TORONTO 2015
NORWEGIAN FILMS Inspired by a historical - and inevitable future event - The Wave is Scandinavias first disaster movie.
Joachim Tries Louder Than Bombs brings In Homesick, Charlotte initiates contact together a star ensemble cast in a story TORONTO with her unknown half brother, 2015 | NORWEGIAN FILMSand 1 a selfdestructive sexual attraction arises between about individuality and togetherness in a modern family. the half siblings.
NORWEGIAN FILMS TORONTO 2015 Published by Norwegian Film Institute EDITORS: Tommy Gjerald Vibeke Lj. Rydland EDITORIAL STAFF: Stine Oppegaard, Jørn Rossing Jensen, Bjørn Giertsen, Toril Simonsen, Astri Dehli Blindheim, Kathrine Haaheim DESIGN: Lise Kihle Designstudio AS PRINT: Oslo Digitaltrykk CEO NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE: Sindre Guldvog ISBN: 978-82-8025-031-5
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3. Norwegian Wave is Flooding the Festivals 4. The Wave 6. Homesick 8. Louder than Bombs 10. Bird Heart 11. Oslo´s Rose 12. Upcoming Titles 14. Co-Producing 18. Norwegian Shorts 21. Industry News
Five Norwegian Films screening at the 40th anniversary programme of the Toronto International Film Festival
Norwegian Wave Is Flooding the Festivals “In a historic year, Norwegian cinema is more present on the international scene than ever.” – Managing director Sindre Guldvog, of the Norwegian Film Institute Norwegian director Roar Uthaug’s The Wave (Bølgen) – the first disaster movie produced in the Nordic countries – took off to a flying start at the opening of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund (16 August), and it is likely to become a local blockbuster. During the premiere weekend (28-30 August) the Kristoffer Joner-Ane Dahl Torp starrer registered 136.293 admissions, the best result for a Norwegian film this year, and the third best ever. The Wave is Norway’s official entry for the Oscar-nominations as Best Foreign-Language Feature. And it is one of the five Norwegian selections for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival – and it is one of the most recent reasons why Norwegian cinema is flooding the international festivals. “In a historic year, Norwegian cinema is more present on the international scene than ever,” said managing director Sindre Guldvog, of the Norwegian Film
Institute, when introducing the autumn season of releases. For the first time in 36 years, Norway had a Palme d’Or contender in the official competition at the Cannes International Film Festival: Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs (also in Toronto) succeeded Norwegian director Anja Breien’s Next of Kin (Arven) in 1979, and although his film with a cast of Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid did not win any prizes, it was licensed to 92 countries worldwide. This year four international film festivals are screening special programmes about Norway - “probably the Nordic film country that has made the strongest progress in recent years, both artistically and audience-wise”, said artistic director Jonas Holmberg, of the Göteborg International Film Festival (23 January-2 February). 26 Norwegian features were on show, and Norwegian actress-director Liv Ullmann was awarded.
Argentina’s Pantalla Pinamar International Film Festival (7-14 March) had chosen Norway as one of the cinematographic landscapes to honour by a special section of films. - Romania’s Transilvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca (29 May-7 June) unspooled a major focus on Norway, Norwave, with more than 20 features, including a retrospective of Norwegian director Bent Hamer. Between 12-19 December, France’s Les Arcs European Film Festival has picked Norway as this year’s guest country, screening 14 features and a package of shorts from the last 10 years as part of the main programme. “In recent years Norway has been a very dynamic film country, bringing a lot of new talent to the European scene,” explained festival co-founder general manager Guillaume Calop. Jørn Rossing Jensen
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FILM PRESENTATION
The Wave DISASTER MOVIE | Norwegian | 104 min | color | 1:2,39 | Scope 2K The experienced geologist Kristian Eikjord suddenly finds himself in the worst nightmare of his life. He warns the local villagers that the rockfall which will cause a destructive tsunami is on its way. He is separated from his family, and the raging inferno will hit in 10 minutes. It turns into a mortal struggle against time before the most powerful forces of nature Norway has ever seen will hit land. The Wave is a major production of Hollywood dimensions, and the first disaster film made in Scandinavia. Due to its well-written script, being superbly directed and with great acting performances, the Norwegian Oscar committee decided
The Wave to be Norway’s submission for the Oscar nomination as Best Foreign-Language Feature. The film outlines the future scenario in which the mountain section Åkneset, situated in the middle of the Geiranger Fjord, one day will collapse and trigger a powerful, more than 80 metre high megatsunami which will crush everything in its path before hitting Geiranger village. An identical scenario took place in 1934 in Tafjord, not far from Geiranger, when the Langhammaren massif plunged into the fjord, creating a giant wave which annihilated the surrounding villages, killing 40 people. Åkneset is, as related in the film, under constant surveillance by Norwegian geologists.
