Queen of Hearts has won the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize

29.10.19 | News
Vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2019

Vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2019, Hjärter dam (Dronningen) Danmark. Manusförfattare och regissör May el-Toukhy, manusförfattare Maren Louise Käehne och producenterna Caroline Blanco och René Ezra.

Photographer
Magnus Fröderberg
The film Queen of Hearts (Dronningen) from Denmark has won the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film explores the making of a tragic family secret step-by-step, as the consequences of hubris, lust, and lies conspire to create an unimaginable dilemma.

Screenwriter and director May el-Toukhy, screenwriter Maren Louise Käehne, and producers Caroline Blanco and René Ezra were handed the prize by actor Lene Cecilia Sparrok at the awards ceremony which was broadcast live on Tuesday evening from the Stockholm Concert Hall.

The jury said

Is it about a midlife crisis? About class? Or about desire and passion? Is she a sexual abuser? Or a psychopath? We’re used to movies serving a clear point, we almost always know whether a movie character is good or evil, but with Queen of Hearts (Dronningen) director May el-Toukhy and co-writer Maren Louise Käehne leave it to us, the audience, to find focus and morale and to judge the protagonist Anne, who is doing exactly what she should NOT be doing – having an affair with her stepson. Strangely it feels entirely right to have that responsibility. It’s not a pleasure to get to know Anne – but it is an arousing pleasure to experience a finely masked film that gives us the right tools to see our own relationship as a complex human being. And this film believes we are capable of it. It’s impossible not to praise Trine Dyrholm for her formidably nuanced performance as ‘Queen’ Anne, but at all levels – cinematography, music, production design and more – the ‘Queen’ is an impressive feat. It makes seemingly impossible task seem easy and effortless.

Original title: Dronningen

English title: Queen of Hearts

Screenwriters: May el-Toukhy, Maren Louise Käehne

Director: May el-Toukhy

Producers: Caroline Blanco, Rene Ezra

You can watch the awards ceremony for the 2019 Nordic Council Prizes here

The awards ceremony for the 2019 Nordic Council Prizes was broadcast live from the Stockholm Concert Hall. The programme can be watched via the following links and at the following times until spring 2020.

About the Nordic Council prizes

The Nordic Council awards five prizes each year – for literature, film, music, the environment, and children’s and young people’s literature. Each prize of DKK 350,000 is awarded at a gala event during the annual Session of the Nordic Council.