August's 'Beyond' wins Nordic prize

'Beyond'LONDON -- Swedish Oscar contender "Beyond," the directing debut of actress Pernilla August, has won the Nordic Council Film Prize.The prize, founded in 2002 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nordic Council, is Scandinavia's richest movie award, worth $65,000 in cash.The money will be split between August, her co-writer Lolita Ray and producers Helena Danielsson and Ralf Karlsson."Beyond," submitted by Sweden as its candidate for the foreign language Academy Award, stars Noomi Rapace as a woman confronting her troubled childhood.The jury described the film as "a very personal and original adaptation of a bestselling novel."The Nordic Council is a forum between the parliaments of the five Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. The film prize, administered by the Nordic Film & TV Fund, is for "an artistically original film that is rooted in Nordic cultural circles."Each country puts forward their own nominee and the winner is chosen by jury. This year's honorary jury chair is Helen Mirren, who announced the winner at a press conference in Copenhagen. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com