Fúsi Wins Nordic Council Film Prize

Icelandic film, Fúsi (Virgin Mountain) won the Nordic Council Film Prize at an award ceremony in Harpa last night, reports RÚV.

This is the second year running that an Icelandic film takes the prize and director Dagur Kári welcomed the honour by informing the audience that he hadn’t written an acceptance speech.

“There’s something very sad about thank-you speeches that never get performed. All these noble words of gratitude that just sort of wither away in your inside pocket,” said Dagur Kári. “But I guess I should have [written one].”

The Nordic Council jury explained their deliberation, calling Fúsi a simple and visually inventive tale about preserving goodness and innocence in a seemingly impenetrable world.

Dagur Kári said he was very thankful for the honour of winning the prize firstly, but that secondly that he was really thankful for the money, because he has a lot of taxes due.

Virgin Mountain has done exceedingly well this year, winning three top prizes at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year (though Dagur Kári wasn’t there to receive them as he left before the awards ceremony, certain they did not stand a chance).

To learn more about Virgin Mountain and Dagur Kári check out the Grapevine’s feature on the director.