Norway Film Awards – 2006 Amandas
The nominations for the 2005-2006 Amandas were announced on June 28, 2006.
The winners of the 2005-2006 Amandas were announced on Aug. 18, 2006, during the Norwegian Film Festival at Haugesund.
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
The biting drama Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man, the apparent favorite at Norway's 2006 Amanda Film Awards, did win three of the six top awards this past Friday, Aug. 18: Best Director (Jens Lien), Best Actor (Trond Fausa Aurvåg, who also directed the winning short film, Alene menn sammen / Lonely Together), and Best Original Screenplay (Per Schreiner). But strangely the "best directed" and "best written" Norwegian film of the year lost the Best Film award to the CGI-animated Slipp Jimmy fri / Free Jimmy, Christopher Nielsen's bizarre tale about a bunch of misfits who try to free a drug-addicted elephant (that's Jimmy).
The Best Actress was Ane Dahl Torp for her late 1960s Communist sympathizer in Gymnaslærer Pedersen / Comrade Pedersen.
Walk the Line beat Brokeback Mountain and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the Best Foreign Film award.
According to the Norwegian Film Institute, after 20 years as a public broadcasting presentation the Amanda ceremony was aired for the first time on a commercial broadcaster, TV2. The event took place at the Haugesund Concert Hall, as part of the 34th Norwegian International Film Festival.
The nominations for the Amanda Film Awards, the Norwegian Oscars, were announced on June 28 in Oslo. Jens Lien's psychological thriller Den brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man, which has been selected for the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, and Arild Frølich's Pitbullterje, the tale of an unlikely friendship between two boys, received five nominations each. Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen's Izzat, a crime drama set in Oslo's Pakistani community, received four nods. All three films are vying for the Best Film award.
The other Best Film nominees are Hallvard Bræin and Arne B. Rostad's documentary Giganten / The Giant, which depicts the life of Norwegian broadcaster and journalist Erik Bye, and Christopher Nielsen's animated feature Slipp Jimmy fri / Free Jimmy.
BEST FILM
Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man, Prod. Jørgen Storm Rosenberg, for Tordenfilm
Giganten / The Giant, Prods. Thorleif Hauge and Finn Gjerdrum, for Paradox Spillefilm
Izzat, Prods. John M Jakobsen and Sveinung Golimo, for Filmkameratene
Pitbullterje, Prods. Finn Gjerdrum, Thorleif Hauge, and Stein B. Kvae, for Paradox Spillefilm
* Slipp Jimmy fri / Free Jimmy, Prod. Lars Andreas Hellebust, for Storm Studio
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Brokeback Mountain, Dir. Ang Lee (USA), Local distr. Sandrew Metronome Norge
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dir. Tim Burton (USA), Local distr. Sandrew Metronome Norge
* Walk the Line, Dir. James Mangold (USA), Local distr. Fox Film A/S
BEST DIRECTOR
* Jens Lien, Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man
Petter Næss, Elsk meg i morgen / Love Me Tomorrow
Arild Frølich, Pitbullterje
BEST ACTOR
* Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man
Emil Marwa, Izzat
Bjørnar Teigen, Import-eksport
BEST ACTRESS
Mariann Saastad Ottesen, Elsk meg i morgen / Love Me Tomorrow
Kristin Skogheim, Pitbullterje
* Ane Dahl Torp, Gymnaslærer Pedersen / Comrade Pedersen
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Petronella Barker, Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man
* Talat Hussain, Import-eksport
Sven Nordin, Elsk meg i morgen / Love Me Tomorrow
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* Per Schreiner, Den Brysomme mannen / The Bothersome Man
Leon Bashir, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen, Izzat
Endre Lund Eriksen, Pittbullterje
THE CANAL+/SF NORGE AMANDA FOR BEST NORDIC NEWCOMER
Princess, Dir. Anders Morgenthaler, Prod. Zentropa Entertainments (Denmark)
* Tyttö sinä olet tähti / Beauty and the Bastard, Dir. Dome Karukoski, Prod. Helsinki-Filmi (Finland)
Blóðbönd / Thicker than Water, Dir. Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, Prod. Pegasus Pictures (Iceland)
Izzat, Dir. Ulrik Imitaz Rolfsen, Prod. Filmkameratene (Norway)
Om Gud vill / God Willing, Dir. Amir Chamdin, Prod. Chamdin Stöhr & SHE with Sonet Film, Film i Väst (Sweden)
BEST YOUTH / CHILDREN'S FILM
Izzat, Dir. Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen
* Pitbullterje, Dir. Arild Frølich
Tommys inferno, Dir. Ove Raymond Gyldenås
BEST SHORT FILM
* Alene menn sammen / Lonely Together, Dir. Trond Fausa Aurvåg
Den danske dikteren / The Danish Poet, Dirs. Torill Kove
Sniffer and Bobbie Peers
THE DVD AMANDA
Le Couperet / The Ax, Dir. Costa-Gavras (Belgium / France / Spain), Local distr Warner Bros. Entertainment Norge A/S
Everything Is Illuminated, Dir. Liev Schreiber (USA), Local distr Warner Bros. Entertainment Norge A/S
* Sometimes in April, Dir. Raoul Peck (France / USA / Rwanda), Local distr Warner Bros. Entertainment Norge A/S
I can't understand how The Bothersome Man, one of the best Norwegian films ever made, failed to win the best film award. What were they thinking?