After his movie “Another Round” won the best international feature Oscar, director Thomas Vinterberg wiped away tears while dedicating part of his acceptance speech to his late girl who died several years prior.
“We ended up making this movie for her, as her monument,” a tearful Vinterberg said from the stage at Union Station in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Vinterberg said his little girl, Ida, died in an highway accident four days into the project. He said his girl shared her excitement about film’s story to him in a letter after read the script a two or three months before filming the movie. He added that she should be a part of the project.
“So Ida, this is a miracle that just happened,” he continued. “You are a part of this miracle. … This one is for you.”
“Another Round” is the fourth time a film from Denmark has won in the category. The latter was “In a Better World” in 2010.
The film stars Mads Mikkelsen as one of a group of Danish school teachers who attempted to stay slightly drunk all day to break out of their malaise.
“This is a film about letting go of control in life as I lost control of my own,” he said.
Before Vinterberg acknowledged the honor, he skipped onto the stage with fervor. He called his better half for being the “angel” of the project and thanked several others including his kids and the film’s co-writer Tobias Lindholm.
“This is beyond anything I could ever imagine,” Vinterberg said. “Except this is something I’ve always imagined.”
Vinterberg was also nominated for best director, however lost to Chloé Zhao in the class on Sunday night.
Vinterberg became internationally popular as the co-founder of the filmmaking movement called Dogme 95. He began the movement in 1995 with individual Danish director Lars von Trier.