Mikkelsen received the coveted European statuette three years after his win for Another Round.
The star Danish actor was not on hand to collect the prize on Saturday at the European Film Awards ceremony in Berlin, but from a video transmission, he said he dedicated the award to director Nikolaj Arcel. “It took you 10 years to call me. Please don’t wait another 10 years. Without you we wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t receive this award. Thank you for inviting me in your beautiful world,” said Mikkelsen, who also thanked his family and other cast and crew members.
The Zentropa production The Promised Land also picked up two prestigious EFA awards for outstanding cinematography, handed out to Arcel’s long -time collaborator Rasmus Videbæk and to costume designer Kicki Ilander.
In a statement the jury said about Videbæk: “The poetic cinematography in The Promised Land illustrates perfectly that Rasmus Videbæk knows exactly where to push forward and where to stand back. Visually powerful, he doesn’t draw too much attention to the camera, leaving story and characters the room they deserve, be it working on the harsh Danish heath or inside the lodgings of the workers around Captain Ludvig Kahlen and the impressive mansion of the local sovereign.”
Commenting on Ilander’s contribution, the jury also said: “We see delicate and smart work which helps to build true characters full of emotions. The costume designer leads us through the story quietly, not rushing, knowing the right amount of what we need to see, and when. The defined development of the characters is almost imperceptible, up to the climactic scene when the perfect spot of blood sets the last tone. There is nothing to add and nothing to take off, it‘s just perfect.”
The Danish Oscar entry The Promised Land had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and has since travelled to numerous festivals including Telluride, Toronto and San Sebastian. So far, the film supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond has sold 238,951 tickets in Danish cinemas via Nordisk Film. TrustNordisk handles world sales.
Meanwhile the Estonian film Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints co-produced by France and Iceland’s Hlín Jóhannesdóttir for Ursus Parvus was voted best European documentary of the year.
Although Aki Kaurismäki’s melancholic love story Fallen Leaves was the front runner among EFA nominees, on equal terms with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, it was the Palme d’or winning film Anatomy of a Fall by French director Justine Triet which triumphed on December 10, swooping four awards for best film, director, screenwriter -to Triet and Arthur Harari, and actress to Sandra Hüller.
In an emotional moment, Hüller asked the 1,000+ international guests to stay silent and give an image of peace, against the dramatic context of war in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.