Belated Honour For Matador Screenwriter
103-year-old author, journalist and screenwriter Lise Nørgaard has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by Statens Kunstfond in recognition of her work on the seminal Danish TV drama Matador, which she both created and wrote the majority of its episodes.
Matador (1978-1982) is named after the local version of the Monopoly board game and follows the rivalry between the families of two businessmen in the fictional town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947, from the Great Depression through to Germany‘s occupation of Denmark in World War II.
The committee said: “It may seem a little late in life to receive a lifetime achievement award, but there was no doubt in our minds that Lise Nørgaard deserves all the honour that she can get. She has received a raft of awards for her literature but the film and TV industry has not yet sufficiently honoured her great contribution.”
“Lise Nørgaard’s stories are characterised by great curiosity, empathy, originality and fearlessness. She never seeks to please or smooth things over, but is always true to her core. She is careful and disciplined, and has a sharp view of the world: unsentimental, modern and deeply humorous.”
“In a male dominated world, Lise Nørgaard has been a great inspiration for subsequent generations of female filmmakers. She has made it look easy, although it certainly has not always been so. In Danish film, we stand on the shoulders of this crucial contribution and owe her a big thank you for that.”
Matador is available to stream in its entirety from Danish broadcaster DR.