Robert Awards

Overview

The Robert Awards are Denmark's annual national film and television prizes, presented by the Danish Film Academy (Danmarks Filmakademi or DFA). The 43rd ceremony took place on January 31, 2026, at the Tivoli Hotel and Congress Centre in Copenhagen, hosted by actress Marijana Jankovic.

The Academy has over 3,300 members who both nominate and vote for the winners. Members are divided into categories by craft and nominate within their own field: cinematographers nominate best cinematography, makeup artists nominate best makeup, and so on. All members then vote among the final nominees. Nominations are announced the first week of January, and the ceremony takes place in late January or early February.

The Girl with the Needle (Pigen med nalen) by Magnus von Horn was the most decorated film at the 43rd ceremony, winning 8 awards from 15 nominations, including Best Actor for Besir Zeciri, Best Supporting Actress for Trine Dyrholm, and Best Cinematography for Michal Dymek. However, Best Feature Film went to Second Victims (Det andet offer), the debut feature by Zinnini Elkington, which won 6 awards total including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Eligibility and Submission Rules

Only the production company can submit a film for the Robert Awards. The producer decides which individuals from the film are submitted for nomination. Key eligibility rules:

• The film's premiere date must fall between January 1 and December 31 of the eligibility year (for 2026: January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025)
• The film must be Danish. A "Danish film" must meet two requirements: (1) the festival rights must be held by a Danish entity (e.g., the Danish Film Institute or the producer), not by another national film institute, and (2) the film must achieve at least 10 points in the MEDIA point system
• The MEDIA point system awards points as follows: Danish director (3), Danish screenwriter (3), Danish actor 1 (2), Danish actor 2 (2), Danish actor 3 (2), Danish cinematographer (1), Danish production designer (1), Danish composer (1), Danish editor (1), Danish sound designer (1), Danish location (1), Danish post-production (1). Total possible: 19 points
• Films from the Danish Realm (Greenland and Faroe Islands) can be submitted on the same terms as Danish films
• The film must not have been submitted to a national film award in another country
• Individuals submitted in craft categories must have worked on the film for at least 70% of the shooting or post-production period and held an A-function or supervisor role in the relevant category
• For acting categories, the performer must be at least 15 years old during or before filming. For Best Leading Role, the actor must appear in at least 40% of the film

Submission fees: 2,950 DKK for feature films and children/youth films, 1,950 DKK for low-budget films (budget max 10 million DKK), and 1,450 DKK for low-budget films (budget max 6 million DKK). Short fiction and animation films can only be submitted via the Odense Film Festival.

Voting Process

The 3,300 Danish Film Academy members both nominate and vote. Members are professionals with commercial and craft affiliation to the Danish film or TV industry, working with film or TV as their primary occupation. Membership is free, funded by industry unions, foundations, the Danish Film Institute, and corporate partnerships.

Nominations follow a craft-based system: each category is nominated by members from that specific craft. All members then vote among the final nominees in all categories. The film must be made available for digital streaming to Academy members during the nomination and voting period (November 18 to January 21 for the 2026 ceremony).

32 prizes are awarded at the Robert Awards. In categories with personal nominations (acting, directing, screenplay, cinematography, etc.), each nominee receives a statuette. In categories without personal nominations (Best Feature Film, Best TV Series, etc.), only one statuette is given, with additional statuettes available for purchase by credited individuals.

Key Categories

The 32 Robert Award categories include:

• Best Danish Feature Film
• Best Director
• Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Actor and Best Actress (leading role)
• Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress
• Best Cinematography
• Best Production Design
• Best Costume Design
• Best Makeup
• Best Editing
• Best Sound Design
• Best Score
• Best Original Song
• Best Visual Effects
• Best Documentary
• Best Short Documentary
• Best Short Film / Animation (under 30 minutes)
• Best Children and Youth Film
• Best English-Language Film (international film distributed in Denmark)
• Best Non-English-Language Film (international film distributed in Denmark)
• Best TV Series
• Best Short TV Series
• Best Actor and Best Actress in a TV Series
• Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series
• Nordisk Film Cinemas Audience Award (public vote)
• Honorary Robert (lifetime achievement)
• IB Award and Pluto TV Talent Award (emerging talent)

History

The Danish Film Academy was founded in 1982 by a small group of film professionals inspired by the American Academy and its Oscars, as well as the British BAFTA. The first Danish Film Awards were held in 1984, honoring the best achievements in cinema from 1983.

