It was her first reaction when she heard that she had been elected. And in her speech outside Pumphuset in Vollsjö, she joked a lot about the epithet "damn zero-eight".
As a Stockholm resident, you always feel a bit like a damn zero-eight here in Österlen or in Skåne, she says with a twinkle in her eye.
"Becoming magical"
But during her lifetime, it has dawned on her that she has deep roots in the Scanian soil. Without knowing it, she sought out the areas around Grevlunda and Vitemölla, where she still has a house today – and then relatives discovered that she has roots here that can be documented back to the 17th century.
This is becoming magical for me.
The Pirate Prize has been awarded since 1989 to cultural personalities who have worked in the spirit of author Fritiof Nilsson (1895–1972). Among previous winners are Lars Molin, Viveca Lärn, Kristina Lugn, Gösta Ekman, and Fredrik Lindström.
"Exceptional achievement"
Pernilla August receives the prize for "an exceptional achievement as an actress, director, and screenwriter", writes the jury in its motivation.
It's such a recognition, I think, a recognition of the fact that I belong here, says Pernilla August.
She is often on the move. She has just directed radio theater in Stockholm and is now on her way to film shooting in Denmark, but the place that means the most is Vitemölla, next to Piraten's Kivik. Maybe they are even related? she wonders.
Now she will take on Piraten's literature, for it has not quite possible to do so before. And she has already made up her mind what she will do with the prize money of 150,000 kronor. It will be invested locally:
It will be the start of a guesthouse. I don't know if it will be for me or for my children.
The Pirate Prize is awarded on July 14 at the Piraten statue in Kivik.
The first prize, which was awarded in 1989, went to Jaques Werup.
According to the statutes, the prize "to be awarded to a person who has made the existence more enjoyable for the rest of humanity through their artistic work."
The jury consists of four people: Erika Lillö, priest in Sjöbo, Karin Brunk Holmqvist, author, Peter Danielsson, chairman of the Piraten Society, and Thomas Ekström, editor of Piratenposten.