DOMESTIC RELEASE Aug 28, 2015 DIRECTOR Roar Uthaug SCREENPLAY John Kåre Raake and Harald Roseløw Eeg ORIGINAL TITLE Bølgen PRODUCERS Martin Sundland and Are Heidenstrøm PRODUCTION COMPANY Fantefilm Fiksjon INTERNATIONAL SALES TrustNordisk ApS DoP John Christian Rosenlund, FNF EDITOR Christian Siebenhertz COMPOSER Magnus Beite PRODUCTION DESIGNER Lina Nordqvist ART DIRECTOR Astrid Astrup and Adi Curelea COSTUME DESIGNER Karen Fabritius Gram SOUND Mads Olsen SOUND DESIGNER Christian Schanning ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ingrid Lykkeslet Strømskag CASTING Ingrid Lykkeslet Strømskag, Andrea Eckerbom CAST Kristoffer Joner (as Kristian) | Ane Dahl Torp (as Idun) | Jonas Hoff Oftebro (as Sondre) | Edith Haagenrud-Sande (as Julia) | Fridtjov Såheim (as Arvid Øvrebø) | Laila Goody (as Margot Valldal) | Arthur Berning (as Jacob Vikra) 4 NORWEGIAN FILMS | TORONTO 2015
FILM PRESENTATION
CAST Kristoffer Joner (Kristian) has been pivotal in the modernization of Norwegian film, and has appeared in a string of box office successes. Joner and his co-star Ane Dahl Torp are among Norway’s most distinguished actors, and both are former Shooting Stars at the Berlin Film Festival. Joner has won the Amanda Award for Best Male Actor twice: for Next Door in 2005, and for The Orheim Company in 2012.
Foto: L-P Lorentzen
Ane D ahl Torp (Idun) graduated from the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre. She first attracted attention in the film The Woman of My Life (2003), and appeared in Pioneer (2013), which was also screened in Toronto. Dahl Torp won the award for Best Female Supporting Role in 2008 for the film Cold Lunch. She recently starred in Bent Hamer’s 1001 Grams, which was selected as Norway’s Academy Awards entry in 2014. Jonas Hoff Of tebro (Sondre) is a newcomer in Norwegian film. He is the brother of Jakob Oftebro (Kon-Tiki). The Sondre character marks his first major part in a film with a broad international appeal.
Fantefilm Fiksjon Selected T itles: Carpenter Andersen Meets Santa Claus (2016) by Terje Rangnes, The Wave (2015) by Roar Uthaug, Ragnarok (2013) by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose, Escape (2012) by Roar Uthaug, Jackpot (2011) by Magnus Martens, Cold Prey III (2010) by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose, Cold Prey 2 (2008) by Mats Stenberg, Cold Prey (2006) by Roar Uthaug
DIRECTOR Roar Uthaug (b. 1973) graduated from The Norwegian National Film School in 2002. His graduation film The Martin Administration was nominated for a Student Academy Award. His debut feature Cold Prey (2006) was a huge box office hit in Norway, was sold to more than 40 countries, and spawned two sequels. He went on to co-direct the children’s adventure Magic Silver (2009), which was an even bigger success, with 370,190 admissions in Norway. The medieval action drama Escape (2012) followed, selling to more than 70 countries and putting Roar on Variety’s list of 10 Euro Directors to Watch. All his films have travelled extensively on the international festival circuit. In between features, Roar has directed commercials across the globe, winning numerous awards. His fourth feature The Wave (2015), the first Scandinavian disaster film, opened The Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, before its international premiere in Toronto. FILMOGRAPHY 2015 The Wave, feature 2012 Escape, feature 2009 Magic Silver, feature 2006 Cold Prey, feature 2002 The Martin Administration, short 1996 DX13036, short
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FILM PRESENTATION
Homesick DRAMA | Norwegian | 102 min | color | 1:2,39 | DCP 2K 27-year-old effervescent Charlotte leads a comfortable life, dating her best friend’s brother and teaching young children to dance. However, she aches for an affection she feels her cold mother and ailing alcoholic father have never offered. After learning that Henrik, the half-brother she has never met, has moved to Oslo, Charlotte tentatively initiates contact. As the pair sketch out a tenuous bond, a relationship
initially based on make-believe wish fulfillment soon deepens into a self-destructive sexual attraction that threatens to upend both their lives.
DIRECTOR Anne Sewitsky SCREENPLAY Ragnhild Tronvoll and Anne Sewitsky ORIGINAL TITLE De nærmeste PRODUCERS Synnøve Hørsdal and Åshild Ramborg PRODUCTION COMPANY Maipo Film AS INTERNATIONAL SALES TrustNordisk ApS DoP Daniel Voldheim EDITOR Christoffer Heie COMPOSER Ginge Anvik PRODUCTION DESIGNER Lina Nordqvist COSTUME DESIGNER Bente Ulvik SOUND Mads Olsen SOUND DESIGNER Bent Holm ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Binne Thoresen CASTING Yngvill Kolset Haga CAST Ine Wilmann (as Charlotte) | Simon J. Berger (as Henrik) | Silje Storstein (as Marte) | Anneke von der Lippe (as Anna)
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FILM PRESENTATION
CAST Foto: Pål Laukli / Maipo Film
Ine Wilmann (Charlotte) is a remarkable up-and-coming actress. Wilmann graduated from The Norwegian National Academy of Theatre in 2011, and recently she played the role of Anne Frank at Den Nasjonale Scene in Bergen. Wilmann will also play the lead in Anne Sewitsky’s next film about the Norwegian skater-turned-actress Sonja Henie, titled Queen of Ice.
Foto: creative commons
Simon J. B erger (Henrik) is a Swedish actor. Berger has starred in numerous features and TV series since he graduated from Malmö Theatre Academy in 2007, including the critically acclaimed thriller Call Girl by Mikael Marcimain, which won the Critics Prize at Toronto 2012, and Hotel, which premiered in Toronto in 2013.
