Editor

At a special gala ceremony at the Museum of World Culture, the Göteborg Film Festival Nordic Film Award went to the director Dagur Kári for Dark Horse (Voksne Mennesker), which, “with a young careless rebel in focus, with insight and humour unites fragments from an alienated society into an artistically challenging unity”. The award consists of 150 000 SEK and the Filmdraken (Film dragon)statuette.

"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 loose, but of course the nomination helps selll the film. And when you win it is fantastic!"

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 also chose the winner of the Kodak Nordic Vision Award. This year the award for best photo went to Crille Forsberg for God Willing (Om Gud vill) – “a film, which through its magic black and white pictures paints a charming story of love”.

The winner of Bratek’s Startsladd 2006 went to Never Like the First Time (Aldrig som första gången) by Jonas Odell. The award consists of film equipment worth a total of 400 000 SEK and 100 000 SEK in cash from the Swedish Film Institute. Fourteen technical companies from the organisation Bratek and the Swedish Film Institute supports this award. Jonas Odell also won the Audience’s Choise Award for best short film.

The Church of Sweden Film Award was awarded to the Danish film We Shall Overcome (Drømmen) directed by Niels Arden Oplev. The jury consisted of Maaret Koskinen (Sweden), Árni Svanur Daníelsson (Iceland) and Lena Sjöstrand (Sweden). Of the film they wrote: “A boy is confronted with a stifling set of values in school and those represented by adults but sticks to his beliefs and his truth against all odds. Without employing simple identification as a dramatic tool, the film raises questions concerning violence and human dignity, about doubt and trust. In this multilayered story about a child, navigating between oppression, betrayal and a yearning for justice, man is reflected in all his insignificance – and greatness.”

The FIPRESCI Award, the international film critics 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).