Sanna Lenken’s feature film Comedy Queen has been awarded the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. This is the second time around for director Sanna Lenken, who also won the Crystal Bear for her previous feature film, My Skinny Sister, at the 2015 Berlinale. Beautiful Beings, the second feature from Icelandic director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson has won this year’s Europa Cinemas Label prize as best European film in the Panorama section. Both features are co-produced by Film i Väst.

– I am really happy, and excited that the film has resonated with the audience. And how lovely that my Bear at home gets some company, says director Sanna Lenken.

Comedy Queen had its international premiere in the Generation Kplus section at the festival. The film is about 13-year-old Sasha (Sigrid Johnson). She suffers from immeasurable grief but is determined to save both herself and her father (Oscar Töringe) from the sorrow. Her plan is to make everyone laugh again, she wants to become a stand-up comedian – a Comedy Queen!

Sanna Lenken’s latest work is the critically acclaimed and hugely popular tv-series Thin Blue Line for SVT. Recently she also directed episodes of the Viaplay original series Thunder In My Heart. She was nominated for Guldbagge Awards for her short films Eating Lunch (2014) and Night Child (2018) and made her feature debut with My Skinny Sister (2015), which apart from the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale also picked up the Audience Award at Göteborg Film Festival.

Comedy Queen was written by Linn Gottfridsson, based on the novel by Jenny Jägerfeld, and also stars Ellen Taure, Anna Bjelkerud, Adam Daho and Iggy Malmborg. Produced by Anna Anthony and Rebecka Lafrenz, FLX, in co-production with Film i Väst, SVT and SF Studios and with support from the Swedish Film Institute. Sales by REinvent International Sales. SF Studios handles distribution in Sweden, where the film premiered on February 11 and is currently showing at cinemas.

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The coming-of-age drama Beuatiful Beings by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson was a critical hit in Berlin this year. The plot follows Balli (Askell Einar Palmason), a brutally bullied teen, who forms a tentative connection with a trio of tough outsiders, led by Addi (Birgir Dagur Bjarkason).

Addi, a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As the group’s behavior escalates towards life-threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Can his newfound intuition guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence?

  • Guðmundsson’s second feature is certainly a harsh look at a bunch of teenage boys struggling to find a way forward despite estrangement from their dysfunctional families. But it is the warmth alongside the violence that makes this a film that demands to be seen,” the Europa Cinemas jury said in a statement.

As part of the award, Beautiful Beings will receive promotional support from Europa Cinemas to help its theatrical release across the group’s network of exhibitors.

Produced by Joint Motion Pictures in Reykjavik in co-production with Denmark’s Motor, Sweden’s Hobab and Film i Väst, Dutch group Bastide Films and Negativ in the Czech Republic, the film is being sold internationally by New Europe Film Sales.