Maipo Film AS Selected T itles: The Ash Lad in the Hall of the Mountain King (2016) by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose | Staying Alive (2015) by Charlotte Blom | Homesick (2015) by Anne Sewitsky | Miss Julie (2014) by Liv Ullmann | Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder (2014) by Arild Fröhlich | The Christmas of Louis and Nolan (2013) by Rasmus A. Sivertsen | Happy, Happy (2010) by Anne Sewitsky | The Art of Negative Thinking (2006) by Bård Breien | Jonny Vang (2003) by Jens Lien | Elling (2000) by Petter Næss.
DIRECTOR Anne Sewitsky (b. 1978) studied directing at the Norwegian Film School, graduating in 2006. Her first film after graduating, the short Oh, My God!, was given special mention by the children’s jury, and awarded the Special Prize of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk in the Generation Kplus programme of the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. She made her feature film debut in 2010 with the comedy Happy, Happy, which was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. Her second feature film Totally True Love premiered at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival, opening the Generation Kplus programme that year. Sewitsky has worked in television, directing four episodes of the popular drama series Himmelblå for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in 2008, as well as four episodes of Norwegian Cosy, an 8-episode drama series produced by Tordenfilm AS. Her latest film Homesick (2015) had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and Sewitsky is currently working on her next film – Queen of Ice - about the Norwegian skater-turned-actress Sonja Henie. FILMOGRAPHY 2016 Queen of Ice, feature 2015 Homesick, feature 2011 Norwegian Cosy, television series 2011 Totally True Love, feature 2010 Happy, Happy, feature 2008 Himmelblå, television series 2008 Oh, My God!, short 2006 Heartcut, short TORONTO 2015 | NORWEGIAN FILMS 7
FILM PRESENTATION
Louder Than Bombs DRAMA | Norwegian/French/Danish | 109 min | color | 1:1,85 | DCP 2K An upcoming exhibition celebrating photographer Isabelle Reed three years after her untimely death brings her eldest son Jonah back to the family house – forcing him to spend more time with his father Gene and withdrawn younger brother Conrad than he has in years. With the three of them under the same roof, Gene tries desperately to connect with
his two sons, but they struggle to reconcile their feelings about the woman they remember so differently.
DOMESTIC RELEASE Oct 2, 2015 DIRECTOR Joachim Trier SCREENPLAY Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier ORIGINAL TITLE Louder Than Bombs PRODUCERS Thomas Robsahm, Joshua Astrachan, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa, Marc Turtletaub, Alexandre Mallet-Guy PRODUCTION COMPANIES Motlys (NO), Memento Films Production (FR), Nimbus Film (DK) INTERNATIONAL SALES Memento Films DoP Jakob Ihre, FSF EDITOR Olivier Bugge Coutté COMPOSER Ola Fløttum PRODUCTION DESIGNER Molly Hughes ART DIRECTOR Gonzalo Cordoba COSTUME DESIGNER Emma Potter SOUND David J. Schwartz SOUND DESIGNER Gisle Tveito ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Cedric Vara CASTING Laura Rosenthal CAST Gabriel Byrne (as Gene Reed) | Jesse Eisenberg (as Jonah Reed) | Devin Druid (as Conrad Reed) | Isabelle Huppert (as Isabelle Reed) | Amy Ryan (as Hannah Brennan) | David Strathairn (as Richard Weissman) | Rachel Brosnahan (as Erin) | Ruby Jerins (as Melanie) | Megan Ketch (as Amy) 8 NORWEGIAN FILMS | TORONTO 2015
FILM PRESENTATION
CAST
Foto: Jakob Ihre
G abriel Byrne (Gene Reed) has starred in more than 60 feature films. On Broadway, Gabriel received a Tony nomination for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s Moon For The Misbegotten. Gabriel starred as Dr. Paul Weston in HBO’s In Treatment, for which he received the Golden Globe Award and was nominated twice for the Emmy.
Foto: Jakob Ihre
Foto: Jakob Ihre
Isabelle Huppert (Isabelle Reed) studied drama classes in Paris, with Jean-Laurent Cochet and Antoine Vitez as teachers at the Ecole de la rue Blanche and at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her first appearances were in Bertrand Blier’s Les Valseuses, Liliane de Kermadec’s Aloise, and in The Judge and the Assassin by Bertrand Tavernier. She has several times received Best Actress awards for her performances in Chabrol’s films. Jesse E isenberg ( Jonah Reed) is a playwright and an actor. Previously he wrote and starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in his play The Revisionist.
