This year's ISBJØRNEN awards have been presented!

Tonight, the Nordic Film Foundation has distributed its three annual honorary awards at the ISBJØRNEN awards ceremony. This year's ceremony holds a special status as it also marks the 30th anniversary of the Nordic Film Foundation. The evening was celebrated with a gala for the Danish film industry at Nordic Film's studios in Valby, with Birgitte Hjort Sørensen hosting this year's event. 

The award ceremony demonstrated how, after 30 years, the Nordic Film Foundation continues to contribute to the development of world-class film talents. 

This year's award recipients are: Documentary film director Lea Glob, who received the Nordic Film Prize 2023 of 117,000 DKK (1,000 DKK times the age of Nordic Film), actor Jacob Lohmann, who was awarded the Ove Sprogøe Prize 2023 of 75,000 DKK, and screenwriter Mette Heeno, who received the Erik Balling Travel Grant 2023 of 75,000 DKK. 
 

The Nordic Film Prize 2023 goes to Lea Glob 

Lea Glob's documentary film "Apolonia, Apolonia" is an intimate, raw, and touching portrait of French artist Apolonia Sokol's life and her struggle to succeed as a young female artist in a world dominated by patriarchy and capitalism. For 13 years, Lea Glob follows the French artist, taking the audience on a journey deep into a young woman's personal and artistic development, contemplating sexuality, idealism, freedom, friendship, body, art, and love. 

"Apolonia, Apolonia" premiered in the international main competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the world's largest documentary festival, where it received the main prize. Since then, the film has been the center of significant attention. For example, in January, it was awarded a Dragon Award for "Best Nordic Documentary" in Gothenburg, and in May, it was honored with the "Grand Prix Bank Millennium Award" at Millennium Docs Against Gravity in Poland. 

Lea Glob graduated as a documentary film director from the National Film School of Denmark in 2011, where her final film "Meeting my father Kasper Top Hat" was nominated for a Robert. "Apolonia, Apolonia" is Lea Glob's first full-length documentary as a solo director. 

Trine Hjortkjær Thomsen, chair of the prize committee and producer at Nordic Film Production, said among other things in her laudation to Lea Glob, 

"The film depicts the special connection that flourishes between you and Apolonia in step with your parallel development as artists and as humans. You yourself mention in the film that you do not know who captured whom – whether you captured Apolonia on film, or she captured you in her narrative – but that it took you 13 years to understand that you found yourself with a camera pointed at life itself: larger, harsher, and more beautiful than you had imagined. The startling impression that meeting Apolonia has had on you, you convey crystal clear to the audience in a poetically." 

The Nordic Film Foundation helps young talents venture out into the world with the scholarship parts Big Polar Bear and Little Polar Bear. Through the Ice Bear Project Support Scheme and Signature Projects, we initiate and support activities that contribute to innovative thinking and high-quality film talent. 

Among the previous recipients of the Nordic Film Prize are, among others, Lars von Trier, Anders Thomas Jensen, Danica Curcic, May el-Toukhy, Gustav Möller, Malou Reymann, and last year's winner Amalie Næsby Fick. 
 

The Ove Sprogøe Prize 2023 goes to Jacob Lohmann 

This year, Jacob Lohmann has made Danes laugh, cry, and gasp in suspense in everything from Nikolaj Arcel and Zentropa's Danish blockbuster and Oscar hope "The Bastard" to Paprika Steen's comedy success "Fathers & Mothers," where he plays alongside actors like Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Rasmus Bjerg, and Lars Brygmann as the family father Ulrik, who, together with his wife Piv, must fight for a place in the parent group in their daughter's new class. 

Jacob Lohmann also appeared on screen in two well-known Danish TV series this year. First in the third season of the crime series "Those Who Kill - Shadow of the Past" and later in the fourth season of "The Mink Breeders." In February, Jacob Lohmann was nominated for a Robert for his performance in Hlynur Pálmason's Danish drama "Godland," and he also appeared in Oscar-winner Billie August's latest film, "Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction." Most recently, Jacob Lohmann could be seen in the leading role as the broken and outcast Jaeger soldier Niels Oxen in TV2's new thriller series "Oxen." 

