103 international awards for Icelandic films in 2015

2015 was a banner year for Icelandic cinema – in total, Icelandic films won 103 international awards and participated in nearly 300 different film festivals. This marks a big increase over previous years – by comparison, Icelandic films won 34 awards in 2014 and 31 awards in 2013.

Highlights from 2015 include Grímur Hákonarson's Rams winning the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Rúnar Rúnarsson's Sparrows winning the the Golden Shell for Best Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and Best Film in the 1-2 Competition of the Warsaw International Film Festival, and Dagur Kári's Virgin Mountain winning the Nordic Council Film Prize and three awards at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson's short film Whale Valley won the most awards, 28, while Rams won 22, Virgin Mountain won 14 and Sparrows won 10. All these films are still on the festival circuit in early 2016.

Below you can see a complete list of all of the awards Icelandic films won in 2015.

Features:

The Grandad (dir. Bjarni Haukur Thórsson)
Tiburon International Film Festival, Belvedere Tiburon, USA, April 9 – 17. Best Comedy.

Life in a Fishbowl (dir. Baldvin Z) – also won awards in 2014
Mamers en Mars, Mamers, France, March 13 – 15. Audience Award for Best Film.
Febiofest, Prague, Czech Republic, March 19 – 27. Best Film.

Rams (dir. Grímur Hákonarson)
Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 13 – 24. Un Certain Regard Prize.
Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki, Greece, November 6 – 15. Golden Alexander Theo Angelopoulos for Best Feature Film.
Transilvania International Film Festival, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, May 27 – June 5. Special Jury Award, Audience Award.
European Film Festival Palic, Palic, Serbia, July 18 – 24. Golden Tower for Best Film.
International Cinematographers' Film Festival Manaki Brothers, Bitola, Macedonia, September 18 – 27. Best European Film.
Zürich Film Festival, Zurich, Switzerland, September 24 – October 4. Golden Eye for Best Film.
Tofifest, Torun, Poland, October 18 – 25. Grand Prix Golden Angel for Best Film.
Camerimage, Bydgoszcz, Poland, November 14 – 21. Silver Frog for DOP Sturla Brandth Grovlen.
Seminci - Valladolid International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain, October 24 – 31. Golden Spike for Best Film, Pilar Miró Award for Best New Director, Youth Prize of the Official Section.
Riga International Film Festival, Riga, Latvia, October 15 – 25. Jury's Special Mention.
Saint Jean-de-Luz International Film Festival, Saint Jean-de-Luz, France, October 6 – 10. Best Director.
Hamptons International Film Festival, Hamptons, USA, October 8 – 12. Best Narrative Feature.
Pau Film Festival, Pau, France, November 4 – 8. Bleu Beurn Audience Prize.
Nordic Filmdays Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany, November 4 – 8. Baltic Jury award for Best Nordic Narrative Feature.
Denver Film Festival, Denver, USA, November 4 – 15. Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film.
Minsk International Film Festival - Listapad, Minsk, Belarus, November 6 – 13. Audience Award – Bronze Listapad, Minsk City Executive Committee Award.
Ljubljana International Film Festival, Ljubljana, Slóveníu, November 11 – 22. Kingfisher Award for Best Film.
Algiers International Film Festival, Algeria, December. Grand Prize.

Sparrows (dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson)
San Sebastián International Film Festival, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, September 18 – 26. Golden Shell for Best Film.
Warsaw International Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, October 9 – 18. Best Film in the 1-2 Competition.
Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, USA, October 15 – 29. Silver Hugo award in the New Directors competition.
Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 22 – November 4. Best Fiction in the New Directors competition, Best Screenplay.
Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki, Greece, November 6 – 15. Artistic Achievement Award.
Les Arcs Film Festival, Les Arcs, France, December 12 – 19. Crystal Arrow for Best Film, Best Actor (Atli Óskar Fjalarsson), Best Cinematography (Sophia Olsson), Press Prize.

Virgin Mountain (dir. Dagur Kári)
Tribeca Film Festival, New York, USA, April 11 – 26. Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay (Dagur Kári), Best Actor (Gunnar Jónsson).
Nordic Council Film Prize, Reykjavík, Iceland, October 27. Nordic Council Film Prize for Best Nordic Film.
CPH PIX, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 9 – 22. Politiken's Audience Award.
Motovun Film Festival, Motovun, Croatia, July 25 – 29. Special Mention for a Lead Actor (Gunnar Jónsson).
Seminci - Valladolid International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain, October 24 – 31. Best Actor (Gunnar Jónsson).
Nordic Filmdays Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany, November 4 – 8. Lübecker Nachrichten Audience Prize, Interfilm Church Prize, honorable mention for Gunnar Jónsson's performance.
Arras International Film Festival, Arras, France, November 6 – 15. Best Film, Special Mention for Best Actor (Gunnar Jónsson).
Cairo International Film Festival, Cairo, Egypt, November 13 – 19. Best Director.
Marrakech International Film Festival, Marrakech, Morocco, December 4 – 12. Best Actor (Gunnar Jónsson).

Short films:

Ártún (dir. Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson) – also won awards in 2014
Festival Europeu de Curtmetratges, Reus, Spain, March 11 - 15. Best Short Film.
RiverRun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, USA, April 16 – 26. Honorable Mention in the Narrative Short category.
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Tromso, Norway, April 22 – 26. Special Mention.
SPOT Festival, Aarhus, Denmark, April 30 – May 3. Best Fiction Film.
Ale Kino! - International Young Audience Film Festival, Poznan, Poland, November 29 – December 6. Best Short Film for Young People.

