Writer/director Dagur Kári was handed the award on Tuesday October 27 at Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre, from the hands of his fellow countryman and previous winner Benedikt Erlingsson, director of Of Horses and Men (Hross í oss).
The DKK 350,000 cash prize shared between the writer/director and his producers is given out annually to a film with high level of artistic quality and deeply rooted in Nordic culture.
This year’s jury comprising Per Juul Carlsen (Denmark), Jaana Puskala (Finland), Kristín Jóhannesdóttir (Iceland), Silje Riise Næss (Norway) and Jannike Åhlund (Sweden) said Virgin Mountain is “a simple and visually inventive tale about preserving your goodness and innocence in a seemingly impenetrable world. Dagur Kári’s artistic ascent of a male virgin mountain results in a deeply moving and captivating film, offering a dignified portrait of its gentle giant of a man, as well as poignant depictions of the women around him.”
Virgin Mountain had its world premiere last February at the Berlinale Special Gala section and went on grabbing Best Film, Best Script, Best Actor (Gunnar Jónsson) at New York Tribeca Film Festival’s World Narrative competition as well as the Audience Award at Copenhagen’s CPH: PIX.
The film was produced by Kormákur and Johansen in co-production with Bo Ehrhardt and Mikkel Jersin (Nimbus Film, Denmark) and support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Paris-based Bac Films handles world sales.
The Nordic Council Film Prize is administered by Nordisk Film & TV Fond on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
For the full Nordic Council press release in English, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Sweden, as well as Jury Motivations for the winning film plus an interview with director Dagur Kári and full details about the Nordic Council Film Prize CLICK HERE.