Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s feature debut Loveable (Elskling), which received its world premiere as part of the Crystal Globe main competition, won an impressive five awards at the closing ceremony of this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. As well as the Special Jury Prize and the Award for Best Actress (for Helga Guren), the film received the Europa Cinemas Label Jury Award, the FIPRESCI Jury Award, and the Ecumenical Jury Award.
Without any doubt the big winner of this year’s 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Loveable (Elskling), written, directed and edited by Lilja Ingolfsdottir, tells the story of Maria (42) who must come to terms when her husband announces that he wants a divorce. It is the story of a woman's opportunity for self-recognition, growth, and acceptance of the dysfunctional patterns within herself.Helga Guren, Oddgeir Thune, Heidi Gjermundsen Broch, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Elisabeth Sand, and Maja Tothammer-Hruza share the major roles. Øystein Mamen is the cinematographer.
Watch the trailer for Loveable here
From its Karlovy Vary world premiere screening, Loveable was the talk of the town. The film received a five minute-long standing ovation from the audience, while the press praised Ingolfsdottir’s direction and the acting performances by both Guren and Oddgeir Thune. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that “Ingolfsdottir reveals a keen insight into human behaviour throughout the film, which is littered with memorable moments,” and calls Guren’s performance “mesmerising”. Collider called the film “an astute, tender, and unflinching portrait of what it is to hate who you are and how we can grow to love the person we can never leave.” RogerEbert.com concluded that Loveable “is simply too lovely to be ignored.”
By winning both the Special Jury Award (worth US$ 15,000) and the Best Actress Award, Loveable takes home the maximum of two main awards the jury is allowed to attribute to one film in competition. Additionally, the film won all of the three so-called “non-statutory jury awards”. The FIPRESCI Jury Award, given by the international press attending the festival, the Ecumenical Jury Award, and finally the Europa Cinemas Label Jury Award. The Label is awarded to a European film by a jury of Europa Cinemas exhibitors at five European festivals with the aim of increasing its promotion, circulation and exhibition lifespan of the winning film. Previous winners include such Oscar nominated titles as The Broken Circle Breakdown, The Teachers Lounge, and Corpus Christi. Norwegian titles that also received the European Cinemas Label include Sex, Hope, Out of Nature, Blind, North, and Kitchen Stories.
“It is quite a feat to bring home a total of five awards from one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. This is an important recognition of Ingolfsdottir's abilities as a filmmaker. We are proud that Loveable has participated in our talent program Neo, which aims to cultivate strong storytelling voices and artistic courage,” says Kjersti Mo, CEO of the Norwegian Film Institute.
Loveable is Lilja Ingolfsdottir's feature film debut. After training at the London International Film School and the Prague Film School Famu, she made several award-winning shorts, including Neglect.
Produced by Thomas Robsahm (of the Oscar nominated The Worst Person in the World) for Nordisk Film Production A/S and Amarcord, the film was supported by the Norwegian Film Institute, where it was part of the Neo Talent Programme, and the Oslo Film Fund (correction July 8). Neo is aimed at film directors and series creators who want to debut in longer formats, encouraging and cultivating strong storytelling voices and artistic courage.
Loveable will get its Norwegian premiere during The Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Monday August 19th, and director Lilja Ingolfsdottir will walk the red carpet together with the actors. Local distributor Nordisk Film Distribution plans to release the film in Norway on 11 October.
Immediately after the world premiere, Loveable was sold to Aerofilm for Czech Republic and Slovakia. Recent sales announcements include September Film for Benelux, Estin Film for Lithuania and Estonia, and Cinemania Group for the former Yugoslavia, with ongoing negotiations for several other territories. 'We are thrilled that Loveable has been honored with not alone five awards at KVIFF and is securing great distribution partners. This recognition underscores the brilliance of this contemporary arthouse drama and the exceptional talent of Lilja Ingolfsdottir as a filmmaker,' says international sales agent Susan Wendt, Managing Director of TrustNordisk.
The Chinese Sørfond film Ju way ren (Stranger) by Zhengfan Yang won the Proxima Grand Prix, the main prize in the Proxima competition in Karlovy Vary. Hilde Berg from Norsk Filmproduksjon was the Norwegian minority co-producer on this film.
