Director May el-Toukhy Earns Dreyer Award

Director May el-Toukhy and screenwriter Maren Louise Käehne will be presented with the prestigious Dreyer Award and DKK 50,000 at Cinemateket on 5th February in celebration of their outstanding artistic contribution to Danish cinema.

The duo’s debut feature together was in 2015 with Long Story Short, directed by May el-Toukhy and co-written by Maren Louise Käehne. Not only did this outing earn the pair a Bodil Award for Best Screenplay, but also a Bodil Award for Best Actress (Mille Lehfeldt) and a Robert Award for Best Supporting Actress (Trine Dyrholm).

Their collaboration culminated most recently with Queen Of Hearts in 2019, which was presented with the Audience Award at its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, won the Nordic Council Film Prize, was Denmark’s submission for Best International Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, and was recently nominated for four Bodil Awards and thirteen Robert Awards.

The Carl Theodor Dreyer Foundation presents the Dreyer Award every year to younger film makers in recognition of outstanding artistic endeavours to mark the distinguished director’s birthday. It is funded by the annual surplus generated by Gaumont’s distribution of his classic 1928 movie La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc.

Previous recipients of the award include Susanne Bier (1992), Lone Scherfig & Per Fly (2001), Niels Arden Oplev (2007), Hlynur Pálmason (2018) and Isabella Eklöf (2019).