Marjo Pipinen does not exactly hold the most power in the Nordic film industry, even though she works for the Finnish Film Foundation. There, Pipinen operates as a communications specialist. This year, however, Pipinen has a responsibility worth 40 000 euros on her shoulders. That sum is shared among directors, screenwriters and producers of the Nordic Council Film Award winner. And Pipinen is the chairperson of the jury that decides on the award.
Because the jury has six members this year, the votes could go even. In that case, the chairwoman’s vote might decide the whole competition. Does the responsibility weigh on Pipinen’s shoulders?
“Not really, after all the responsibility is shared in the jury. More than that, I am interested in listening to people’s perspectives and finding out how different they are. The process, where a certain compromise or solution is reached, is interesting”, she responds.
The jury chairperson is always from the country leading the Nordic council, and now it is Finland’s turn. However, the actual work happens in Copenhagen. There, the jury members watch every nominated film together. No discussion takes place between the screenings, but afterwards the jury gathers to talk. In the discussion, every jury member evaluates each nominated film.
“In the first round everyone can give two votes, meaning that 12 votes are given in the first round. There will probably be multiple rounds.” Eventually, only two nominees will be left. At that point, every jury member can only use one vote. Pipinen’s vote carries the most weight.
EXPERTS ON THE MATTER
This year’s nominated films are also shown as a part of the Love & Anarchy film festival. The films are a Faroese documentary Birita, a Norwegian Oscar winner Sentimental Value, a Danish family drama Beginnings, a Swedish coming-of-age Kevlar soul and a Finnish A Light That Never Goes Out, a film about a musician in crisis who ends up in Rauma and discovers experimental music.
Finland’s nominee was decided by a three-member national jury, consisting of Pipinen, journalist Kalle Kinnunen and the Espoo Ciné’s Executive Director Tytti Rantanen. The Nordic Council jury members are film industry experts too: producers, researchers and journalists.
At the same time, they represent every Nordic country and the Faroe Islands. All of them are allowed to vote for their home country’s nominee.
“Last year it was explicitly mentioned that no one in the jury was representing their own country. In a way we only represent our own branch of film expertise. I did not get a feeling last year either that there was any home favouritism in the jury ”, Pipinen states. Last year the award was given for the first time to a Faroese nominee, a quiet drama The Last Paradise on Earth.
The last time Finland’s nominee won was in 2017, with the film Little Wing, directed by Selma Vilhunen. Since then, Denmark has won three times, Norway and Iceland twice.
“Norway has put a lot of effort into films, and that creates results. Some famous star directors come from Norway, such as Joachim Trier and Dag Johan Haugerud, who win big awards. But smaller important festivals usually have a Norwegian film too. That is simply because of the volume that Norway has been capable of producing.”
When it comes to Denmark, Pipinen mentions New Danish Screen, a local film institute programme that strives to support new talents and maintain original and diverse films. “Sweden on the other hand has been having a near-crisis. Swedes do not watch Swedish cinema and the nation’s best creators go abroad.”
Should the Finnish film industry be concerned too?
“Yes, I do think they should be concerned. Our financing is lagging behind other Nordic countries by a lot. A good example of this is Juho Kuosmanen, who is shooting a film in Denmark at the moment, because there they were able to get significantly bigger financial support from the local film institute than what the Finnish Film Institute is even allowed to give, according to the current regulations.” Pipinen continues that when there is little money, distributors do not necessarily have the courage to take risks and the making is focused on works that are considered safe audience films.
QUALITY ABOVE EVERYTHING
The only criterion for the Nordic Council Film Jury is the quality. Pipinen finds it also kind of amusing: analysing the quality of a film has no objective measurements.
“In principle the nominees are already the 5–7 best films from these countries. In a competition with a quality this high, eventually it comes down to people’s subjective preferences.”
Some trends from previous years are still present. Sequels and children’s films are rarely nominated, and neither are pure genre films, despite Icelandic horror drama Lamb winning the competition in 2022. Usually the nominated films are set in the modern day and are realistic dramas.
“Last year was exciting: there were three documentaries nominated and all the nominated fictional films were about ethereal young people facing choices, they were some kind of coming-of-age stories. Sometimes similar topics are in the spotlight everywhere”.
Each Nordic country may select its own nominee for the competition. In addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland have the same right. In a way, the split into regional and country-specific nominees is artificial. Iceland’s nominee The Love That Remains had both Swedish and Danish production companies in its production, as did Norway’s nominated film Sentimental Value. A Finnish production company Bufo participated in the making of the Swedish nominee Kevlar Soul. And Finland’s nominee A Light That Never Goes Out is partially a Norwegian production.
The stated goal for the award is to highlight northern film production in particular, its market and the status of Nordic cinema on a global field. In that sense singular countries do not have that much significance. The quality does, however.
“I hope that awards like this also function as a challenge for a filmmaker to think about the quality. These kinds of awards are, in addition to art criticism, a way to discuss quality.”
Kaisu Tervonen
The winner of the Nordic Council Film Award will be revealed on October 20th.