Nikolaj Arcel's period drama A Royal Affair, Ruben Ostlund's Play about school bullying and the Finnish feature The Punk Syndrome, about a band of mentally challenged rockers, are in the running for pan-Scandinavian honor, the Nordic Film Prize, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Also nominated this year are family drama The Orheim Company from Norwegian director Arild Andresen and Either Way from director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, which is set in 1980s in northern Iceland.

The award, backed by the Nordisk Film and TV Fund, honors the year's best feature film which is “embedded to a significant degree in Nordic culture.” A jury in each of the five Nordic countries nominates a single title. A joint jury with members from each nation – Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland - picks the winner, who receives a $60,000 (DKK 350,000) cash busary.

Previous winners include Danish directors Lars von Trier, Per Fly and Thomas Vinterberg; Sweden's Roy Andersson and Josef Fares and Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismaki. This year's Nordic Film Prize will be announced at the Nordic Council's session in Helsinki on Oct. 31.