Motlys AS Selected Titles: Handle With Care (2017) by Arild Andresen | Louder Than Bombs (2015) by Joachim Trier | Blind (2014) by Eskil Vogt | Kiss Me You Fucking Moron (2013) by Stian Kristiansen | The Orheim Company (2012) by Arild Andresen | Turn me on, goddammit! (2011) by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen | I Travel Alone (2011) by Stian Kristiansen | Oslo, August 31st (2011) by Joachim Trier | North (2009) by Rune Denstad Langlo | The Man who loved Yngve (2008) by Stian Kristiansen | Dragonflies (2001) by Marius Holst
DIRECTOR Joachim T rier (b. 1974) is an internationally celebrated director and screenwriter. His critically acclaimed and award-winning feature films Reprise (2006) and Oslo, August 31st (2011), both co-written with Eskil Vogt, have been invited to and have won awards at international film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Karlovy Vary, Gothenburg and Istanbul. Oslo, August 31st was selected for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and nominated for the César award for Best Foreign Film 2013 after reaching over 180,000 admissions at theatres in France. Reprise received the 2007 Amanda Award (Norway’s top film award) for Best Norwegian Film, Best Director and Best Script. The film was released in the US by Miramax, and was the Norwegian Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film in 2006. Hailed as ”a sublimely natural talent,“ Trier was named one of 20 Directors to Watch by the New York Times in 2013. Louder Than Bombs (2015) is his English language film debut and his first appearance in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. FILMOGRAPHY 2015 Louder Than Bombs, feature 2011 Oslo, August 31st, feature 2006 Reprise, feature
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FILM PRESENTATION
Bird Hearts DRAMA | Norwegian | 25 min | color | 1:2,35 | DCP 2K Benjamin and Maya share a life and an apartment in the centre of Oslo. On the occasion of Benjamin’s 26th birthday, Tobias - Benjamin’s younger and more successful brother - comes to visit for the weekend. During a late night dinner party with friends, Maya tells a story about a sexual experience she had
in Brazil. As a consequence, Benjamin’s insecurities and vulnerabilities begin to surface. Bird Hearts is a film about gender roles and jealousy, sex and family - and the tricky power of the stories lovers tell.
DOMESTIC RELEASE TBA DIRECTOR Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel SCREENPLAY Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel ORIGINAL TITLE Fuglehjerter PRODUCER Martine Solberg PRODUCTION COMPANY Westerdals – Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology INTERNATIONAL SALES Westerdals – Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology DoP Daniel Warren EDITOR Jonas Ekroll Bakkelund COMPOSER Bendik Hovik Kjeldsberg PRODUCTION DESIGNER Maren Saedi SOUND DESIGNER Odin Eggen Brække CAST Stine Sørensen | André Sørum | Trine Wiggen | Steniar Klouman Hallert | Eline Grødal
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DIRECTOR Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel (b. 1990) rounded out bachelor’s studies at Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology with Bird Hearts (2015). He currently lives in Oslo, where he enjoys drumming in his free time. Ullmann Tøndel’s Bird Hearts was screened at Future Frames: Ten New Filmmakers to Follow at the 2015 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – a new programme instigated by European Film Promotion (EFP) and the festival introducing young European directors, who have just made their first films.
FILM PRESENTATION
Oslo’s Rose COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE | Norwegian | 7 min | B/W | 1:1,85 | DCP 2K Nader is too busy fulfilling his own expectations in life and it holds him back. He has been head over heels in love with Janne for two years and it affects both his creativity and work. But
now, suddenly he sees a possibility to move on. Nader dives into the assignment with his heart first.
DOMESTIC RELEASE June 2015 DIRECTOR The Sporadic Film Collective SCREENPLAY The Sporadic Film Collective ORIGINAL TITLE Oslos rose PRODUCER The Sporadic Film Collective PRODUCTION COMPANY The Sporadic Film Collective INTERNATIONAL SALES The Sporadic Film Collective DoP The Sporadic Film Collective EDITOR The Sporadic Film Collective COMPOSER The Sporadic Film Collective CAST The Sporadic Film Collective
DIRECTOR The Sporadic Film Collective consists of 14 members, representing most of the professional film disciplines. They work collectively and do not wish to credit individuals in their productions. Oslo’s Rose is the first short film by the Sporadic Film Collective. Oslo’s Rose was awarded the Terje Vigen Award at the 2015 Norwegian Short Film Festival.
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UPCOMING TITLES
Kristofer Hivju, Jakob Oftebro and Pål Sverre Hagen in The Last King.
- and the next wave The Norwegian autumn season includes 14 releases: from The Wave to five family pictures, traditionally strong performers on the charts, also drama, comedy and horror.
