Berlin: Norwegian Drama ‘Hope’ Wins European Cinemas Label Award

Hope, a Norwegian drama from director Maria Sodahl, has won the European Cinemas Label award for best film in Berlin’s Panorama section.

Andrea Braein Hovig and Stellan Skarsgard star as Anja and Tomas, a couple in a May-September relationship with very different plans for their lives. But when the much younger Anja is diagnosed with a brain tumor — and at Christmas time no less — their well-organized lives collapse.

The European Cinemas jury praised Sodahl’s film as a “touching and moving drama about the dramatic impact of a sudden, serious illness on a family.  It is a love story — complex, always empathetic and never sentimental.” Sodahl’s movie, they said, “can offer hope, insight and inspiration to audiences across Europe.”

As a European Cinemas Label winner, Hope will now get promotional support from the group, which represents a network of art house cinemas across the continent.

Sodahl both wrote and directed Hope. Cinematography was by Manuel Alberto Claro, editing by Christian Siebenherz and production design by Jorgen Stangebye Larse.

TrustNordisk is handling international sales on the film.