Academy Award-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren will be the Honorary Chairman of the Nordic Council Film Prize Jury 2011 and will announce the winner with her co-jury members at an award press conference in Copenhagen on October 17, 2011. The announcement was made today by Nordisk Film & TV Fond which administers the Nordic Council Film Prize on behalf of the Nordic Council.

This is the first time an international film personality has been invited to join the jury of the most prestigious film award in the Nordic region. Hanne Palmquist, Nordisk Film & TV Fond CEO said:

“We are very honoured that Helen Mirren is joining us in Copenhagen. With her extensive experience, she will be perfect in judging - in collaboration with the rest of the jury - the five nominated films and choosing the winner. As one of the world’s most talented and highly acclaimed actresses, Helen Mirren knows what it takes in terms of scriptwriting, directing and producing to create an outstanding film.”

Helen Mirren will sit on the jury of the Nordic Council Film Prize 2011 alongside film critic Per Juul Carlsen (Denmark), communication manager Outi Heiskanen (Finland), CEO Sif Gunarsdottir (Iceland), editor Silje Riise Næss (Norway), film critic Fredrik Sahlin (Sweden) and Nordisk Film & TV Fond CEO Hanne Palmquist.

After the announcement – Mirren and the director of the winning film will hold a public conversation, moderated by the Swedish jury member Fredrik Sahlin, at the Grand Theatre.

Helen Mirren is one of the best-known and most respected actresses with an international career that spans stage, screen and television. She has won many awards for her powerful and versatile performances, including the Academy Award® in 2007 for her role as Elizabeth II in The Queen. She won Best Actress Awards in Cannes for Cal (1984) and The Madness of King George (1995). Other films for which she received world recognition include Gosford Park (2002) and The Last Station (2010) for which she was Academy-Award nominated. Her latest feature films include István Szabó’s The Door, Rowan Joffe’s Brighton Rock, John Madden’s The Debt and David Mamet’s current project Phil Spector in which she plays opposite Al Pacino.

On television, she became a household name as DCI Jane Tennison in the award-winning series Prime Suspect. Her most recent television role was in Elizabeth I for which she won an Emmy and Golden Globe for Best Actress.

This year’s five Nordic Council Film Prize nominees are Denmark’s Truth About Men (Sandheden om mænd) by Nikolaj Arcel, Finland’s The Good Son by Zaida Bergroth, Iceland’s Undercurrent (Brim) by Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, Norway’s Oslo, August 31^st (Oslo, 31. august) by Joachim Trier and Sweden's Beyond (Svinalängorna) by Pernilla August.

The Nordic Council Film Prize, worth DKK350,000, will be shared between the film’s director, scriptwriter and producer. All Nordic Council prize winners (Literature, Music, Nature and Environment, and Film Prize) will receive their respective award diplomas at the Nordic Council’s ceremony on November 2, 2011 to honour Nordic creative arts and talent. Past winners of the Nordic Council Film Prize include Aki Kaurismäki (The Man without a Past 2002), Roy Andersson (You the Living 2008), Lars von Trier (Antichrist 2009) and Thomas Vinterberg (Submarino 2010).

Jesper F. Schou-Knudsen
Phone +45 33 96 03 55
Email jsk@norden.org

Hanne Palmquist
Phone +47 64 00 60 80
Email hanne@nftf.net

Journalists wishing to attend the award press conference and the conversation please contact:
Freddy Neumann, Neumann PR & Communication, Tlf +45 2046 7846, neumann@mail.dk