At the 45^th Göteborg Film Festival, and on the first day of its TV Drama Vision industry strand, the Icelandic TV series Blackport [+leggi anche:
intervista: Olivier Wotling
scheda series] emerged as the winner of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, given out by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond for the sixth time in a row. The trophy, worth NOK 200,000 (€20,100), was bestowed upon writers Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Mikael Torfason for making the series “dramatic, funny and unpredictable, without losing its original voice”.

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Gísli Örn Gardarsson is one of the founders of Vesturport. He has acted in, directed, written and produced theatre productions all over the world, winning numerous awards, and he had one of the leading roles in seasons one and two of Netflix’s Ragnarok [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda series]. Björn Hlynur Haraldsson is a director, writer, actor, producer and co-founder of Vesturport; his debut feature film as a writer-director, The Homecoming [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], is currently being re-made in the UK, and his most recent acting role was in Lamb [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Valdimar Jóhannsson
scheda film]. Mikael Torfason has written eight novels, ten plays, a Netflix original and three feature films, among which is Made in Iceland; he recently wrote The Valhalla Murders for Netflix.

The jury comprised Finnish actor Alma Pöysti, Hungarian writer and creative producer Gábor Krigler, Norwegian screenwriter-director Julie Andem, and Swedish journalist and television critic Mattias Bergqvist. The jury statement reads: “The winner is a show that has strong emotional stakes and a lead character ahead of her time. She refuses to play by the rules, just as this series is not afraid to push narrative boundaries, balancing between existentialism and comedy.” They picked the winner of the competition, which also included Finland’s Transport, Denmark’s The Shift, Sweden’s Suburbia and Norway’s Countrymen.

Blackport is set in the 1980s, in a small Icelandic fishing village. The story follows a married couple, Harpa and Grimur, as they build a small fishing empire along with their childhood friends. Due to the introduction of a new fishing quota system in the country, where the fishing grounds are privatised, the struggle for power results in a feud of jealousy, greed and betrayal. Their collective venture mirrors true events as they played out and dramatically changed the political landscape in Iceland, creating the country’s first billionaires.

Directed by Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and María Reyndal, and produced by Nana Alfredsdóttir, Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Nina Dögg Filippusdóttir for Vesturport, the series premiered last December on Icelandic pubcaster RÚV and is set to be featured on ARTE as well. About Premium Content is handling the series internationally.