T
he family package comprises Norwegian director Rasmus A Sivertsen’s Two Buddies and a Badger, co-directed by Rune Spaans, which will open Norway’s Bergen International Film Festival (23-30 September). Sivertsen directed The Christmas of Louis and Nolan, the best-selling local movie in 2013. Later, Norwegian Oscar-nominated director Nils Gaup, whose latest feature was the thriller, Glass Dolls (2014), will return to the 13th century in The Last King; Norway is ravaged by civil war, and Prince Haakon Haakonsson is born in secrecy. Half the kingdom is out to kill him, but two men protect him
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with their lives during the escape over the mountains, which changed the history of Norway forever. The cast in the action drama launched in February 2016 lists Jakob Oftebro and Kristofer Hivju. Norwegian director Vibeke Idsøe has gathered an international cast of Rolf Lassgård, Ken Duken and Lisa Loven Kongsli for her adaption of The Lion Woman, from Norwegian author Erik Fosnes Hansen’s bestseller. In 1912 a girl was born with yellow hair all over her body in a small Norwegian community; her mother dies the same night, and most of her childhood she is locked up in her father, the stationmaster’s apartment; still she insists of living
like other children. To be launched in August 2016. Norwegian director Erik Poppe, who most recently directed A Thousand Times Goodnight, is in production with The King’s Choice, a historical epic set during the German invasion in Norway 1940. In the afternoon of 8 April, King Haakon VII was facing the German demand of capitulation, a passive Government and a Crown Prince fit for fight. Danish actor Jesper Christensen and Norwegian actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen play the leads in the September 2016 premiere. Currently touring the international festival circuit with Homesick, Norwe-
UPCOMING TITLES gian director Anne Sewitsky is preparing Queen of Ice, a biopic of Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie, who won 11 world championships, two Olympic Games, and after a record of sell-outs to her ice show in New York’s Madison Square Garden, became one of the highest paid Hollywood stars. Ine Wilmann will star in the drama of the ups and downs in Henie’s career, which will open during Christmas 2016. Documentaries Launched at a royal premiere during the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund (16-21 August), Norwegian director Kari Anne Moe’s second feature-length documentary Rebels (Pøbler) depicts a group of school dropouts. On their way to an existence without a job, living on welfare, they are selected for a training course that should set them back on track – give them a chance to turn their lives around. Bestowed by awards, including an Amanda – Norway’s national film prize – for Best Director, Aslaug Holm’s Brothers (Brødre) pictures the close relationship between two brothers, Markus (14) and Lukas (11), living at an old, yellow townhouse in the Oslo centre. Markus loves soccer and wants to become a professional, Lukas likes to think all kinds of thoughts – and the eight-year period of their life together is filmed by their mother, who wanted to go into their own, authentic world. Norwegian award-winning director Margreth Olin, who most recently contributed to the Cathedrals of Culture TV series, meets Joralf Gjerstad, who has healing powers, in her new documentary The Power of One (Mannen fra Snåsa). More than 50,000 people have travelled to northern Norway to see him – they claim he has cured almost every disease. “I can’t be more than a human being, but I don’t want to be anything less,” he says in the documentary that will open on 15 January 2016. Introvert and mostly interested in
chess, 13-year-old Magnus Carlsen was bullied by his classmates. But he ignored them, broke free from conformity, and at 22 he became World Chess Champion and was named one of the most influential persons alive by Time Magazine. Norwegian director Benjamin Ree’s first full-length documentary Magnus, which will be ready in the autumn 2016, follows the battle of a genius and his personal sacrifices. In Norwegian director Steffan Strandberg’s animated documentary, The Night (Natta pappa henta oss), he looks back at his own childhood with an alcoholic mother and the dream of being collected by dad. Strandberg recounts
from the child’s perspective, about the daily longing for a mother’s love and care, and about the summer holidays he spent with his father and his grandparents. Premiere 2016. Norwegian director Simen Braathen’s first feature-length documentary, Maze Represent! portrays Sami rapper SlinCraze, aka Nils Rune, who tries to make an international career as a musician – his problem is only 20,000 people understand his language. He lives with his mother in a small Sami village, which he may have to leave, if he lands the record contract he is looking for. Premiere early 2016. Jørn Rossing Jensen
The Power of One, directed by Margreth Olin, photo: Morten Krogvold. Brothers, directed by Aslaug Holm.
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CO-PRODUCING
On the set, Louder Than Bombs, director Joachim Trier.
Norwegian films expand through co-production The production companies Fantefilm Fiksjon AS (The Wave), Maipo Film AS (Homesick), and Motlys AS (Louder Than Bombs) represent Norway with their full length feature films at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
N
orwegian production companies have realized the importance of co-production as a form of financing. There has been a steady increase in the number of productions financed through international collaboration, or making use of international competence. According to Sveinung Golimo, Executive Director of Development and Production at the Norwegian Film Institute, two co-production elements are decisive as to whether producers regard this form of financing an attractive alternative. - Over time, we have seen a substantial growth in Norwegian producers’ external financing from abroad. There are two main elements involved: financing in order to produce the film, and the
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opportunity to realize the film’s income potential to the maximum - by expanding the film’s market, says Golimo. Maipo Film AS is working on a new major film project about the Norwegian figure skater and actress Sonja Henie, titled Queen of Ice. Producer Synnøve Hørsdal relates that they are targeting one particular market for co-production, as this nation is largely familiar with Henie: Canada. - We have not excluded all other financing options just yet, and there are still some open doors, but we’re definitely looking to Canada as a great skating nation, where Henie is a familiar figure. In addition, we’re considering Spain in connection with locations, and pos-
sibly Scandinavia and Film i Vãst. As I mentioned, we’re keeping our options open for many countries, Hørsdal says. In Golimo’s opinion, Maipo is on the right track regarding co-production, when focusing on Canada. - Maipo’s upcoming Henie project has a strong Canadian basis. In addition, Canada has film support systems. This is an example of a win-win situation in a co-production context, and it contributes to opening up a market. Hørsdal emphasizes that they will not let themselves be ruled by a possible national consciousness regarding a film’s thematics before attempting to sell the film. This is just a sheer bonus in the co-production context. - This is a major film with several
CO-PRODUCING unique aspects, with a quite interesting narrative in itself. Our story is told on a grand scale, with lots of show business scenes, an excessive lifestyle, and glitter and tinsel - an extreme fate. Knowledge of this person could make for an easier introduction of the film, but this is never a condition for financing it. Producer Martin Sundland from Fantefilm Fiksjon AS is happy that the film has been selected for Toronto, but also confides that basically the company is not looking for major co-production projects. - The fact that our films now reach an increasingly large international audience is a great bonus, which we are extremely happy about. At the same time, experience has told us that by keeping the number of co-producers as low as possible, it is easier to maintain control over the films. We would like to focus on making films instead of spending too much time on paper work. We have a few collaborators in Scandinavia which confirm the exception to the rule. This being said, we do of course carry out a strategic evaluation of all our projects regarding what we consider to be the best conditions for the film; concerning both financing, shooting, and post-production. Sveinung Golimo, Norwegian Film Institute.
