Photo: The Global Ensemble Drama AS
Pia Tjelta was awarded Best Actress at tonight’s closing ceremony of the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The acclaimed Norwegian actress received the prize for her performance in Nina Knag’s debut feature, Don’t Call Me Mama, which received its world premiere at the festival earlier this week.
“Making a film is the art of the bigger ‘we’,” says Tjelta. “It only works when we truly listen to each other. I’m so grateful to Nina Knag for creating a space for truth and risk, and to my brilliant collaborators in front of and behind the camera. This award means the world - thank you for honouring a story that doesn’t comfort but dares to confront.”
Pia Tjelta and Nina Knag. Photo: Karen Rae von Kaltenborn.
In Don’t Call Me Mama she plays Eva, a popular high school teacher and wife to the town’s mayor, who faces the ultimate test when she falls in love with a young asylum seeker, sparking a forbidden relationship with shattering consequences.
Tjelta’s performance at this year’s Karlovy Vary Festival did not go unnoticed by critics. Deadline described her work as “next-level stuff. As the saying goes, her performance turns on a dime, sending what first appears to be a pretty standard well-meaning story about the global refugee crisis, somewhere much more personal and much, much darker.” The trade outlet further referred to her as “a striking brunette who would fit very well into Pedro Almodóvar’s repertory company.”
Meanwhile, Collider praised her for delivering “a dynamic performance that does get into the weeds of how ugly romance can turn.” RogerEbert.com, meanwhile, hailed it as “a sublime lead performance”. Cineuropa added that her work “balances restraint with emotional intensit”, while Loud And Clear concluded that “Tjelta shines in a role that should earn her more international attention.”
Tjelta made her screen debut in the cult hit Mongoland (2001) and gained wider recognition for her role in the award-winning Buddy (2003) which was also in the Karlovy Vary Festival. She has since appeared in a range of acclaimed projects, including Cold Lunch (2008), 90 Minutes (2012), Blind Spot (Blindsone, 2018) and the critically-acclaimed TV drama Made in Oslo (2022). She will next appear in No Comment (Ingen kommentar) and in the Netflix series Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole. A graduate of the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre, Tjelta is also an established stage actress frequently performing at the National Theatre in Oslo.
Don’t Call Me Mama is produced by Eléonore Anselme and Ingrid Skagestad for The Global Ensemble Drama, in co-production with Anders Hereid and Gunhild Oddsen for Screen Story. The film is supported by the Norwegian Film Institute, Mediefondet Zefyr and Oslo Film Fund.
REinvent handles world sales, while Scanbox and Ymer Media are to release Don’t Call Me Mama in Norway on 31 October.
Norway has been stacking up awards in recent years. In addition to Loveable (Elskling) which won last year in Karlovy Vary, this year alone Dreams, the grand finale of Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy, claimed the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlinale, while Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value took home the Grand Prix at Cannes.
An important part of the recent awards went to NEO supported films. Being part of the Norwegian Film Institute’s broader strategy to ensure a steady influx of new perspectives into Norwegian audiovisual storytelling, NEO is a dynamic talent and project development initiative designed to amplify fresh voices in Norwegian film and series production. Its mission is to champion bold debuts, diverse voices, and festival-ready storytelling.
Support goes to emerging filmmakers, especially first-time filmmakers, across fiction features, documentaries and series. NEO has backed everything from the first-ever Sámi joik musical to dramas rooted in refugee stories and intimate documentaries. Recent examples are Loveable (Elskling), which won in Karlovy Vary last year, My Fathers’ Daughter (Biru Unjarga), Armand, Uncle Jens, Don’t Call Me Mama, and Solomamma (selected for this year’s Locarno Film Festival).
Manager International Relations, Feature Films
