The 2021 Cannes Film Festival announced its winners on Saturday July 17th. Among the winning titles were two Nordic films.
Grand Prix to Finnish film Compartment no. 6
The Finnish drama Compartment no. 6 by Juho Kuosmanen was awarded with the Grand Prix. The second-most prestigious prize of the festival was shared with Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero, an Iranian feature.
Compartment no. 6 had its world premiere at the festival on July 10th, and it was received with ten minutes of standing ovation and exceptionally positive reviews internationally. Sony Classics has already acquired rights for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East for the film.
The films follows two strangers who share a train journey across Russia that will change their perspective on life. The heartfelt road movie is produced by Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka from Film Company Aamu. It is loosely based on a novel by Rosa Liksom. The main roles are played by Finnish actress Seidi Harla and Russian actor Juri Borisov.
Kuosmanen is the second Finnish director to pick up the award, after Aki Kaurismäki won the Grand Prix in 2002 for The Man Without a Past.
Best Actress Award to Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve
Nordic acting talent was also awarded at the festival. For the first time ever, a Norwegian actress – Renate Reinsve – has won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. She receives the award for her role in The Worst Person in the World by Joachim Trier.
Joachim Trier’s film The Worst Person in the World had its world premiere on July 8th, and the film was met with eight-minute-long standing ovations. The international reviews have been very good, where among others Peter Bradshaw in The Guardians shortly after the film proclaimed about Renate Reinsve: “A star is born”. MUBI has acquired all UK, Ireland and India rights for the film.
Renate Reinsve (33) comes from Solbergelva outside Oslo and is a trained actress from The Academy of Theatre in Norway. She made her debut as a film actress in Oslo August 31st and was nominated for the Amanda Award for best supporting actress in the film Welcome to Norway.
The film follows Julie who is turning thirty and navigating the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path. In the other main roles we find Anders Danielsen Lie and Herbert Nordrum. The producer is Thomas Robsahm for Oslo Pictures.
In addition to the two awards, Compartment no. 6 got Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury, and the Icelandic drama Lamb by Valdimar Jóhannsson (Un Certain Regard) won the Prize for Originality.
Scandinavian Films congratulates all the winners warmly!
See the full winner list of Cannes at Screen International.
Discover the Scandinavian films, reviews, trailers and interviews with the Nordic talents on our Cannes page.
