Anneke Von Der Lippe Wins Emmy For Eyewitness

Norwegian actress Anneke von der Lippe has won the International Emmy Award for her role as Sheriff Helen Sikkeland in the TV series Eyewitness (Øyevitne) produced by NRK Drama, making her the first Norwegian actor to win an Emmy.

Von der Lippe became the first Norwegian actress to be nominated for an International Emmy in 2005 for her part as Health Minister in NRK’s political thriller Ved Kongens Bord, but lost out to He Lin from China for Slave Mother. This time she faced stiff competition from Fernanda Montenegro of Brazil, and the British actress Sheridan Smith who was nominated for her role as the singer and entertainer Cilla Black.

Just after 3am, it it was announced that she had won the coveted award. “This is wonderful,” she exclaimed as she went up on stage to make her acceptance speech. Shortly afterwards she took time to speak to the Norwegian press:

Dagbladet
“Ohhh! This is totally awesome! Damn so much fun that we won. This is not possible… I did not dare to believe that I would win. I think it’s very good for Norwegian TV drama. Anything that can bring us forward is very good.”

NRK
“I’m just terribly happy! Now I have won, it is very fun. It’s recognition from another world. It is truly a milestone.”

VG
“When my name was called, I thought nothing – my arms just went straight up in the air. It was absolutely insane! I had not thought that I would win. I had certainly not dared to count on it! But it was very exciting, because we were only three nominees – and the other two are very good.”

Eyewitness is a six part thriller written and directed by Jarl Emsell Larsen, and is available on DVD in the UK. It tells the story of two 15 year old boys who secretly meet up in the forest, only to witness a blood bath. They are seen, but escape and vow to keep what they have seen a secret, out of fear of retribution and fear that their own secret might be revealed. There is currently talk of a US remake.