El Clásico Wins Nordisk Film Prize For Norway
The Nordisk Film Prize for Norway and a cheque for 100,000 NOK was awarded on Thursday to writer Anders Fagerholt and writer / director Halkawt Mustafa for El Clásico.
The prize is awarded by the Nordisk Film Fund to strengthen and promote talent in the Norwegian film industry. This year’s recipients were deemed to have made an extraordinary effort to lift Norwegian film, and are expected to serve as future inspiration for others.
El Clásico, which was nominated for Best International Narrative Feature at Tribeca 2016, tells the story of two Kurdish little people in Iraq who risk their lives to fullfil their dreams of meeting football hero Cristiano Ronaldo. The jury said:
“El Clásico challenges us as to what constitutes a Norwegian film. It challenges us in an original, touching and funny way about how masculinity is defined. But it challenges us in a more important way: who can be protagonists of a film at a time when everything is becoming more streamlined, commercial and polished.”
“The winners have dared to bet on protagonists with a background that is different and foreign to us. It is easy to agree that it is important and right to do so. But it’s a lot harder to actually do it and bet everything on such a story.”
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