To a large degree, Fantefilm makes use of international manpower and competence, as important resources in their film production. - There are plenty of skilled professionals out there, and we always want the best ones to work for our productions. We have only had positive experiences shooting abroad, where they have competence and facilities which cannot be found in Norway. For Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs, Motlys AS determined that co-production was the right financing alternative in order to make the film a reality. At the film’s participation at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Joachim Trier announced that he has always regarded film as an international language, and that he and partner Eskil Vogt always had a dream and a desire to join the international discussion on cinematic storytelling. Consequently it comes as no surprise that the production company Motlys is strongly internationally oriented. Producer Thomas Robsahm tells us that the company thinks internationally at all times, and is continually working with network building. - Through many years, Motlys has built up a broad global network, which we usually expand even more when travelling to festivals. Every year we participate at the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Haugesund, the Kosmorama in Trondheim, and Gothenburg. And we frequently attend the Toronto Festival, Sundance, Tribeca, CPH:DOX, Bergen, Tromsø, and the Norwegian Short Film Festival in Grimstad. We have worked with some of our partners through several decades, others are new to us. We are constantly trying to broaden our international focus, as we want our films to reach audiences all over the world, Robsahm says. Golimo informs us that it is much easier to obtain co-financing today compared with a few years back, when there was a lot more resistance. These
Top: Synnøve Hørsdal, Maipo Film. Below: Thomas Robsahm, Motlys.
days there is an entirely different openness in international financing forums, and a growing curiosity regarding Norwegian film on the part of international players in the film business. The producers do not conceal the fact that co-producing creates certain challenges, even though cultural differences - a frequently used explanation - is not necessarily the main reason. Among other things, Maipo’s Hørsdal refers to the number of people involved in the process. - There is an abundance of people with a lot of opinions on few topics, TORONTO 2015 | NORWEGIAN FILMS 15
CO-PRODUCING - The challenges are chiefly a jungle of rules and regulations, which in many cases do not take the artistic aspect of filmmaking into sufficient consideration. On the other hand, the advantage is that we constantly expand our web of contacts. The development in the opposite direction - co-productions into Norway has not been as expansive. In Golimo’s opinion, this is due to the level of costs. There are now indications that the cur-
rent state of things may change in the near future. - The decision to introduce an incentive scheme will probably improve the situation. The framework is not yet complete, but the ambition is to stimulate the flow of international projects into Norway, Golimo states. Tommy Gjerald
Queen of Ice, director Anne Sewitsky, photo: Henie Onstad Kunstsenters Arkiv.
Top: Martin Sundland. Below: Are Heidenstrøm.
which often enough makes the process inefficient. And one has to make sure the co-production itself will not be overly costly. Cultural differences exist, no doubt about it, but human differences are greater than cultural differences. I often think it’s way too easy to refer to cultural differences, when they may simply be unacceptable, or the job has just not been carried out properly. Robsahm in Motlys points out the danger of a greater focus on bureaucracy than on artistic processes as a crucial challenge. 16 NORWEGIAN FILMS | TORONTO 2015
INTRODUCING INCENTIVES IN 2016
LOOK TO NORWAY – A LOCATION WITH A DIFFERENCE
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NORWEGIAN SHORTS
Short Cuts, Norwegian talents The short films Bird Hearts and Oslo’s Rose have been selected for the short film programme Short Cuts. Both films are debut productions, and demonstrate the talent inherent in the ranks of Norwegian short film community; one of them is a graduation film from an educational institution, the other is the successful firstborn from a film commune.
