Land Of Mine Receives Dragon Award For Best Film

Robert Prisen nominee Land of Mine (Under Sandet) directed by Martin Zandvliet has been presented with the Göteborg Film Festival’s main prize, the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film.

Land Of Mine is inspired by real events and tells the story of young German prisoners of war who were ordered to clear two million mines on the west coast of Denmark with their bare hands. It is believed that over 2,000 German soldiers were forced to remove mines, and nearly half of them lost either their lives or limbs.

In the jury’s deliberation, they said: “The award goes to a film which shows the tragic cycles of war, when the winners adopt the brutal techniques of the losers.”

“A very intense, suspensful and beautiful film, which depicts the exploitation of children swept into war and that uncovers new facts about postwar Denmark.”

Martin Zandvliet said: “This award means a lot to me. It is the film prize in Europe that you want to win, and the prize money of one million crowns means that you can take it easy for a while. Which is much needed, because it feels like I have been constantly been on the go for nearly seven years.”