The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun
Encyclopedia
The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun is a 2006
Danish documentary film directed by Pernille Rose Grønkjær
.
estate, with a ramshackle castle, on the island of Fyn
. He dreams of turning his castle into a Russian orthodox monastery
.
After a visit to Russia negotiating with the Russian patriarchate, a delegation of nuns headed by Sister Amvrosija come to Denmark in order to assess whether Vig's castle is fit to serve as a monastery. The nuns approve the castle, but at the same time they demand extensive repairs to it. When the nuns leave again for Russia, Vig sets out to do the repairs all by himself.
The following summer sister Amvrosija and the other nuns return and Vig's dream seems about to come true. The nuns move into the castle, and slowly they take over the daily work and introduce new routines.
Vig's life changes: all his life he has lived by himself with no women around, now he has to share his home with the strong-willed Sister Amvrosija and her sister nuns. And they demand more and more necessary repairs. As a solution to the problem, the Russian patriarchate offers to pay for all future repairs to the castle, but on the condition that Vig leaves his castle to them by will.
Vig has serious doubts: should he leave his castle to the Russian church by will and thus carry out his dream of a monastery? Or should he keep his castle to himself and continue his lonely life as a bachelor? Vig, who has never known love, is facing many conflicts with the apparently difficult Sister Amvrosija, but she does strangely enough not want to leave him and his castle, even if she will be the last and only nun left.
Today the monastery is run by Nun Amvrosija. The Russian Orthodox priest Hegumen Theofan, Dean of the St. Alexander Nevsky Parish in Copenhagen
, often comes to carry out the services. The Russian Patriarchate and the Hesbjerg Foundation are now negotiating the future plans for the monastery, and an agreement is well on its way.
Amersterdam, IDFA 2006
Grand Prix
Chicago International Documentary Festival 2007
Special Mention
CPH Dox Copenhagen Documentary Festival 2006
Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award
Durham, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
2007
Grand Jury Award
Durham, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
2007
Honorable Mention
São Paulo It's All True Int. Documentary FF 2007
FIPRESCI
Award for Best Documentary
Sidney Film Festival 2007
Millennium Award for Best Film
Warsaw, Planete Doc Review 2007
The Kino Magazine Award
Warsaw, Planete Doc Review 2007
Audience Award
Moscow International Film Festival
2007
Best Documentary Nominee
Film Independent Spirit Awards 2008
Outstanding Achievement in International Nonfiction Feature
Cinema Eye Honors
2008
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking Nominee
Cinema Eye Honors
2008
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Nominee
Cinema Eye Honors
2008
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Danish documentary film directed by Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Pernille Rose Grønkjær is a Danish film director.She graduated from the National Danish Film School in 1997. She is the director of various documentary films for the screen and for television including Min morfar forfra, Repeating Grandpa , and The Monastery: Mr...
.
Plot Summary
Jørgen Laursen Vig owns a DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
estate, with a ramshackle castle, on the island of Fyn
FYN
Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Fyn is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FYN gene.This gene is a member of the protein-tyrosine kinase oncogene family. It encodes a membrane-associated tyrosine kinase that has been implicated in the control of cell growth...
. He dreams of turning his castle into a Russian orthodox monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
.
After a visit to Russia negotiating with the Russian patriarchate, a delegation of nuns headed by Sister Amvrosija come to Denmark in order to assess whether Vig's castle is fit to serve as a monastery. The nuns approve the castle, but at the same time they demand extensive repairs to it. When the nuns leave again for Russia, Vig sets out to do the repairs all by himself.
The following summer sister Amvrosija and the other nuns return and Vig's dream seems about to come true. The nuns move into the castle, and slowly they take over the daily work and introduce new routines.
Vig's life changes: all his life he has lived by himself with no women around, now he has to share his home with the strong-willed Sister Amvrosija and her sister nuns. And they demand more and more necessary repairs. As a solution to the problem, the Russian patriarchate offers to pay for all future repairs to the castle, but on the condition that Vig leaves his castle to them by will.
Vig has serious doubts: should he leave his castle to the Russian church by will and thus carry out his dream of a monastery? Or should he keep his castle to himself and continue his lonely life as a bachelor? Vig, who has never known love, is facing many conflicts with the apparently difficult Sister Amvrosija, but she does strangely enough not want to leave him and his castle, even if she will be the last and only nun left.
Today the monastery is run by Nun Amvrosija. The Russian Orthodox priest Hegumen Theofan, Dean of the St. Alexander Nevsky Parish in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, often comes to carry out the services. The Russian Patriarchate and the Hesbjerg Foundation are now negotiating the future plans for the monastery, and an agreement is well on its way.
Awards
Joris Ivens AwardAmersterdam, IDFA 2006
Grand Prix
Chicago International Documentary Festival 2007
Special Mention
CPH Dox Copenhagen Documentary Festival 2006
Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award
Durham, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
2007
Grand Jury Award
Durham, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
2007
Honorable Mention
São Paulo It's All True Int. Documentary FF 2007
FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Award for Best Documentary
Sidney Film Festival 2007
Millennium Award for Best Film
Warsaw, Planete Doc Review 2007
The Kino Magazine Award
Warsaw, Planete Doc Review 2007
Audience Award
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
2007
Best Documentary Nominee
Film Independent Spirit Awards 2008
Outstanding Achievement in International Nonfiction Feature
Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye Honors
The Cinema Eye Honors is an award which celebrates nonfiction films and filmmakers, recognizing the breadth of the genre and includes the crafts of cinematography, editing, producing, directing, etc. It was first presented at the IFC Center in New York City on March 18, 2008...
2008
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking Nominee
Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye Honors
The Cinema Eye Honors is an award which celebrates nonfiction films and filmmakers, recognizing the breadth of the genre and includes the crafts of cinematography, editing, producing, directing, etc. It was first presented at the IFC Center in New York City on March 18, 2008...
2008
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Nominee
Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye Honors
The Cinema Eye Honors is an award which celebrates nonfiction films and filmmakers, recognizing the breadth of the genre and includes the crafts of cinematography, editing, producing, directing, etc. It was first presented at the IFC Center in New York City on March 18, 2008...
2008
External links
- The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun at sundance.org