Ride Upon the Storm wins the 2018 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize

PRESS RELEASE: Adam Price, writer of the Danish TV series Ride Upon the Storm (Herrens veje), is the recipient of the 2018 Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize – this was announced at a ceremony at Göteborg Film Festival tonight.

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This is the second time the award for outstanding writing of a Nordic drama series, funded by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, is given out. The SEK 200,000 prize goes to the main writer of the series.  Ride Upon the Storm is a character-driven drama that explores good and evil and the spiritual journey towards seeking a greater meaning in life. The story centres on a family of priests that traces its roots back more than 250 years. 

Adam Price co-wrote the Emmy award winning series Nikolaj and Julie (DR), before becoming the creator of the highly successful Borgen (DR), which was sold to more than 80 countries and won awards such as a BAFTA, a Prix Italia, a Fipa d’Or, as well as the Danish TV award for Best Drama for three consecutive years.  Price was Head of Drama for TV 2 Denmark between 2001-2005 and is co-owner of SAM Productions since 2014. 

Jury statement: The first time the three of us met for lunch and sat down to discuss the selected programmes, each one of us had a clear winner in mind. The problem was – were we talking about the same show?  Five hours later, we discovered we were… so in many ways, it was the simplest task ever… all we ended up doing was discussing the series for hours, telling each other why we had loved it so much and why it meant so much to us. 

All the nominated programmes are exceptional examples of Scandinavian storytelling at its best, showing breadth and scope but also superb crafting. But the winner stood out for a very simple reason – it is unlike any Scandinavian show we had ever seen before. A bold, original approach to a deeply unfashionable subject. An innovative push into a genre that does not mirror the hugely successful Scandi formula for fast, slick thrillers. We all felt this was a piece of television destined to transform and refresh the Scandi canon. Quite simply, it was a show with a beating heart and soul. 

For all of us, the plot was almost insignificant (we hope the writer won´t take this personally). Very quickly, all we cared about was the characters, their emotional life, their troubles and dilemmas. 

TV drama at its best is an art form as magnificent and dignified as a Caravaggio or a Rembrandt. Some artists are fashionable, others are Masters. One thousand years from now, in an imaginary Museum of TV Masterpieces, this programme will come to represent what it was like to live in Scandinavia in 2018… not what was trendy or what was considered pretty – but what was true. 

The fact that such a story would be written, and commissioned by a big terrestrial broadcaster is nothing short of miraculous. But then again, the writer probably does believe in miracles.  This years Nordisk Film and TV Fond Prize for Best TV drama script worth 200,000 Swedish crowns goes to RIDE UPON THE STORM.

This year's jury consisted of jury president Walter Iuzzolino, Italy/UK, TV executive/curator of the streaming service Walter Presents; Sofia Helin, Sweden, actress (Bron/The Bridge) and Kirpi Uimonen Ballesteros, Finland, entertainment journalist, board member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association TV committee. 

Ride Upon the Storm credits: 
Denmark, 2017,
10 x 60’ 
Writer: Adam Price Director: Kaspar Munk
Producer: Camilla Hammerich
Produced by DR Drama for DR
International distributor: Studiocanal 

For more information:
Petri Kemppinen,
CEO Nordisk Film & TV Fond,
petri@nordiskfilmogtvfond.com 

Cia Edström,
Head of Industry,
Göteborg Film Festival,
cia.edstrom@goteborgfilmfestival.se,
+46 70 872 23 73

Press photos:
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