The Silver Lantern Awards, the country’s biggest night for film and television, delivered more surprises than usual this week, with a first-time director taking the top prize and a veteran actor bringing the audience at the Riverton Grand Theater to its feet.
A debut takes the big prize
Ilse Marovic, a 31-year-old director who made her first feature on a budget of under a million euros, won best film for “The Salt Road”, a quiet drama about three generations of a fishing family in Port Alden. The film had been seen as an outsider against two big-budget historical epics.
I made this film with my neighbors, my cousins and a boat we borrowed for nine days. Thank you for seeing it.
Ilse Marovic, director of “The Salt Road”
The film also won best screenplay, and its lead, newcomer Dara Quinlan, took best supporting actress.
The comeback of the night
The loudest applause of the evening went to Anton Reiss, 72, who won best actor for his role as a retired ferry captain in “Low Tide”. Reiss had not appeared on screen for almost a decade before director friends persuaded him to return.
He received a standing ovation that lasted more than a minute, and kept his speech to two sentences, thanking his late wife and “everyone who still remembered my name.”
The speech everyone is talking about
The most shared moment online came from best actress winner Selma Arvidsen, who used her time on stage to call for better pay and safer working hours for film crews. Several crew members in the audience stood up as she spoke.
Behind every face on that screen there are a hundred people who leave the set at two in the morning. They deserve this as much as I do.
Selma Arvidsen, best actress winner
On the red carpet
Before the ceremony, the red carpet was dominated by deep greens and velvet, with several guests choosing vintage gowns borrowed from the national theater’s costume archive.
The ceremony, hosted by comedian Benedikt Laurin, ran almost an hour over schedule but drew the highest television audience in five years, according to the broadcaster. “The Salt Road” returns to cinemas nationwide next week.
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