Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter was awarded the Eva Maria Daniels Award for Vital Filmmaking for her narrative short film FÁR at the Stockfish Film & Industry Festival (SFIF). The prestigious prize came with 1.5 million Icelandic Króna for the filmmaker to put towards their next project. The ceremony took place at the 25th annual Edda Awards, presented by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy.
The jury, chaired by Daniels’ long-time producing partner, Riva Marker, included director, writer and producer, Elfar Adalsteins, Producer and composer, Nigel Godrich, writer, director and producer Oren Moverman, producer, Caroline Kaplan, publicist Jessie Cohen, director and film financier, Sascha Drews, writer and film financier, Will O’Connor, director, Gunnar Olafsson and writer and director, Borkur Sigthorsson.
“An esteemed jury of Eva Maria Daniels peers and colleagues were unanimous in our decision to award the inaugural prize in Eva’s honor to Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter’ for her outstanding short film FÁR.” said Jury Chair, Riva Marker. “Gunnur, and her producers, Sara Nassim and Rúnar Ingi, crafted a dynamic short that brims with vision, confidence and atmosphere, and we are thrilled to launch the EDP Vital Award with them.”
In its inaugural year, the award is designed to honor the legacy of acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker and producer Eva Maria Daniels, who passed away in June of 2023. The award was presented after careful consideration and viewing of 20 short films across four categories: Best Short Narrative, Best Short Documentary, Best Music Video, and Best Short Experimental, throughout the course of the festival as part of the Shortfish or Sprettfiskur. After the prize was presented to Martinsdóttir Schlüter by Daniels’ husband Moritz Diller, son Henry and her producing partner Riva Marker, she offered the following words:
“We do not have a long time here on earth, I know Eva Maria used her time well and accomplished a lot. It’s a great honor to get this Eva Maria Daniels Award for Vital Filmmaking and a big encouragement to continue.”
FÁR, written, directed and starring Martinsdóttir Schlüter, originally premiered at the 2023 Festival De Cannes where it won Special Mention.
Daniels’ was a force in the film industry and the roster of films she produced included Reality, directed by Tina Satter and starring Sydney Sweeney; Joe Bell, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and starring Mark Wahlberg and Reid Miller; Hold the Dark, directed by Jeremy Saulnier and starring Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, James Badge Dale and Riley Keough; the critically acclaimed drama, End of Sentence; The Dinner, starring Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Rebecca Hall and Chloe Sevigny; Time Out of Mind, starring Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone and Steve Buscemi; What Maisie Knew, starring Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, Alexander Skarsgard and Onata April; Goats starring David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips and Ty Burrell; and The Romantics starring Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, Josh Duhamel, Adam Brody, Elijah Wood.