71 international awards for Icelandic films in 2016
In total, Icelandic films won 71 international awards in 2016. The year before Icelandic cinema had a real banner year, winning a total of 103 awards.
Highlights from 2016 include Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson‘s Heartstone winning the Queer Lion Award in the Venice Days section at the Venice Film Festival and winning three awards at the Warsaw Film Festival and the late Sólveig Anspach‘s The Together Project winning the SACD Prize in the Director‘s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival.
Heartstone won the most awards, 13, while Rúnar Rúnarsson‘s Sparrows won 10 and Eva Sigurdardóttir‘s short film Rainbow Party won 10 as well.
Below you can see a complete list of all of the awards.
Features:
Heartstone (dir. Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson)
Venice Days, Italy, August 31 – September 10. Queer Lion Award.
Warsaw Film Festival, Poland, October 7 – 16. Best Director (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson), Special Mention (lead actor Baldur Einarsson) and the Ecumenical Award.
Chicago International Film Festival, USA, October 13 – 27. Gold Q Hugo Award.
Molodist - Kyiv International Film Festival, Ukraine, October 22 – 30. Audience Award, FIPRESCI Critics Award and Special Mention (lead actor Baldur Einarsson).
Sevilla European Film Festival, Spain, November 4 – 12. Ocaña Award to Freedom.
Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece, November 4 – 13. Special Jury Award (Silver Alexander).
Nordische Filmtage Lübeck, Germany, November 2 – 6. NDR Film Prize.
CPH:PIX, Denmark, October 27 – November 6. Politiken Audience Award.
Marrakech International Film Festival, Morocco, December 2 – 10. Best Actor (shared by Baldur Einarsson and Blær Hinriksson).
The Oath (dir. Baltasar Kormákur)
Noir in Festival, Como and Milan, Italy, November 8 - 14. Noir Award for Best Film.
Rams (dir. Grímur Hákonarson) – also won awards in 2015
Palm Spings International Film Festival, USA, January 1 - 11. FIPRESCI Award for Best Actor (shared by Sigurdur Sigurjónsson and Theodór Júlíusson).Tromsø International Film Festival, Norway, January 18 - 24. Audience Award.
Harpa Nordic Film Composer Awards, Berlin, Germany, February 16. Best Film Score.
Prishtina International Film Festival, Kosovo, April 21 – 28. Best European Film.Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, April 22 – 29. Best Film and Best Actor (shared by Sigurdur Sigurjónsson and Theodór Júlíusson).Gimli Film Festival, Canada, July 20 – 24. Best of fest.
A Reykjavík Porno (dir. Graeme Maley)
Nordic International Film Festival, New York, USA, October 28 – 30. Best Actor (Albert Halldórsson and Best Cinematography (Arnar Thórisson).
Sparrows (dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson) – also won awards in 2015
Göteborg Film Festival, Sweden, January 23 – February 2. FIPRESCI Award, Scope100 Audience Award for Hungary and Scope100 Audience Award for Norway.
International Debut Film Festival - Spirit of Fire, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, February 26 - March 1. Grand Prize for Best Film.Mamers en Mars European Film Festival, Mamers, France, March 18 – 20. Best Film.Febiofest – Prague International Film Festival. Grand Prize for Best Film.Transilvania International Film Festival,Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 29 – June 7. Special Jury Award.Pula Film Festival, Croatia, July 9 – 16. Best Director (Rúnar Rúnarsson).Film Festival della Lessinia, Verona, Italy, August 20 – 28. Grand Prize for Best Film.LUCAS – International Festival for Young Filmlovers, Frankfurt, Germany, September 18 - 25. Best Feature Film 13+.
The Together Project (dir. Sólveig Anspach)
Cannes Film Festival, France, May 11 – 22. SACD Prize for Best French-language Film.
Virgin Mountain (dir. Dagur Kári) – also won awards in 2015
Festival International du Film d'Amour de Mons, Mons, Belgium, February 12 – 19. Grand Prize for Best Film, Best Screenplay (Dagur Kári) and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gunnar Jónsson).
