The two Danish feature films "Brotherhood" by Nicola Donato and "R" by Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm have been selected for Nordic Competition, where they have the chance to win the award for Best Nordic Film at Göteborg International Film Festival.
Furthermore, "Applause" by Martin Zandvliet is nominated for The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award, and composer Flemming Nordkrog for The Nordic Film Music Prize, a new award at GIFF, for his music to "The Blessing" by Heidi Maria Faisst.
Festival guests will also get a chance to catch a preview of "Valhalla Rising" by Nicolas Winding Refn, which will be shown at a gala screening in collaboration with Scanbox, the film's Swedish distributor.
About the films
Nicola Donato's "Brotherhood" tells the story of a secret love affair between two men in a right wing group. "Brotherhood" swept up Rome's Best Film Award in October and Best Actor (David Dencik) at Tallin's Black Nights Festival in December. At this moment, the film is competing in Palm Springs International Film Festival. "Brotherhood" is produced by Per Holst for Asta Film.
"R" by Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm is a hard-hitting drama set in a Danish prison, portraying R who has received a sentence for violence. He insists on staying out of harm's way and in doing so he is faced with the challenge of navigating through prison culture with its notions of honour, hidden agendas and contracts. "R" is having its world premiere later this month in the prestigious Tiger Award Competition in Rotterdam. "R" is produced by Rene Ezra and Tomas Radoor for Nordisk Film.
"Applause", the debut feature film of Martin Zandvliet, is an intense drama about an actress with a drinking problem, trying to regain control over her life and get her children back. The film has been presented at numerous prestigious festivals, and the film's leading lady Paprika Steen has been honoured for her role as Thea at Mumbai Film Festival, Karlovy Vary and Hamptons. "Applause" is produced by Mikael Christian Rieks for Koncern Film.
"The Blessing" by Heidi Maria Faisst is a story about birth depression and mother-daugher relationships. It was selected for the competition at last year's Rotterdam and Göteborg Film Festival. At Göteborg, the film was honoured with the Church of Sweden Film Prize and the FIPRESCI Jury Award. "The Blessing" is produced by Meta Louise Foldager for Zentropa.
Nordic Lights
I addition to the competition films, a number of Danish feature films, shorts and documentaries will be shown in other sections at the festival:
Nordic Short Film Favourites
"Cathrine" by Mads Matthiesen
"Lars and Peter" by Daniel Borgman
Nordic Lights feature films
"Headhunter" by Rumle Hammerich
"Aching Hearts" by Nils Malmros
"Warriors of Love" by Simon Staho
"Little Soldier" by Annette K. Olesen
"Profetia" by Johan Melin
"Above the Street Below the Water" by Charlotte Sieling
Nordic Lights documentary
"The Invisible Sell" by Anders Riis Hansen
"Cities on Speed—Bogotá Change" by Andreas Møl Dalsgaard
"Cities on Speed—Mumbai Disconnected" by Camilla Nielsson and Frederik Jacobi
"Cities on Speed—Shanghai Space" by Nanna Frank Møller
"Cities on Speed—Cairo Garbage" by Michala Krogh
About the festival
Göteborg International Film Festival is the biggest film festival in Scandinavia and, with an audience of 200.000 visitors a year, one of the largest audience festivals in the world.
I addition to the screenings for the audience, the festival presents the latest and upcoming Nordic films to international buyers, sales agents and festival programmers at the Nordic Film Market.
Göteborg International Film Festival (29 Jan-8 Feb)
