'Simon' leads Swedish honours race

LONDON -- Lisa Ohlin's World war ii drama "Simon as well as the Trees" leads the race for your 2011 Guldbagge, Sweden's national film honours, with 13 nominations. "Simon as well as the Trees" is rivaling Ruben Ostlund's "Play" and Lisa Aschan's "She Apes" to find the best picture crown. Ohlin, Ostlund and Aschan may also be nominated for top director. "Play" and "She Apes" are contesting the most effective script prize with Pernilla Oljelund's script for "Stockholm East." "Play" has seven nominations overall, then Ella Lemhagen's "The Crown Jewels" with five. Mikael Persbrandt ("Stockholm East"), Sven-Bertil Taube ("Single-Approach to Antibes") and Kevin Vaz ("Play") are competing for top actor. Ann Petren ("Happy Finish"), Magdalena Poplawska ("Between 2 Fires") and Helen Sjoholm ("Simon as well as the Trees") are nominated for top actress. The prize for top foreign film is contested by Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone," Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" and Yorgos Lanthimos' "Dogtooth." The Guldbagge ceremony, organized with the Swedish Film Institute, will occur Jan. 21 at Cirkus in Stockholm. The nominations and individuals who win are selected having a jury of 43 industry people. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com