T
he man behind Bird Hearts is the newly graduated director Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel. The film was his graduation production from the educational institution Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communications and Technology. Oslo’s Rose is the first project by The Sporadic Film Collective - a 14-member production commune jointly credited for the film. The members cover all the most important fields of film production; directors, photographers, sound designers, editors, composer and actors. Ullmann Tøndel’s Bird Hearts got an amazing kick-start earlier this year when the film was selected for partici-
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pation at the Future Frames: Ten New Filmmakers to Follow, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July. - This feels like a great recognition of both me and everyone else who has worked extremely hard at making Bird Hearts the best film possible, was Tøndel’s comment to the Future Frames news. The selection for the Short Cuts programme in Toronto is an additional recognition of the director’s talent, and he relates that the news have made everyone behind the film proud. - It means extremely much to me, of course, and to everyone involved in Bird Hearts. We are all bursting with pride, and the film has by far surpassed
all the ambitions and expectations we imagined would be possible for a graduation film from Westerdals Oslo ACT. Like they say in Seinfeld: ”I’m speechless. I have no speech.” I’m kind of dumbfounded, and all I can hope for now is that the film will stay alive, while I turn to new projects, and make use of the momentum I have gained. To make films is of major importance to Ullmann Tøndel. He relates that the film creation process makes him relax, and brings out his most honest and personal character traits. - Gradually I have realized that making films is what makes me feel most like myself. Like many other people, I’m a shapeshifter. I adjust my be-
NORWEGIAN SHORTS haviour according to my surroundings. But when I make films, I don’t adjust. At those times, my collaborators face the entire Halfdan package, for better or worse. For my part it’s both liberating and rewarding. It has taken time to get this far, of course, and I think I will always have to - with every film I make - search for the exact spot where I’m most in touch with myself, for the project to succeed. In light of the success of Bird Hearts, it won’t be hard for Ullmann Tønder to pursue new, creative film projects. Just before his departure for Toronto International Film Festival, he and the short film’s producer participated in Nordic Talents 2015, where they pitched a feature film idea. Two new short films are also in the planning stage. - The feature is titled High. This is an exciting and ambitious project about two young boys testing their own, each other’s and society’s limits. The film balances between the evasive and the definite, and treats themes like life and death, freedom, sex, and the merciless love you may feel for your closest ones. In addition I’m working on two new shorts, which both compete for my attention. One of them is pretty short, based on a very simple idea. The other is slightly longer, with a more complex idea behind it. The common denominator for both films is that they deal with young people spending far too much time on the act of thinking. I also want to focus on full-length features, and it will be great to have a project out there in Copenhagen. I don’t want to wait until I’m 40 before making a feature film, Tøndel confides. The Sporadic Film Collective is a ”surplus energy” production company with an intense commitment to the art of film, according to their own manifesto. The objective of the Collective is a wish to carry out more research on the medium of film, without having to depend on a budget or relate to a time and quality demand from distributors
Top: Oslo’s Rose. Below: Bird Hearts.
or producers. They want sufficient time and space to experiment within the various professional fields, and the possibility to produce while the ideas are fresh; not having to relate to a typical long, drawn-out process from idea to final result. The Collective has only been around for 7 months, and Oslo’s Rose is their only production so far. The short film won the Terje Vigen Award at the Norwegian Short Film Festival this year, and with the selection for Toronto, the group demonstrated that the Collective is a vital cinematic art constellation. The commune’s mantra is: One idea, one preparatory meeting, one shooting day. In addition, they work in accordance with three established dogmas: The screenplay shall not exceed five pages, it shall not contain more than four character roles, and the shooting must be
completed in one day. With its 14 members, the Collective consists of more people than one single production demands, and which members will work on each project is decided internally. In case members from several overlapping professional functions would like to join the same project, it is considered a creative challenge, which becomes part of the project. – ”We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to travel to Toronto. It is both inspiring and fun to observe that a film with such limited scope and means is able to reach an international stage this way. We wish to work intuitively, and with Oslo’s Rose we have proved we may also get far with unfiltered, spontaneous ideas,” is The Sporadic Film Collective’s response to the news. Tommy Gjerald TORONTO 2015 | NORWEGIAN FILMS 19
NORWEGIAN FACTS & FIGURES 2014
Population of Norway, 5.1 million
Market share
Are you interested in information about the film market in Norway, and the performance of Norwegian films? We have gathered key statistics displaying theatrical releases, cinema admissions, most viewed films, market share, gender equality and a lot more. Download your paper copy of Facts & Figures from nfi.no/english/downloads.
Number of screens
Average cinema admissions per Norwegian is 2.2
191 Norwegian feature-length films
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Number of cinemas
Admissions Norwegian films
INDUSTRY NEWS
Joner to Handle With Care
Arild Andersen, director of Handle with Care, starring Kristoffer Joner.
Norwegian actor Kristoffer Joner, who most recently starred in Norwegian director Roar Uthaug’s disaster movie, The Wave (Bølgen), will star in Norwegian director Arild Andresen’s upcoming Handle With Care (Hjertestarter), which will shoot for Hans-Jørgen Osnes and Motlys. The third feature by Andresen, who has worked on television since The Orheim Company (Kompani Orheim/2012), is scripted by Hilde Susan Jægtnes, Jorge Camacho and
Andresen, and follows a Norwegian offshore worker, Kjetil, whose wife dies, and he is left with their six-year-old adopted son, Daniel. Out of desperation, Kjetil goes with Daniel to find the boy’s biological mother; while assisted in his search by a taxi driver in Bogotá, Daniel reconnects with his country of origin. At the recent Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Joner, who has finished filming Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with an international cast including Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio, was one of the first artists to be recognized at the city’s new Walk of Fame. Joner and his The Wave co-star, Norwegian actress Ane Dahl Torp, were both honored by 60x60x12cm granite stones with the Amanda logo (of the Norwegian national film prize), name, position and signature in the pedestrian main street, Haraldsgaten, in the city centre. The film veterans ( Joner with 49 acting credits, Torp with 37) have both received the Amanda, Joner twice, Torp three times. – Haugesund still has a way to go before it reaches Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, with 2,500 star names.
