Film Väst is very happy to congratulate Trine Dyrholm and Tomasz Wasilewski, who last Saturday each received a Silver Bear at the Berlinale: Trine Dyrholm for Best Actress for her perfomance in Thomas Vinterberg’s THE COMMUNE, Tomasz Wasilewski for Best Script in his UNITED STATE OF LOVE. 

In The Commune, Trine Dyrholm plays Anne, who along with her husband Erik (Ulrich Thomsen) and their daughter Freja, set up a commune in Erik’s huge villa in the upmarket district of Copenhagen. With the family in the center of the story, we are invited into the dream of a real commune; we participate in the house meetings, dinners and parties. It is friendship, love and togetherness under one roof until an earth-shattering love affair puts the community and the commune to its greatest test.

The Commune, is produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Morten Kaufmann for Zentropa Entertainments19 in co-operation with Toolbox Film, co-produced by Film Väst, Zentropa International Sweden (Madeleine Ekman), Topkapi Films and Zentropa International Netherlands with support from Danish Film Institute, DR, Eurimages, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, The Netherlands Film Fund, Swedish Film Institute and the MEDIA programme of the European Union. Nordic distribution through Nordisk Film Distribution. TrustNordisk handles international sales.

In United States of Love Tomasz Wasilewski presents the lives of four women in a small provincial town in Poland in the beginning of the 1990s. Agata is attracted to a priest and secretly observes him. Iza is a head teacher who has been having a long-standing affair with a married doctor. Russian language teacher Renata seeks a closer relationship with her young neighbour Marzena who teaches sports and dance, while Marzena herself dreams of an international career as a model.

United States of Love is directed by Tomasz Wasilewski (also script) and produced by Piotr Kobus and Agnieszka Drewno at Mañana in co-production with Film Väst and TVP SA, Common Ground Pictures (Jonas Kellagher).

At the Berlinale two Film Väst co-productions also won prizes at the 30th TEDDY AWARD – The Queer Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Joanna Rytel won Best Short Film for Moms on Fire and Sara Jordenö and Twiggy Pucci Garçon won Best Documentary for Kiki.