like this is like having a race horse", expressed a happy Dagur Kári, who for the second time received the Nordic Film award in Göteborg. "Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but of course the nomination helps sell the film. And when you win it is fantastic!"

Dark Horse was shot in black and white centers on the experiences of a graffiti artist in Copenhagen who falls in love with the same woman as his best friend. Kári’s previous win was the esteemed Noi the Albino (2003), a high school drop out who lives in a lonely village in Iceland and dreams of running away with the girl from the gas station.

The Nordic Jury consisted of Monika Tunbäck-Hanson (chairman, Sweden), Sirin Eide (Norway), Hanna Maylett (Finland), Helga Brekkan (Iceland) and Kirsten Dalgaard (Denmark).

The same jury awarded the Kodak Nordic Vision Award for best photo went to Crille Forsberg for God Willing (Om Gud vill- director Amir Chadin) – “a film, which through its magic black and white pictures paints a charming story of love”, according to the jury. Juan who has recently moved to Sweden works in a hamburger stand. One night he meets Julie who later learns the hard way that his girlfriend will soon be joining him.

The winner of Bratek’s Startsladd 2006, a short film award went to Never Like the First Time (Aldrig som första gången) by Jonas Odell – four documents on sexual awakening revealed through an animation collage. The award consists of film equipment worth a total of 400 000 SEK and 100 000 SEK in cash from the Swedish Film Institute. Odell also won the Audience’s Choice Award for best short film.

The Church of Sweden Film Award went to the Danish film We Shall Overcome (Drømmen) directed by Niels Arden Oplev, a film about a young boy whose idol is Martin Luther King, and who is tormented and abused by the school rector.

The FIPRESCI Award, the international film critic’s award, went to the Icelandic film A Little Trip to Heaven by Baltasar Kormákur. The jury consisted of Bojidar Manov (Novinar Daily, Bulgaria), Michel Euvrard (Séquences, Canada) and Eero Tammi (Filmihullu, Finland).
Forest Whitaker stars as an insurance agent who investigates a couple about to inherit a million dollars. The film is set in Minnesota but filmed in Iceland.

Moira Sullivan

Moira Sullivan is a freelance journalist and member of the Swedish Film Critics' Association