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GÖTEBORG 2022 Awards

As in Heaven crowned Best Nordic Film at Göteborg

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- Tea Lindeburg’s movie has won the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film, while Seidi Haarla received the Best Acting Award for her performance in Compartment No. 6

As in Heaven crowned Best Nordic Film at Göteborg
The winners of the 2022 Göteborg Film Festival

The 45th Göteborg Film Festival came to a close on 5 February with the announcement of its award winners. As in Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tea Lindeburg
film profile
]
by Tea Lindeburg emerged as the laureate of this year’s Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film as well as a prize of SEK 400,000 (€40,000), provided by Region Västra Götaland and the City Council of Gothenburg.

“This powerful and engaging film takes us into a brutal landscape filled with blood, dirt and life-changing decisions. It is a character-driven film that tells a story about hope, superstition and obedience, where we follow a young woman's transition from being free to feeling the suffocating weight of responsibility. The main actress delivers a remarkable performance, and we are truly touched by the perspective it offers: giving birth is a natural part of life, something that affects us all – and still, we have rarely seen this phenomenon depicted with such an insistent and painfully raw quality in a film before,” was the Nordic Competition jury’s statement. This year, the jury consisted of French director Eva Husson, Swedish filmmaker Milad Alami, Swedish director Maria Bäck and Ukrainian producer Olena Yershova.

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The jury also rewarded the work of Seidi Haarla with the Best Acting gong, thanks to her performance as Laura in Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
, directed by Juho Kuosmanen. The jury stated that Haarla “literally vibrated out of the screen and into our hearts, creating an intimate performance that takes us on a journey of identity, love and belonging. Her great courage conveys what it means to be lost within ourselves, but at the same time, she stays fearless and curious about the world.” The FIPRESCI jury also picked Compartment No. 6 for “its compelling blend of epic road movie and melodrama, while still retaining an intimate dimension”.

Furthermore, The Innocents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile
]
’ director of photography, Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, snagged the Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award, as “the imagery succeeds in evoking mysterious powers within the child and goes beyond this to highlight the demons inside us as an audience. Visually striking decisions create tension while the use of the amazing midsummer light explores the most sinister feelings in the dark.” The film also received the Audience Dragon Award Best Nordic Film.

Danish director ​​Simon Lereng Wilmont received the Best Nordic Documentary Dragon Award, which is accompanied by SEK 250,000 (€24,000) in services from Chimney, for A House Made of Splinters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
. “With poetic, unforgettable images, it gives a voice to the children's heartbreaking stories, with a brutal war raging in the background. The story and the images that carry so much weight sometimes feel light, like a soap bubble floating carefree around a room,” the jury stated.

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award – consisting of a stay at the Bergman Estate on Fårö and a visit to Bergman’s personal archive in Stockholm – went to Vera Dreams of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaltrina Krasniqi
film profile
]
by Kaltrina Krasniqi, who, “through a sophisticated interplay between family members, achieves a moving and exhilarating portrait of a stifling society and the courage it takes to make yourself heard”, underlined the jurors.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 45th Göteborg Film Festival:

Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film
As in Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tea Lindeburg
film profile
]
- Tea Lindeburg (Denmark)

Dragon Award for Best Acting
Seidi Haarla - Compartment No. 6 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juho Kuosmanen
film profile
]
(Finland/Russia/Estonia/Germany)

Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen - The Innocents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile
]
(Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Finland/France/UK)

FIPRESCI Award
Compartment No. 6 - Juho Kuosmanen

Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary
A House Made of Splinters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark)

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
Vera Dreams of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaltrina Krasniqi
film profile
]
- Kaltrina Krasniqi (Kosovo/North Macedonia/Albania)

Audience Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film
The Innocents - Eskil Vogt

Dragon Award for Best International Film
Playground [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Wandel
film profile
]
- Laura Wandel (Belgium)

Draken Film Award
2gether - Kim Ekberg (Sweden)

Honorary Dragon Award
Luca Guadagnino

Nordic Honorary Dragon Award
Rebecca Ferguson

Dragon Award Best Swedish Short
Bromance - SaraKlara Hellström (Sweden)

Audience Choice Award for Best Swedish Short
We Were Kids - Alexander Abdallah, Mustafa Al-Mashhadani (Sweden)

Angelo Award
Felix Herngren - Day by Day (Sweden)

Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize
Blackport [+see also:
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile
]
- Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Mikael Torfason (Iceland)

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