Nominations for the Danish Critics' Bodil Awards 2020 announced

Seven films received either three or four nominations for the Danish Film Critics' Bodil Awards in February.

The claustrophobic disaster film 'Cutterhead' by debutant Rasmus Kloster Bro, shot on location in the Danish metro tunnels, received a nomination for best film as well as two actor nods. Kloster Bro received a nomination for the talent prize.

Frelle Petersen's second feature, 'Uncle', about a young woman taking care of her disabled uncle at his farmhouse in rural Denmark, will be competing for best film. The drama, which took home the main prize at Toyko Film Festival, also received two actor nods.

Also nominated in the top category is Frederikke Aspöck's box-office success 'Out of Tune', about a celebrity financier who is taken into custody for fraud and enrolls in the prison choir, where a power struggle begins. 

The other two nominees for best Danish film are Sundance-winner 'Queen of Hearts' by May el-Toukhy and Toronto-selected 'Before the Frost' by Michael Noer. 

All five features are widely represented in the acting categories alongside films such as Ulaa Salim's critically acclaimed 'Sons of Denmark', about the aftermath of a Danish terror attack, and the drama 'Daniel', based on the true story of photographer Daniel Rye who was taken hostage by ISIS. 

The category for best documentary includes 'Forget Me Not' by Sun Hee Engelstoft, Berlinale-selected 'Western Arabs' by Omar Shargawi, two features by Emil Langballe, 'Q's Barbershop' and 'A Married Couple', and 'Winter's Yearning' by Sidse Torstholm Larsen and Sturla Pilskog. All films were selected for CPH:DOX last year.

The Bodil Awards are held on 29 February. See all the nominations below: 

Best feature

• 'Cutterhead'
• 'Out of Tune'
• 'Queen of Hearts'
• 'Before the Frost'
• 'Uncle'

Leading Actress

• Christine Sønderis, 'Cutterhead'

• Jette Søndergaard, 'Uncle'
• Lisa Carlehed, 'Until We Fall'
• Trine Dyrholm, 'Queen of Hearts'
• Victoria Carmen Sonne, 'Neon Heart'

Leading Actor

• Esben Smed, 'Daniel'

• Jacob Lohmann, 'Out of Tune'
• Jesper Christensen, 'Before the Frost'
• Mohammed Ismail Mohammed, 'Sons of Denmark'
• Zaki Youssef, 'Sons of Denmark'

Supporting Actress

• Asil Mohamad Habib, 'Sons of Denmark'

• Christiane Gjellerup Koch, 'Daniel'
• Clara Rosager, 'Before the Frost'
• Sofie Torp, 'Daniel'
• Tuva Novotny, 'The Suicide Tourist'

Supporting Actor

• Anders Matthesen, 'Out of Tune'

• Gustav Lindh, 'Queen of Hearts'
• Kresimir Mikic, 'Cutterhead'
• Magnus Krepper, 'Queen of Hearts'
• Peter H. Thygesen, 'Uncle'

Best Documentary

• 'A Married Couple' (Emil Langballe)

• 'Forget Me Not' (Sun Hee Engelstoft)
• 'Winter's Yearning' (Sidse Torstholm Larsen, Sturla Pilskog)
• 'Q’s Barbershop' (Emil Langballe)
• 'Western Arabs' (Omar Shargawi)

Best American Feature

• 'First Reformed'

• 'Joker'
• 'Marriage Story'
• 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'
• 'The Irishman'

Best Non-American Feature

• 'Capernaum'

• 'Parasite'
• 'Pain and Glory'
• 'Sorry We Missed You'
• 'The Favourite'

Talent Prize

• Jesper Fink, screenwriter (‘Before the Frost’)

• Louise McLaughlin, cinematographer (‘Resin’, ‘Out of Tune’)
• Rasmus Kloster Bro, director (‘Cutterhead’)
• Sofie Torp, actress (‘Daniel)
• Ulaa Salim, director (‘Sons of Denmark’)

Uncle

Frelle Petersen, 2019

Kris lives with her partly disabled uncle in rural Denmark and together they run a small farm. In their quirky yet loving relationship, built upon daily routines, words aren’t necessary. Kris is the dominant workhorse and she has taken on a motherly and overprotecting role towards her uncle.

Cutterhead

Rasmus Kloster Bro, 2019

Rie is a PR-coordinator visiting a tunnel boring machine to portray the well-oiled European cooperation in the Metro construction when an accident suddenly occurs. Unable to escape, she takes refuge in an airlock with Croatian miner Ivo and Bharan, a worker from Eritrea. They put their lives and bodies in each other’s hands to survive the heat, pressure and mud in the claustrophobic cutterhead, exposing their radically different world views and forcing them to reconsider their lives – before finally being rescued.

Out of Tune

Frederikke Aspöck, 2019

Celebrity financier and jet-setter Markus Føns is taken into custody. Following a brutal assault by a gang of bikers in connection with some of his more shady dealings, Markus opts for voluntary solitary confinement among the prison’s weakest inmates. This ward has a prison choir, of which the inmate Niels is the unofficial conductor.

Sons of Denmark

Ulaa Salim, 2019

Denmark 2025. One year after a major bomb attack in Copenhagen, radicalisation around the country has intensified and ethnic tensions are running high. The next parliamentary election is near, and the extremely nationalist political leader Martin Nordahl is set for a landslide victory.

Before the Frost

Michael Noer, 2019

As winter approaches in rural 1850s Denmark, an old farmer, Jens, and his family face starvation. With the harsh circumstances and the prospect of yet another tough winter, Jens agrees to ally with the neighbouring family in a marriage between his daughter and their son. However, when the rich farmer at a nearby farm wants to buy Jens’s land, he sees a chance to provide him and his family with an even better life.

Queen of Hearts

May el-Toukhy, 2019

Anne, a brilliant and dedicated advocacy lawyer specialising in society’s most vulnerable, children and young adults, lives what appears to be the picture-perfect life with her doctor-husband, Peter, and their twin daughters. When her estranged teenage stepson, Gustav, moves in with them, Anne’s escalating desire leads her down a dangerous rabbit hole which, once exposed, unleashes a sequence of events destined to destroy her world.

Daniel

Niels Arden Oplev, 2019

A story of one of the most spectacular kidnappings in recent times. The protagonist is the young Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye who was held hostage for 398 days in Syria by the terror organisation Islamic State along with several other foreign nationals, including the American journalist James Foley. The film follows Daniel’s struggle to survive in captivity, his friendship with James and the nightmare of the Rye family back home in Denmark as they try to cope with the fear that they may never see their son alive again.