Lecce European Film Festival, Italy, April 18 – 23. Jury Award.
The Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund, Haugesund, Norway, August 20 – 26. Amanda Award for Best Foreign Film.
TV series:
FIPA - International Festival of Audiovisual Programs, Biarritz, France, 19. – 24. janúar. Best Actress in a TV Series.
Prix Europa - The European Broadcasting Festival, Berlin, Germany, October 21. Prix Europa Award.
Short films:
Ártún (dir. Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson) – also won awards in 2014-2015
Mediawave International Film Festival, Komárom, Hungary, April 28 – May 2. Best Short Fiction.
International Festival of Local Televisions, Slovakia, June 18 – 22. Vogelsong Family Foundation Award.
Sardinia Film Festival, Italy, June 26 – July 2. Youth Jury Award.
Ipsos Short Film Breaks, Bucharest and Brasov, Romania, August. Best Short Film.
Taratsa International Film Festival, Thessaloniki, Greece, August 23 - 28. Best director (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson).
Filmfest Eberswalde – Provinziale, Germany, October 8 – 15. Audience Award.
Alter-Native Film Festival, Transilvania, Romania, November 2 - 6. Grand Award.
Lecce Film Fest, Italy, December 26 - 30. Best Cinematography (Sturla Brandth Grøvlen).
How Far She Went (dir. Ugla Hauksdóttir)
Directors Guild of America Awards, Los Angeles, USA, February 6. Best Woman Student Filmmaker (Ugla Hauksdóttir).
Last Summer (dir. Ólöf Birna Torfadóttir)
Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, USA, August. Best Foreign Comedy/Dramedy.
Rainbow Party (dir. Eva Sigurdardóttir) – also won awards in 2015
El Corto del Año Promofest, Madrid, Spain, January. Best Film.
Sydney World Film Festival, Australia, March. Best Narrative Short.
San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, USA, July 21 – 24. Best Dramatic Short Film.
El Novelísimo International Debut Film Festival. Best International Short Film.
Ipsos Short Film Breaks, Bucharest and Brasov, Romania, August. Third place.
Toronto Film Week, Canada, September 13 – 17. Best New Filmmaker (Eva Sigurdardóttir).
El Dorado Film Festival, USA, September 15 – 18. Best Short Film.
Manhattan Independent Film Festival, New York, USA, October 8 - 9. Best Narrative Short Film.
Almería International Film Festival, Spain, November 13 – 19. Best Actress (Katrín Ynja Hrafnkelsdóttir) and Best Cinematography (Marianne Bakke).
Underwire Film Festival, London, England, November 30 – December 4. Best Director (Eva Sigurdardóttir).
Seven Boats (dir. Hlynur Pálmason)
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway, January 27 – 31. Best Nordic Art Film.
Whale Valley (dir. Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson) – also won awards in 2013-2015
Zoom – Zblizenia International Film Festival, Jelenia Gora, Poland, February 22 – 28. Best Fiction Film.
Film Lab Festival,
Brescia, Italy, October 13 - 16. Best director (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson) and Best Cinematograpy (Gunnar Audunn Jóhannsson).
Tegenstroom International Film Festival, Netherlands, December 9 - 11. Professional Jury Award.
Zelos (dir. Thóranna Sigurdardóttir) – also won awards in 2015)
Atlanta Film Festival, USA, March 31 – April 10. Filmmaker-to-Watch (Thóranna Sigurdardóttir).
Documentaries:
La Chana (dir. Lucija Stojevic)
IDFA, Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 16 – 27. Audience Award.
Last Days of the Arctic (dir. Magnús Vidar Sigurdsson)
Poltava Film Festival, Poltava, Ukraine, May 26 – 29. Grand Prize for Best Film.
Ransacked (dir. Pétur Einarsson)
Foyle Film Festival, Derry, Northern Ireland, November 16 – 20. Best Documentary.
Yarn (dir. Una Lorenzen)
Nordisk Panorama, Malmö, Sweden, September 16 – 21. Audience Award.