Press
release11.11.2003
On their present round
of the festival circuit, the Zentropa produced features "Inheritance" by
Per Fly and "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" by Lone Scherfig have brought
home a number of awards giving a boost to international sales interest and
generating more festival tours.
At the prestigious New
York festival The Hamptons, late October, "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself"
won the Audience Award, while both leading players have been honoured:
Shirley Hendersen with Best Actress Award at Bordeaux, and Jamie Sives for
Best Actor at Valladolid. In London Wilbur received wide exposure when it
was screened at the London Film Festival and given four nominations at the
British Independent Film Awards.
"Inheritance", revered
by Scandinavian critics, was selected for competition in San Sebastian,
where it won Best Screenplay Award and at Nordische Filmtage in Lübeck it
won the main award accompanied with a cash prize of EURO 12,500 from NDR
securing German television distribution.
Three other Danish films
have been honoured: the Nimbus produced drama "Scratch" by Anders
Gustafsson was selected Best Nordic Film at the first Nordic Film Festival
in Frederikshavn, after having won the Golden Swan for Best Actress
(Stephanie León) at the Copenhagen International Film Festival in August.
Nordisk Film's Director's Cut production "Move Me" received Best Actress
Award (Birthe Neumann) in Sevilla, and at Madrid's Imagen, Eigil Bryld won
the award for Most Innovative Cinematography for Dariusz Steiness'
"Charlie Butterfly".
Feature films
for childrenDanish children's films enjoy ongoing attention
in the international arena as awards continue to flow this autumn. Jannik
Hastrup's animation epic, "The Boy Who Wanted to be a Bear", won two
awards at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival in the
category Animation Film: the Children's Jury Award 1st Prize and the
Adult Jury Award 1st Prize. Nordisk produced "Someone Like Hodder",
by Oscar nominated Henrik Ruben Genz, took home the Adult Jury's 1st Prize
in the category of Live-Action-Feature. (Genz' film went on to
win the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival a fews days later.)
Chicago's 2nd Prize
for Live-Action-Feature went to another Danish film, Zentropa's "Wallah
Be" by Pia Bovin, which has already scooped up a number of international
kudos, among them the Jury Award at CINEKID, Amsterdam in mid-October.
For further information
contactDanish Film InstituteInternational Relations
ExecutiveLizette Gram, tel + 45 2482 3758, lizetteg@dfi.dkInformation
DepartmentVicki Synnott, tel +45 3374 3438, vickis@dfi.dk
The Boy Who Wanted to be a Bear http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/boywhowanted.htmlCharlie
Butterfly http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/charliebutterfly.htmlInheritance
http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/inheritance.htmlMove
Me http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/moveme.htmlScratch
http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/scratch.htmlSomeone
Like Hodder http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/someonelikehodder.htmlWallah
Be http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/wallahbe.htmlWilbur
Wants to Kill Himself http://www.dfi.dk/dfi/english/featurefilms/wilbur.html