Swedish director Leif Lindblom’s The Raspberry Boat Refugee received the Nordic Film Award as the 42^nd Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund came to a close yesterday (20 August).

Starring Jonas Karlsson, Josephine Bornebusch, Frida Hallgren, Erik Johansson and Jarmo Mäkinen, Daniel Karlsson and Erik Ahrnbom’s story follows a Finn who hates everything Finnish – he has always wanted to be a Swede. On a boat trip, he runs into a Swedish psychologist who is fed up with Sweden, and they decide to swap identities.

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“A seemingly light-hearted and wild comedy with a double meaning, drawing attention to the naïve and simplified perceptions of the difference between two neighbouring countries,” said the jury of the film, which was produced by Finland’s MRP Matila Röhr Productions, with Eyeworks, Swedish pubcaster SVT and regional film centre Film i Väst.

At the awards ceremony in Haugesund’s Maritim Hall, following the screening of Two Days, One Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
scheda film] by Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, with the latter attending, US director Richard Linklater’s Boyhood collected the Norwegian Film Critics’ Award. “A historical film project that required almost 12 years of shooting, with characters we gradually get to know and share experiences with,” argued the jury.

The festival’s Sower of Joy went to Chef by US director Jon Favreau, who also wrote, produced and plays the lead in the portrayal of a frustrated cook denied his creative freedom. The ecumenical Andreas Award was picked up by German director Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Dietrich Brüggemann
scheda film] – “a devastating and challenging work that shows how religious manipulation can destroy a young person,” the jury concluded.

The Audience Prize was awarded to Swedish director Lasse Hallström’s The Hundred Foot Journey, a US dramedy about “short but troublesome journeys towards big dreams”, starring UK actress Helen Mirren. Finally, Swedish directors Andreas Öhmann and Oskar Gullstrand received the Best Pitch Award at the Nordic Co-Production and Finance Market for their project, Magic.