Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia' Sweeps Danish Film Academy Awards

COLOGNE, Germany - Lars von Trier's end-of-the-world melodrama Melancholia continues to rack up the honors, sweeping last night's Danish Film Academy honors, the Robert awards, winning 10 trophies including best film, best director and acting prizes for stars Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

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Dunst picked up the best actress honor for her starring turn in Melancholia as a depressed bride confronting the end of days. Gainsbourg, as her more practical sister, took the best supporting actress honor. Dunst won the best acting prize in Cannes for her role.

Melancholia won best film at the European Film Awards and the National Society of Film Critics honored it with both its best film and best actress gongs. The Oscars snubbed Melancholia, though, due, perhaps, to von Trier's controversial comments about Hitler at a press conference for the film in Cannes last year. 

Von Trier did not attend the Robert ceremony Sunday night. The director has said he will not speak publicly again after his comments in Cannes led to an investigation by French authorities that his comments violated French laws against hate speech. The investigation was later dropped but von Trier has kept mum.

The other big winner at the Robert awards was A Funny Man, Martin P. Zandvliet's bio-pic of Danish comedian Dirch Passer, which won five trophies, including best actor for star Nikolai Lie Kaas. Ryan Gosling-starrer Drive from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, another big Oscar-snub, won best American film while Tom Hooper's Oscar-winning The King's Speech took the best non-U.S. film honor.

This year's lifetime achievement award went to Danish director Henning Carlsen, whose prodigious output has included the 1966 drama Hunger and A Happy Divorce (1975).

FULL LIST OF ROBERT AWARDS 2012

Best Film: Melancholia. Dir: Lars von Trier
Best Film for Children and Young Audiences: Rebounce
Best Actor: Nikolaj Lie Kaas – A Funny Man
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
Best Supporting Actor: Lars Ranthe – A Funny Man
Best Supporting Actress: Charlotte Gainsbourg - Melancholia
Best Director: Lars von Trier – Melancholia
Best Original Screenplay: Lars von Trier – Melancholia
Best Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro– Melancholia
Best Production Design:Jette Lehmann  – Melancholia
Best Costume Design: Stine Gudmundsen-Holmgren – A Funny Man
Best Make-Up: Lis Kasper Bang – A Funny Man
Best Special Effects Hummer Højmark, Peter Hjorth - Melancholia
Best Sound Design: Kristian Eidnes Andersen – Melancholia
Best Editing: Molly Malene Stensgaard – Melancholia
Best Musical Score: Sune Martin – A Funny Man
Best Song: A Funny Man (Lille frk. Himmelblå - Jeppe Kaas)
Best Short Documentary: The Time We Have
Best Long Documentary: The Ambassador Dir: Mads Brügger
Best American Film: Drive. Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark)
Best Non-US Film: The King’s Speech. Dir: Tom Hooper (UK)