“APOLONIA, APOLONIA” WINS THE NORDISK PANORAMA
Lea Glob's winning streak continues. This time her film has been named the best Nordic documentary of the festival.
The Nordisk Panorama Forum is a major Nordic documentary film funding event, held continuously since 1994. The forum is open to projects at all stages of production. However, the country of production is a limitation. Only productions or co-productions from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, the Faroe or Åland Islands, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia can apply.
Apolonia, Apolonia turned out to be the best film among the 15 submissions that competed in the main competition.
When Danish director Lea Glob met Apolonia Sokol in 2009, she seemed to be leading a wonderful, almost fairy-tale life. The talented Apolonia was born in an underground theatre in Paris and grew up among artists. At the age of 20, she was studying at Beaux-Arts de Paris – one of the most prestigious art academies in Europe. Over the years, Lea Glob has been returning to film the charismatic Apolonia, and a special bond has formed between the two young women.
The result is a fascinating portrait that covers 13 years from the life of a young woman trying to find her place in the art world. Apolonia is confident in her talent, but her path is not always easy. Life is not a fairy tale; one of the lessons Apolonia learns is that women painters have to make sacrifices and overcome more obstacles than their male colleagues. This also applies to her friend and long-time roommate, Oksana Shachko, one of the founders of the feminist action group Femen. Apolonia's resilience is put to the test.
A list of all awarded films can be found here.