Hanna Bergholm's Finnish horror film "Nightborn" won best film at the inaugural Nordic Film and TV Awards, known as the Freyas, in a gala ceremony at Helsinki's Finlandia Hall. The film stars Seidi Haarla, the lead of "Compartment No. 6," alongside Rupert Grint.

Accepting the award, Bergholm framed the win as a collective achievement. "The most important thing is how we filmmakers in Finland always support each other. We stick together," she said. "I'm so happy to have this forum where we Nordic filmmakers can support each other and speak for Nordic films. That's so precious."

She thanked the Nordic filmmakers whose work shaped her. "Your films have opened windows for me to understand our world. Thank you everyone at the Freyas for making everyone come together," Bergholm said.

"The Danish Woman" took the prize for best Nordic series, and its star Trine Dyrholm won best Nordic actor in a series. Accepting the award, French-Danish producer Marianne Slot used the moment to issue a warning about artificial intelligence: "These days, AI is threatening originals. We have to take care of originals."

The acting honors spread across the region. Icelandic-American actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson won Nordic actor in a series for "Reykjavik Fusion." "We are proud to be part of this coalition of the Nordic nations. Especially in this strange world we live in now, I'm happy to be here," he said.

Sweden's Fares Fares won Nordic actor in a film for his performance in Alex Schulman's "Archipelago." He argued the award itself was overdue. "When I heard of this award, I thought this was long overdue. Why didn't we have this Nordic film and TV award before? What a great idea!" he said. "In Sweden, we watch Danish, Norwegian films. I really want to see more Finnish and Icelandic films – more stuff from Estonia."

Icelandic actress Ebba Katrín Finnsdóttir received the Valkyrie Award for her role in the crime drama series "Hildur."

Two lifetime honors went to a married couple. Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski presented the Falcon Award to Swedish director Lasse Hallström, saying: "'My Life as a Dog' – one of my favorite films – has shaped numerous young Nordic directors with its humanity and warmth."

Hallström accepted the award with a tribute to his wife, Swedish actress Lena Olin. "Lena has been by my side so many years. Without her, these achievements would have been very few," he said. "We're still working, alive. We have lots to say, lots to do, give us a few more years, Freyas! Give us a decade to get another lifetime to keep doing a little bit better."

Olin, who received the Goddess Award, recalled the culture of her early career in the Nordics. "When I started in the Nordics, I was told being an actor is a privilege. We were constantly told, 'No one cares about you. You are there to tell a story. If you're talented or not, no one cares – just tell that freaking story.' We felt we're just getting hammered to the ground," she said. "But then when I started working internationally it felt like an honor."

She praised the new awards as timely. "Freya is fantastic. It is timely, so long overdue. Now I feel there are so many extraordinary films, TV shows coming out of the Nordics. We have created so much greatness," Olin said.

The Finnish-Norwegian documentary "The Secret Reading Club of Kabul," directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, won the Nordic Impact Award. Hirvonen read a message from Adil, who remains in Afghanistan: "I grew up with the Taliban, spent six years in the world of my home. If I had known then that our film would be honored here, I would have had hope. I would have believed that if the world hears, at least someone cares."

"For me, Shakiba and the other protagonists are role models. They show how to fight totalitarian regimes," Hirvonen said.

The Local Nordic Hero Award recognized Finnish actress Laura Birn, whose performance as Demerzel in Apple TV's "Foundation" introduced her to an international audience. "In Finland, we have these strange peculiar honest, weird filmmakers, and weird, great financiers who give money to these filmmakers, and we have found a voice in cinema that didn't exist when I started a decade ago," Birn said. "I feel joy to witness something unique."

The Icebreaker Award, created to celebrate a younger Nordic professional whose work signals an international breakthrough, went to Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss.

Finnish actor Pekka Strang, currently shooting the fourth season of "White Lotus," hosted the ceremony. "In Finland we say, 'Last year summer was on a Tuesday.' Maybe our climate was one of the creators of Nordic noir," he joked. "It's been replicated all around the world. What they see as fiction is everyday life for us. Silence, darkness and grayness and naked female bodies on the shores – welcome to the Nordic audiovisual family!"

With winners from Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway, the first Freyas made the case that a region already exporting Nordic noir to the world now has a stage of its own to argue for it.