“It was very exciting” recalls producer Kim Magnusson during our recent webcam chat (watch above) when asked about his Oscar nomination for the short film “Silent Nights.” Set over the holiday season, the film tells the story of a Danish volunteer worker (Malene Beltoft Olsen) who falls in love with a homeless refuge from Ghana (Prince Yaw Appiah). Magnusson shares this bid with the film’s writer-director Aske Bang.
Sign up to get Gold Derby’s free newsletters
with experts’ latest predictions and breaking news
Bang got the idea from his father, Ib Kastrup. The two wrote a script that was, “inspired by the streets,” he recalls, “and the area of Copenhagen where we live, where there’s a lot of illegal immigrants in the streets collecting bottles because they can’t get jobs.” Starting with an interracial love story, the two, “had to figure out how to write a dramatic story, and give them some problems, so that it’s difficult for them to actually get each other, like Romeo and Juliet.”
A veteran producer, Magnusson has twice won this prize for “Election Night” (1999) and “Helium” (2013), and was nominated for “Ernst & lyset” (1996), “Wolfgang” (1997), and “Helmer & søn” (2006). This is the first nomination for Bang. They compete against “Ennemis interieurs,” “La femme et le TGV,” “Mindenki” (“Sing”),” and “Timecode.”
Make your Oscar predictions now; change them until Feb. 26
Make your Academy Awards picks now and tell industry insiders which films and performers you have out front to win on February 26. You can keep changing them until just before show time. Be sure to make your predictions right here. You’ll compete for a place of honor on our leaderboard and a starring role in next year’s Top 24 Users (the two dozen folks who do the best predicting this year’s nominees). Read our contest rules.