The Robert statuette is named after Robert Jacobsen, the Danish modernist sculptor who was also a cineaste. The statuette takes its name from its formgiver, similar to the French Cesar award.

Denmark's film industry benefits from strong public funding through the Danish Film Institute (DFI), which provides production support, development grants, and distribution funding. The Dogme 95 movement, launched by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg in 1995, redefined low-budget filmmaking aesthetics worldwide. Danish films regularly appear in competition at Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, and Denmark has won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film multiple times.

Business Impact for Filmmakers

For Danish filmmakers, a Robert Award is the industry's highest domestic honor. The award directly influences funding decisions from the Danish Film Institute, which evaluates a filmmaker's track record and critical recognition when allocating production grants. A Robert win or nomination strengthens a filmmaker's position when seeking international co-production partners, particularly within the Nordic region and across Europe.

Denmark's co-production agreements with other Scandinavian and European countries mean that Robert recognition carries weight across borders. The 2026 ceremony highlighted this international dimension: The Girl with the Needle, which won 8 Roberts, was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which won Best Documentary, was shortlisted for the Oscars.

The ceremony's strong showing of debut filmmakers in 2026, led by Zinnini Elkington's Second Victims winning 6 awards including Best Feature Film, demonstrates how the Robert Awards can launch a first-time director's career. The Honorary Robert was awarded to Marianne Christensen, and the Pluto TV Talent Award went to Camilla Arlien.

Recent Results (43rd Robert Awards, January 2026)

• Best Feature Film: Second Victims (Det andet offer) (6 awards total)
• Most awards: The Girl with the Needle (Pigen med nalen) (8 awards from 15 nominations)
• Best Director: Zinnini Elkington, Second Victims
• Best Actor: Besir Zeciri, The Girl with the Needle
• Best Actress: Ozlem Saglanmak, Second Victims
• Best Supporting Actor: Anders Mossling, My Eternal Summer
• Best Supporting Actress: Trine Dyrholm, The Girl with the Needle (her 11th Robert)
• Best Cinematography: Michal Dymek, The Girl with the Needle
• Best Documentary: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
• Best English-Language Film: One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)
• Best Non-English-Language Film: I'm Still Here (Walter Salles)
• Best TV Series: Secrets We Keep (Reservatet)
• Audience Award: The Last Viking (Den sidste viking)
• Honorary Robert: Marianne Christensen

Past Winners and What They Won With

The Robert Awards (Robertprisen) are Denmark's most important film awards, presented annually by the Danish Film Academy (Danmarks Film Akademi) across 32 categories. The 2026 Robert Awards ceremony took place on January 31, 2026, and is available for streaming on Pluto TV. Recent winners include The Girl with the Needle (Best Film, Best Director Magnus von Horn, Best Cinematography Michal Dymek), Mr. Nobody Against Putin (Best Documentary), One Battle After Another by Paul Thomas Anderson (Best English-Language Film), I'm Still Here by Walter Salles (Best Non-English-Language Film), Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) (Best TV Series), and Den sidste viking (Nordisk Film Biografers Audience Award). The Honorary Robert was presented to Marianne Christensen. Den sidste viking is directed by Anders Thomas Jensen and produced by Zentropa (Sisse Graum Jorgensen and Sidsel Hybschmann). The Robert Awards are an expression of peer recognition, as members of the Danish Film Academy nominate and select winners across all categories.

Eligibility Quirks That Trip People Up

The Robert Awards are voted by members of the Danish Film Academy, making them a peer-recognition award rather than a critics' or audience award. The 32 categories span Danish feature films, children's and youth films, directing, screenwriting (original and adapted), lead and supporting performances (male and female), craft categories (scenography, cinematography, costume design, makeup, editing, sound design, score, original song, visual effects), short films (fiction/animation and documentary), documentary features, English-language and non-English-language films, TV series (short and long form), and TV performance categories. Special prizes include the Honorary Robert, the Nordisk Film Biografers Audience Award, and the IB Prize. The Robert Awards ceremony is typically held in late January or February. The awards are Denmark's most prestigious film recognition, alongside the Bodil Awards presented by film critics.

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See Also

For understanding how Scandinavian cinema and co-production structures work, see Distribution Deals Explained. To model revenue across European territories, use the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For evaluating the cost of an awards campaign against projected returns, use the Ad Spend Break-Even Calculator.