The winners of Amandus Blikkfang 2023

Here are the winners from this year's competitions.

Written by Amandus Festival // Tuesday September 26, 2023 // News

The Amandus Blikkfang 2023 recently concluded in Lillehammer. The third edition of the festival, which ran from September 21st to 23rd, offered a variety of films, networking, a pitch workshop, many great conversations, and a pleasant atmosphere. After intense days of film screenings, it was finally time to announce the winners. Here are the proud recipients of this year’s awards:

The pitching competition

During the festival we had a pitching workshop which concluded with a pitching competiton. The jury consisted of Nicholas Sando, Jonas Bruun and Trine Aadalen Lo.

The pitching award: Ola Kvamsdal with his project “Lyst på livet”

The winner of this year’s Amandus Blikkfang pitch presented their project with great charm and humor. The individual has a natural presence on stage, and we as the audience were drawn into the story. This project addresses a very relevant theme and handles it in a very elegant manner. The concept is strong, with two clear main characters. If the creator manages to sharpen the story into a clear short film, and finds the right actors to portray the two main roles, we believe that this short film will captivate the audience and lay the groundwork for an entertaining and engaging feature film.

The youth award

The youth jury consisted of students from Create – Lillehammer kreative videregående skole (Create High School). They selected one honorable mention and one winner.

Honorable mention: The Harbourmaster

Winner: Wall to wall (directed by Linda Lövgren)

The main jury’s awards

The main jury consisted of filmmaker Teresia Fant, filmmaker Ingrid Marie Røine and festival director for Fredrikstad Animation Festival, Anders Narverud Moen.

Best screenplay: Mia Ludvigsen Henriksen and Konrad Hjemli for The Harbourmaster

With good dramaturgy, story structure, and a mix of fiction and documentary, the winning film for best screenplay might be an unconventional choice. But the adaptation from a real story to an animated fiction film feels fresh, and the movie is a truly excellent hybrid film, where the dramaturgical structure is essential for the audience’s emotional journey. We were kept engaged and felt strong empathy for the characters. Where reality falls short, the screenplay completes the story and is perfect for a short film under 8 minutes.

Best director: Emil Engesnes Bråthen for Violence

The director knows where they want the audience at all times and has created specific frameworks to help the actor understand the situations to be played out. This is impressive considering the young age of the actor. The director makes bold choices and keeps the audience in suspense and unease, creating a thriller sensation from an apparently ordinary but very relevant situation.

The jury award for best cinematography: Johan Malvik for Domesticated

The cinematography in this film creates a claustrophobic universe through lighting, composition, and camera movements and is a central part of the overall storytelling technique of the film. The cinematographer shows clarity in the subjective narrative of the main character’s experiences of exclusion and the feeling of being sidelined and overlooked, and even domesticated.

Best animation: The Harbourmaster

The film is a complete animated short film. It uses animation precisely to bring to life a story about someone who couldn’t provide their perspective on an important local scandal. The character gallery is rich and delightful, where the attention to detail creates a playful and lively language of form, and along with the animation, deep sympathy is created. It is funny and poignant at the same time, and we agree with the message that wild animals also have rights and a place in our human society. The winning film is “Havnesjefen.”

Best fiction film: The Shift

The best fiction film is a complete film, where direction, acting, screenplay, casting, and cinematography complement the story. With few means, the filmmakers manage to convey a strong human need, established through a young person’s desire for belonging. The film shows how important it is to be seen as the person one is, and how role models and relationships between people are crucial. Through a subdued visual language and dialogue, but with dramatic scenes and actions, a subjective narrative is created that hits universally.

Best documentary: Almost 18

The filmmakers have respect and love for the participants in this documentary, which is crucial to access a magical story, legendary quotes, and moments that create nostalgia. Even though this is an observational documentary, one genuinely feels participatory and emotionally invested in the lives of young people, offering intimacy without it becoming awkward. We, therefore, fell in love again with a small group of misfits from Porsgrunn.