Mads Mikkelsen wins in Cannes

CANNES 2012. Actor Mads Mikkelsen awarded for his lead performance in Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt".

Mads Mikkelsen received the Best Actor award for his lead role in Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt" at Sunday's closing ceremony in the Palais des Festivals. Mikkelsen is the first Danish actor to win an actor's award at Cannes.

Mads Mikkelsen and Thomas Vinterberg's first collaboration, "The Hunt" tells the story of Lucas, played by Mikkelsen, a mild-mannered kindergarten teacher who suddenly becomes the target of hatred from everyone in his small town when a young child makes false accusations against him. In the hysteria that follows, Lucas's life comes crashing down. Read Mike Goodridge's interview with Vinterberg

This is the second time a film by Thomas Vinterberg takes home an award from the world's most prestigious film festival. In 1998 Vinterberg's Dogme film "The Celebration", with Ulrich Thomsen at the center of a tough family drama, won him the Jury Award.

"The Hunt" is scripted by Vinterberg and writer-director Tobias Lindholm who also teamed up on Vinterberg's previous film, the 2010 Berlin contender "Submarino".

Produced by Morten Kaufmann and Sisse Graum Jørgensen for Zentropa, "The Hunt" is set for national release in January 2013. International sales are handled by TrustNordisk. The film has received production support from the Danish Film Institute.

On Saturday "The Hunt" was honoured with the 2012 Ecumenical Jury award for "showing us a new way of looking at modern society where men and children are concerned; things are not always what they seem!" as the jury states in its motivation.

Winner of the Palme d'Or 2012 is "Amour" by Michael Haneke.
See full list of awards on the festival website

About Mads Mikkelsen

Mads Mikkelsen was a professional dancer for eight years before entering theatre school. He graduated in 1996 and had his breakthrough that same year in Nicolas Winding Refn's "Pusher". Mikkelsen starred in several more films by Refn and has worked with Danish directors such as Anders Thomas Jensen, Susanne Bier and Ole Christian Madsen. Was lauded for his performance in this years' Berlin winner "A Royal Affair" by Nikolaj Arcel. In 2006 Mads Mikkelsen shot to international stardom as Bond villain Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale" and has since acted in a handful of international productions. Born 1965. Read profile Those cheekbones, that Cupid's bow, that wolf smile!

About Thomas Vinterberg

Vinterberg was, together with Lars von Trier, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen and Kristian Levring, one of the four original Dogme brothers. His international breakthrough "The Celebration" (1998), the first film adhering to the Dogme concept, won the Jury Award in Cannes, and his two English-language films that followed, "It’s All About Love" (2003) and "Dear Wendy" (2005), were selected for Sundance. In 2010 "Submarino" was selected for Berlin’s main competition, and the film won the Nordic Council Film Prize. "The Hunt" is Vinterberg’s seventh feature. Born 1969, Denmark. Graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, 1993.