Danish film director Lars von Trier wins Nordic Film Prize for “Antichrist”

The jury felt that the innovative film oozed darkness without contours, ice-cold loneliness and pain which is the primal force in human survival. "In his faultless and deeply personal manner, Lars von Trier casts doubt on conventional religious truths and attacks accepted rational and controlling ambitions – and takes the viewers into their darkest fears," said the committee, which consisted of film experts from all five Nordic countries.

The Nordic Council awards its annual film prize to great Nordic films – their directors, scriptwriters and producers. The Council does this to emphasise that a film as a work of art can only be created as a result of dedicated cooperation between these three parties.

"There are not many places in the world where artists have as much freedom as here in the Nordic countries, where even the state and its agencies provide financial support," said prize-winning producer Meta Louise Foldager. "Our artistic freedom and creative development as human beings is fully dependent on this."

The film prize is one of four valued at DKK 350,000 awarded by the Nordic Council every year. The prize with the longest history is the literature prize, which the Council has been issuing since 1962. This year’s winner was one of the best known and most read Norwegian authors, Per Petterson, for his novel "I Curse the River of Time" (Jeg forbanner tidens elv). The award committee said that Petterson uses poetic and subdued language to show how difficult it is for people to say to each other the things that are the most important to us. The protagonist describes his experience and fragmented memories of different crises in the life of his family.

The 2009 Nordic Music Prize was given to Finnish musician and clarinet virtuoso Kari Kriikku. "Kari Kriikku is an outstanding virtuoso on his instrument, the clarinet: his style bursts with flexibility and the joy of playing, and he is a musician in the best sense of the word," said the jury. "In his genre, he is a groundbreaking innovator at his solo concerts who has inspired many modern composers to work with him."

In addition to films, literature and music, the Nordic Council also recognises projects that value nature and the environment. This year, the council decided to award the prize to an initiative of Swedish forest schools entitled "Rain or Shine" (I Ur och Skur). The goal of the movement is to contribute to the development of children by combining different activities with outdoor learning. The activities are used to develop children’s sense of smell and the ability to see and listen to nature. All activities improve the knowledge children have of nature and the environment. Studies show that children who take part in the "Rain or Shine" movement are healthier than children in ordinary schools.

"Rain or Shine" was founded in 1985. It currently has about 200 (mainly pre-)schools and approximately 30,000 children and adults as members.

The Nordic Council awards the prizes to the winners at an award ceremony held every year during the summit of all Nordic countries, which this year will be held on 27 October. This year, the summit is being held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and will mainly concern cooperation with the European Union and discuss issues related to the climate and the environment, looking forward to December, when the world will gather in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The prime ministers of the five Nordic countries will meet their Baltic colleagues on 26 October, before the official start of the Nordic summit.