A movie about an unnamed couple who delve into psychological darkness has been honoured as best Nordic film

Lars von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’ has been awarded the Nordic Council Film Prize for best Nordic film of the year. 

The film, which features graphic sexual violence, received a controversial reception when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year – and not least because von Trier styled himself as the ‘best director in the world’ to the press.

It lost out on the top film prize at Cannes, but von Trier said he was delighted that it was being honoured by the Nordic Council. And in an interview with DR, he appeared not to have lost his self-confidence.

‘The other films must have been bloody awful if my film is the best one in the Nordics this year,’ the director joked.

But von Trier added seriously that the award meant a lot to him and that he drew much inspiration from other Nordic artists such as Henrik Ibsen, Edward Munch and Ingmar Bergman.

The council’s jury said it awarded the prize to the film as it broke down ‘boundaries between inner and outer realities’ and pushed viewers ‘towards the edge of their own deepest fears’.

Von Trier and producer Meta Louise Foldager will receive the 350,000 kroner award at the Nordic Council session in Stockholm on 27 October.

And the monetary prize didn’t seem to cause any offence to von Trier.

‘I was once asked what I thought of film prizes and answered that they’re wonderful if they are accompanied by some cash, as is the case here. And money can be a good thing – it can make any rebel throw himself down on the floor, fall down on his back and squirm about like a fish,’ von Trier said.