Eskil Vogt’s debut feature Blind continues its winning spree by taking home CPH PIX’s New Talent Grand Pix.

Blind

The award, voted upon by an industry jury, comes with a €15,000 ($21,000) cash prize.

The jury said: “We could not resist the film’s originality and humour…We went this award to be a strong push to this filmmaker towards making his next film.”

Norway’s Vogt connected to the awards brunch via Skype for his acceptance speech and said: “It’s silly to compete in films, but it feels great to win.”

He thanked the festival for putting a spotlight on first-time filmmakers. “This prize says, ‘go make another film.’ It’s encouraging,” added Vogt.

Blind previously won the Europa Cinemas Label in Berlin and the World Cinema Screenwriting Award at Sundance.

The new talent jury gave unofficial special mentions to Luton and Casa Grande.

Meanwhile, the Politiken Audience Award, which comes with DKK20,000 ($3,700) worth of advertising, went to Iceland’s Benedikt Erlingsson for Of Horses And Men.

The festival continues through April 16. Festival director Jacob Neiiendam noted that audience attendance was already strong this year. “People came to the cinema when the sun was shining, people came to outdoor screenings in the rain,” he said.

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