How Oscar-winning drinking drama Another Round transcended tragedy to become a celebration of life

‘There was a lot of love in the script. Then this tragic thing happened in my life,’ says director Thomas Vinterberg of his daughter’s death in a car crash

That made the film, about four disillusioned teachers who drink to take the edge off work, something bigger than ‘a celebration of alcohol’, he says

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Mads Mikkelsen in a still from Another Round, a film about drinking that started out as “a celebration of alcohol” but became something bigger when its Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s teenaged daughter was killed in a car crash four days after it began shooting. Photo: Henrik Ohsten

Published: 10:15pm, 4 May 2021Updated: 4:09pm, 5 May 2021

When Thomas Vinterberg stepped up to the podium last week to accept his Oscar, it was always going to be emotional. The Danish director won his first Academy Award in the best international feature film category for Another Round, an uplifting drama about four teachers who tackle midlife malaise by experimenting with alcohol.

A worthy winner in any year, the film carried added significance for Vinterberg: his teenage daughter Ida was killed in a road accident in 2019 by a distracted driver.

“Someone looking into a cell phone,” he said, almost matter-of-factly, as he gave his tearful speech. It was just four days into the shoot of Another Round when Vinterberg got the news; his ex-wife Maria, who was at the wheel, survived but their 19 year-old daughter died instantly. It left Vinterberg sick with grief.

The shoot went on a hiatus until he felt ready to return – to shoot a script he’d been ruminating on for almost a decade. Two months before her death, his daughter read it and applauded her father’s work. It was due to be filmed at her school, and she was even set for a small role.

“There was a lot of love in the script,” Vinterberg tells this writer. “And then this tragic thing happened in my life. I met an overwhelming amount of love from the actors and from the crew. And I hope – and think – this radiates through the screen.”

Another Round started as something joyous, “a celebration of alcohol” and the achievements of many significant leaders and artists under the influence of drink, says Vinterberg.