Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson received a Special Mention for his short film "Whale Valley" at Sunday's closing ceremony in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.
The Icelandic director lives and works in Denmark and "Whale Valley" is produced at the Film Workshop at the Danish Film Institute. The film is a tale about the strong bond between two brothers who live in a remote fjord in Iceland. Read interview: A Tale of Two Brothers
Denmark was widely represented at this year's Cannes programme.
For the third year running a Danish film was selected for the main competition. Nicolas Winding Refn's "Only God Forgives" generated fierce debate and divided the critics. The film opened simultaneously in France where it sold 50,000 tickets on the first day.
Also in Competition was Alex van Warmendam's Dutch-Belgian-Danish "Borgman" and the French-German historical drama Michael Kohlhaas where Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen appears in the lead. The Colombian-Danish-French short "Solecito" was selected for Director's Fortnight.
Thomas Vinterberg was jury president of Un Certain Regard and won the EU Prix Media for his new project "The Commune". Mikael Chr. Rieks was Producer on the Move.
Winner of the Palme d'Or 2013 is "La Vie d’Adèle" by Abdellatif Kechiche. See full list of awards on the festival website
Whale Valley
Set on an isolated farm in Iceland, the film follows a seven-year-old boy who accidentally interrupts his older brother's suicide attempt. His brother makes him promise not to tell their parents, and the film examines the relationship between the two brothers in the aftermath using images of rugged scenery to express the young boys' inner turmoil and feelings of isolation.
