The prize winners at the Göteborg Film Festival were revealed on Saturday, 4 February, and receiving the Dragon Award Best Documentary was Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon's "The War Show," a personal road movie from Syria following Zytoon and her friends as the Arab Spring turns from euphoria to tragedy.
Motivating their choice, the jury stated:
"The award goes to a monumental and uncompromising film that combines extremely strong material with a unique and persistent voice of a generation. This overwhelming audiovisual experience holds us in a tight emotional grip as we live through the lives of an extraordinary woman and her friends, experience their lust for life, love and freedom, pitched against a devastating war. This film is a punch in the face to all of us. A reminder of our co-existence."
Read interview Road Trip to Hell.
"The War Show" adds Saturday's award to its Venice Days prize from September. The documentary was warmly received by the critics, both at its world premiere in Venice and at the Toronto Film Festival later the same month. Other festival stops include London, Mumbai, IDFA Amsterdam and Dubai. The film is produced by Miriam Nørgaard and Alaa Hassan for Fridthjof Film.
"Heartstone" by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson was among Saturday's prize recipients. Photo: Roxana Reiss
This Lorens Award for best producer went to Anton Máni Svansson, Lise Orheim Stender, Jesper Morthorst and Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson for "Heartstone," a "great example of a successful Nordic collaboration," as the jury said.
Lone Scherfig, who was this year's recipient of the Nordic Honorary Dragon Award, won the Audience Award in the feature film category for her UK production "Their Finest."
The international critics' FIPRESCI Prize went to Dome Karukoski's Finnish-Danish co-production "Tom of Finland".
Finally, the top feature film award, the Dragon Award Best Nordic Film, went to the Swedish-Danish co-production "Sami Blood," directed by Amanda Kernell.
