Hanna Bergholm’s Finnish horror film “Nightborn,” starring “Compartment No. 6” lead Seidi Haarla and Rupert Grint, won best film at the inaugural edition of the Freyas, also known as the Nordic Film and TV Awards. Accepting the award at the gala ceremony at Helsinki’s iconic Finlandia Hall, Bergholm said, “The most important thing is how we filmmakers in Finland always support each other. I’m so happy to have this forum where we Nordic filmmakers can support each other and speak for Nordic films.
I want to thank all of you for the inspiring films I saw growing up. Your films have opened windows for me to understand our world. Thank you everyone at the Freyas for making everyone come together.” “The Danish Woman” won the prize for best Nordic series and the show’s Trine Dyrholm won best Nordic actor in a series.
Accepting the award, French-Danish producer Marianne Slot issued a warning, “These days, AI is threatening originals. We have to take care of originals.” Icelandic-American actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson won the award for Nordic actor in a series for “Reykjavik Fusion.” He said, “We are proud to be part of this coalition of the Nordic nations. Especially in this strange world we live in now, I’m happy to be here.” Sweden’s Fares Fares won the Nordic actor in a film award for Alex Schulman’s “Archipelago.” He said, “It’s so nice to be here.
When I heard of this award, I thought this was long overdue. Why didn’t we have this Nordic film and TV award before? We have so many talented people here.
Hopefully this is going to entice us in Sweden to watch more films from our neighboring countries. In Sweden, we watch Danish, Norwegian films. I really want to see more Finnish and Icelandic films – more stuff from Estonia.” Icelandic actress Ebba Katrín Finnsdóttir received the Valkyrie Award for her role in crime drama series “Hildur.” Among the evening’s highlights was the Falcon Award, presented to Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallström.
Presenting the award, Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski paid tribute to Hallström, saying: “ ‘My Life as a Dog’ – one of my favorite films – has shaped numerous young Nordic directors with its humanity and warmth.” Accepting the award, Hallström paid tribute to his wife, Swedish actress Lena Olin. Without her, these achievements would have been very few. We’re still working, alive.
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