Jacob Lohmann graduated from the School of Acting at Aarhus Theater in 2002 and has played a wide range of roles in films, TV series, and on the stage. His big breakthrough came with the TV2 series "Norskov" in 2015, and since then he has been everywhere. In 2020, he received a Robert for his performance in the third season of the DR series "Follow the Money." Jacob Lohmann has also excelled in, among other things, "Shorta" (2020), "The Volunteers" (2019), "That Time of Year" (2018), "When the Dust Settles" (2020), and "Valhalla" (2019). 

Chair of the prize committee and producer at Nordic Film Production, Mikael Rieks, praised Jacob Lohmann in his laudation for being "the actors' actor" – a man known to everyone in the industry, but whom the audience may not always be able to place: 

"When you consider that Jacob Lohmann has actually been in as many as 29 Danish films and 19 Danish TV series since 2003, it's kind of a wonder that some still can't place him. But that is precisely what, in the eyes of the prize committee, makes him so unique. He is not perceived as an actor seeking the limelight but rather one who dedicates himself to his craft with quiet determination and a humble nature, leaving us with an experience of great acting artistry and a unique presence." 

The Ove Sprogøe Prize is an acting award of 75,000 DKK, which this year is awarded for the 18th time. The prize has previously been awarded to, among others, Lene Maria Christensen, Mia Lyhne, Cecilie Stenspil, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Pilou Asbæk, Danica Curcic, Ulrich Thomsen, Johanne Louise Schmidt, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Esben Smed, Mille Dinesen Nicolai Jørgensen, and most recently Josephine Park. 
 

The Erik Balling Travel Grant 2023 goes to screenwriter Mette Heeno 

The Erik Balling Travel Grant was established by the Nordic Film Foundation in 2006. The award is of 75,000 DKK and is given as a travel grant because Erik Balling, along with his colleague Henning Bahs for many years demonstrated that "travel promotes inspiration and creativity – and gives energy for new endeavors." 

The travel grant goes to screenwriter Mette Heeno for her role as the main writer on the popular DR-series "Carmen Curlers," which this year brought home three Robert awards – among others for "Best Danish TV Series." The Danish period drama tells the story of class, gender, and technological development during a time of change, where women enter the workforce, the youth rebellion simmers, and the classic family patterns begin to crack. With inspiration from the real entrepreneurial adventure about the invention of the 1960s electric curlers, the audience is sucked into an authentic and colorful time pocket, with humor, seriousness, and great emotions, where a little electronic curler changes everything in a Danish provincial town. 

Mette Heeno is trained as a screenplay writer from the National Film School of Denmark in 2001, after which she quickly made her debut as a screenplay writer on the comedy success "Far from Las Vegas" (2001). She has continued in the vein of comedy, having written screenplays for comedies such as "Lærkevej" (2009) and "Splitting Up Together" (2016), as well as the animated film "Terkel in Trouble" (2004) and the feature films "Nynne” (2005), ”Pure Hearts” (2006), ”All Inclusive” (2014), and ”Happy Ending” (2018). 

In her laudation to Mette Heeno, Camilla Hammerich, chair of the prize committee and producer at Nordic Film Production, highlighted her ability to break rules and "surprise in the narrative" of Carmen Curlers: 

"Together with your strong team of scriptwriters and directors, you tell the story in a bubbly and totally unpredictable way. You work with a refreshing break from many of the classic rules that are often no-go in Danish TV series - voice-over, dance sequences, splitscreen – and you also have the courage to leave the main characters and plot to turn a supporting character into the protagonist of an entire episode. Very impressive and inspiring." 

Past recipients of the Erik Balling Travel Grant include Susanne Bier, Martin Zandvliet, Ask Hasselbalch, Sabine Hviid, Ditte & Louise, Louise McLaughlin, Lisa Jespersen, and Sara Jønsson, and last year's winner Frelle Petersen. 
 

About the Nordic Film Foundation 

This year, the Nordic Film Foundation can celebrate contributing to the development of the Danish film industry for 30 years. Our current focus is to strengthen future storytelling by, among other things, developing and showcasing world-class film talents. 

The Nordic Film Foundation is behind the conference Picture This, an initiative that should inspire Danish filmmakers to use technology to continue developing the cinematic art form. In addition, the Nordic Film Foundation supports, among others, the Scriptwriting School for Children's Fiction, and the association educations Super16 in Copenhagen, 18Frames in Funen, and Super8 in Aarhus. 

The Nordic Film Foundation is the only public-service foundation in Denmark aimed at the Danish film industry and has an annual allocation of five million DKK.