Ninjababy Leads Amanda Award Nominees

The nominees have been revealed for the 2021 Amanda Awards, which celebrates the achievements of Norwegian cinema. The winners will be announced during the 49th Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund on 21st August during a ceremony hosted by Odd-Magnus Williamson.

Leading the field with eleven nominations is Ninjababy, in which a one-night-stand forces aspiring astronaut and cartoonist Rakel (Kristine Kujath Thorp) to face motherhood earlier than expected, and having the ‘ninja baby’ sneak its way from her drawing board to reality doesn’t make things any easier.

Close behind with nine nominations is Betrayed (Den største forbrytelsen), which follows Braude family who were arrested and deported on the Danube ship to the Auschwitz concentration camp. An ordinary Norwegian working class family, whose fate was sealed by the fact that they were Jews.

Meanwhile, Gritt has seven nominations with its tale of a troubled artist (Birgitte Larsen) struggling for relevance and belonging in an unwelcoming society, whereupon she then undergoes a radicalisation process in the name of art.

The nominees for this year’s Amandaprisen are…


BEST FILM:
The Painter And The Thief, directed by Benjamin Ree
Generation Utoya, directed by Aslaug Holm and Sigve Endresen
Ninjababy, directed by Yngvild Sve Flikke  

BEST DIRECTOR:
Benjamin Ree for The Painter And The Thief
Silje Salomonsen and Arild Østin Ommundsen for Sisters: The Summer We Found Our Superpowers
Yngvild Sve Flikke for Ninjababy 

BEST ACTOR:
Arthur Berning for Ninjababy
Jakob Oftebro for Betrayed
Pål Sverre Hagen for Diana’s Wedding

BEST ACTRESS:
Birgitte Larsen for Gritt
Kathrine Thorborg Johansen for Oslo – København
Kristine Kujath Thorp for Ninjababy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: 
Nader Khademi for Ninjababy
Dennis Storhøi for Project Z
Michalis Koutsogiannakis for Betrayed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: 
Pia Halvorsen for Betrayed
Marte Magnusdotter Solem for HIM
Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr for Gritt

BEST SCRIPT:
Benjamin Ree and Robert Stengård for The Painter And The Thief
Itonje Søimer Guttormsen for Gritt
Johan Fasting with co-writers Yngvild Sve Flikke and Inga H. Sætre for Ninjababy

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: 

Johan Söderqvist for Betrayed
Kåre Chr. Vestrheim for Ninjababy
Thomas Dybdahl for Sisters: The Summer We Found Our Superpowers

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Nina Buer Brun, Marianne Stranger and Ann Kristin Talleraas for Gritt
Olve Askim for Two Buddies and a Badger – The Great Big Beast
Ulrika Axén and Tobias Eiving for Betrayed

BEST SOUND DESIGN:
Alexander Dudarev for Gunda
Erik Ljunggren for Gritt
Hugo Ekornesand Gisle Tveito for Ninjababy

BEST MAKE-UP:
Grethe Gunn Solberg Hansen for Diana’s Wedding 
Maria Bjørnnes Hermansen and Fie Baro for Project Z
Sara Klänge for Betrayed

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: 
Egil Håskjold Larsen and Viktor Kossakovsky for Gunda
Marianne Bakke for Ninjababy   
Patrik Säfström and Egil Håskjold Larsen for Gritt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Dennis Kleyn and Peer Lemmers for Dragon Girl
Inga H. Sætre for Ninjababy
Lars Erik Hansen for Betrayed

BEST EDITING:
Christian Siebenherz and Elise Solberg for Betrayed
Karen Gravås for Ninjababy
Robert Stengård for The Painter And The Thief

BEST COSTUME:
Anne Pedersen for Betrayed
Ida Toft for Diana’s Wedding
Ingjerd Meland, Marianne Stranger, Itonje Søimer Guttormsen, Birgitte Larsen and Nina Buer Brun for Gritt