Norwegian Games to the World launched The Norwegian Film Institute, the Norwegian Culture Ministry and Innovation Norway have joined forces to launch Games to the World, a $1 million project to support Norwegian producers of video games with international ambitions and growth potential. “Norwegian art and culture strengthen the Norwegian competitiveness in the international markets. Games to the World will be launched in 2016, to increase sales and exports,” said Culture Minister Thorhild Widvey. At the recent Nordic Game conference in Malmö, Norwegian producers DOS Studios and Krillbite Studio were among the winners - DOS Studios’ Size Among the Sleep. DOES Matter was awarded for Best Nordic Handheld Game, while Krillbite Studio’s Among the Sleep scored for Best Artistic Achievement. Size DOES Matter was described as “rhythmic action music game, where you can navigate through abstract landscapes
from songs by well-known Norwegian artists, while Among the Sleep is a “dark adventure game seen from the perspective of a two-year-old child, who meets challenges during the darkness of the night.” TORONTO 2015 | NORWEGIAN FILMS 21
INDUSTRY NEWS
TV-series Aquitted around the world After a successful launch by Norwegian commercial pubcaster TV2 Norge (660,000 viewers per episode), Miso Film’s 10x45minute crime series Acquitted (Frikjent) is now touring the world. Following Sweden it will air in Denmark, Finland, Israel, Spain, Korea, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, US and Latin America are under negotiation. Acquitted has been selected to open the French Festival de la fiction TV in La Rochelle (9-13 September), it will later unspool at the Seoul International Drama Awards (10 September) and the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Écrans (6-14 November). Scripted by Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anna Bache-Wiig, and directed by Geir Henning Hopland and Rune Denstad Langlo, the series follows Aksel Borgen, a business man who has left his native town after being acquitted of the murder of his high school sweetheart. After 20 years he has worked his way to the top in Asia, and when his home town’s cornerstone business is threatened by bankruptcy, he returns to save the place that once turned its back on him - but the past has not been forgotten.
Nicolai Cleve Broch in Acquitted.
Nicolai Cleve Broch and Lena Endre play the leads, in a cast with Synnøve Macody Lund, Tobias Santelmann, Fridtjov Såheim, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Ingar Helge Gimle. – Acquitted was produced by Miso Film Norway chief Brede Hovland with the company’s owners Jonas Allen and Peter Bose.
€4 million for four features
Erik Skjoldbjærg.
Director Erik Skjoldbjærg starts a fire Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjærg, who most recently made the award-winning North Sea thriller Pioneer (2013), switches from water to fire in Pyromaniac, his new film about an arsonist who terrorises a small community, which will be produced by Aage Aaberge, for Glør Film. Danish international sales agency TrustNordisk will launch in the foreign markets. Scripted by Norwegian writer Bjørn Olaf Johannessen from Gaute Heivoll’s novel, Pyromaniac is based on real-life events in the author’s backyard, the small town of Finsland in Southern Norway, where a pyromaniac in 1978 started a number of dangerous fires. A local policeman discovers that the culprit is not a stranger, but a village fireman. 22 NORWEGIAN FILMS | TORONTO 2015
The Norwegian Film Institute supports three family films and “Norway’s first real political thriller”. After Cool Kids Don’t Cry, Norwegian director Katarina Launing will shoot Cinderella, a new version of Czech director Václav Vorlícek’s 1973 classic, Three Wishes for Cinderella. Scripted by Kamilla Krogsveen (Totally True Love/2011, The Journey to the Christmas Star/2012), the film will be produced by Asle Vatn and Christian Fredrik Martin for Friland Produksjon. Nordisk Film Distribusjon will handle the winter 2016-2017 release. Norwegian director Rasmus A Sivertsen, whose The Christmas of Louis and Noland became Norway’s 2013’s local blockbuster, will conclude the fully-animated Louis & Nolan trilogy, which Nordisk will have ready for an autumn 2018 premiere.. Scripted by Karsten Fullu, the third Pinchcliff instalment will be produced by Cornelia Boysen and Synnøve Hørsdal, for Maipo Film. Norwegian director Åsleik Engmark, who introduced Anne-Cath Vestly’s Twigson character to the screen in 2009, will also direct Officer Twigson and the Christmas Mystery, the fourth and his own second film in the series. Christmas is approaching, and thieves are operating in the neighbourhood in Jan Trygve Røyneland and Lars Kilevold’s script for the Finn Gjerdrum-Stein B Kvae production for Paradox Rettigheter. Nordisk has scheduled local release for February 2016.
JOACHIM TRIER & ESKIL VOGT
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION LOUDER THAN BOMBS
By Joachim Trier | Drama | 109 min | 2015 09/13/15 09/15/15 09/16/15 09/18/15
11:45AM 5:45PM 12:00PM 8:00PM
Scotiabank 14 | P&I Ryerson Theatre Ryerson Theatre Winter Garden Theatre
THE WAVE
By Roar Uthaug | Disaster Movie | 104 min | 2015 09/11/15 09/14/15 09/16/15 09/17/15
2:00PM 11:15AM 9:00PM 5:00PM
Scotiabank 13 | P&I Scotiabank 4 | P&I Ryerson Theatre Scotiabank 1
CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA HOMESICK
By Anne Sewitsky | Drama | 102 min | 2015 09/10/15 09/15/15 09/17/15 09/20/15
10:00AM 10:00PM 7:00PM 3:30PM
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7 | P&I 13 3 13
SHORT CUTS BIRD HEARTS
By Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel | Drama | 25 min | 2015 09/16/15 09/17/15 09/20/15
10:00PM 11:15AM 6:00PM
Scotiabank 13 Scotiabank 5 | P&I Scotiabank 11
OSLO’S ROSE
By The Sporadic Film Collective | Comedy/Drama/Romance | 7 min | 2015 09/16/15 09/17/15 09/20/15
STINE OPPEGAARD
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Head of International Relations Feature films +47 908 59 638 stine.oppegaard@nfi.no
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