Brothers (dir. Thordur Palsson)
Palm Springs International Shortfest, Palm Springs, USA, June 16 – 22. Special Mention.

Chum (dir. Jörundur Ragnarsson) – also won an award in 2014
Prague Short Film Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, January 15 – 18. Special Mention of the Jury.
New York International Short Film Festival, New York, USA, May 26 – 28. Best Foreign Film
Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel, June 19 – 24. Best Screenplay.

The Endless Story (dir. Elsa G. Björnsdóttir) Clin d'oeil, Reims, Frakklandi, 2. - 5. júlí. Main Prize.

The Pride of Strathmoor (dir. Einar Baldvin)Slamdance, Park City, USA, January 23 – 29. Jury Prize for Best Animated Short. Florida Film Festival, Maitland, USA, April 10 – 19. Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Short. Animasivo Festival, Zamora, Mexico, August 19 – 22. Best International Short. Fantoche International Animation Festival, Baden, Switzerland, September 2 – 5. New Talent Award. Nordisk Panorama, Malmö, Sweden, 18 – 23 September. Best Nordic Short.

Rainbow Party (dir. Eva Sigurdardóttir) London Calling, London, England, September 10. London Calling Award.

Sub Rosa (dir. Thóra Hilmarsdóttir)

San Diego Film Festival, San Diego, USA, September 30 – October 4. Best Short Film.

Whale Valley (dir. Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson) – also won awards in 2013 and 2014
El Corto del Año, Madrid, Spain, January 5 – 16. Winner of 500 festival inscriptions (a distribution award).
Kustendorf International Film and Music Festival, Belgrade, Serbia, January 21 - 26. Bronze Egg.
Mizzica Film Festival, Italy, May 11 – 16. Main Prize.
Caserta Independent Film Festival - Cinema dal Basso, Caserta, Italy, 18 – 20 May. Main Prize.
Brooklyn Film Festival, New York, USA, May 29 – June 7. Certificate of Outstanding Achievement for a Male Actor (Ágúst Örn B. Wigum).
Festival Internacional de Cine Rural Carlos Velo, Spain, June 26 – 27. Best Fiction.
Festival Joven de Cortometrajes de Huétor Vega, Spain, July 10. Second Prize, Special Mention for Best Actor (Ágúst Örn B. Wigum), Special Mention for Best Screenplay (Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson).
Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Elche, Elche, Spain, July 17 – 24. European Prize for Best Short Film.
Cortosplash, Italy, July 23 - 25. Special Mention of the Jury.
Mostremp Cinema Rural, Spain, August 1 – 31. Main Prize.
Cebu International Film Festival, Philippines, August 17 – 21. Special Jury Mention.
Avvantura Film Festival Zadar, Zadar, Croatia, August 20 – 26. Best Short Film.
Lessinia Film Festival, Bosco Chiesanuova, Italy, August 22 – 30. Jury Prize of the Montorio Prison.
Chefchaouen International Film Festival, Chefchaouen, Morocco, September 9 - 13. Second Prize.
North Carolina Film Award, USA, September 19. Founder's Laurels.
Riurau Film Festival, Xàbia (Alacant), Spain, September 25 – 27. Best Cinematography (Gunnar Audunn Jóhannsson).
Trani Film Festival, Trani, Italy, September 28 – 30. Jury Prize.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Puerto Madryn, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, October 1 – 4. Special Mention of the Jury.
Filmfest Eberswalde – Provinziale, Germany. October 3 – 10. Short Film Jury Prize.
Nonèmaitroppo Corto, Argentina, October 6 - 10. Best Actor (Ágúst Örn B. Wigum), Best Cinematography (Gunnar Audunn Jóhannsson).
Int. FRONTALE Film Festival, Austria, October 14 – 17. Best Short Film.
Festival de Cine de Santander, Santander, Spain, October 17 – 24. Best Fiction Short Film.
Festival Internacional de Jovenes Realizadores de Granada, Granada, Spain, October 19 – 25. Best International Short Film.
24fps International Short Film Festival, Abilene, USA, November 6 – 7. Grand Jury Prize.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain, November 29 – December 5. Best Director.

You and Me (dir. Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir)
Brest European Short Film Festival, Brest, France, November 10 – 15. Regional Council of Brittany award for a European film.

Zelos (dir. Thóranna Sigurdardóttir)
Palm Springs International Shortfest, Palm Springs, USA, June 16 – 22. Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker, second place in the Student Live Action Short 15 Minutes and Under category.
Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival, Providence, USA, August 4 – 9. First Prize Vortex in the Sci-fi & Fantasy category.
Montreal World Film Festival – Student Festival, Montreal, Canada, August 29 – September 2. Best Experimental Production.

Documentaries:

Black Peak: A War Story (dir. Hjálmtýr Heiddal)
International Historical and Military Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, September 8 – 12. Bronze Sabre for a Military Film.

The Show of Shows: 100 Years of Vaudeville, Circuses and Carnivals (dir. Benedikt Erlingsson)

Nantes British Film Festival, Nantes, France, December 9 - 13. Univerciné Jury Prize.

Those Who Dare (dir. Ólafur Rögnvaldsson)
EstDocs, Toronto, Canada, October 15 – 20. Audience Award for Best Film.
Nordic Filmdays Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany, November 4 – 8. Honourable Mention.