Arild Østin Ommundsen
Arild Østin Ommundsen (b. 1969) studied directing at the University College in Stavanger. After making short films in the last half of the 1990s – amongst others Before Sunrise, for which he won the Golden Chair award at the Grimstad Short Film Festival in 1999 - he made his debut as a feature film director with the indipendent hit Mongoland in 2001, a film he also co-wrote. The low-budget indie comedy was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and won the honorary award The Golden Clapper of the National Film Award Amanda Committee in 2001.
His second feature film, Monsterthursday, was selected as the first Norwegian film ever to participate in a competition at the Sundance Film Festival. It won the Audience Award at the Mannheim International Film Festival, and has been screened at numerous festivals around the world.
Østin Ommundsen has since then directed his third feature, Rat Nights, in 2009 (a thriller from the Norwegian oil industry), as well as made several short films, commercials and music videos, before taking on new challenges in directing a childrens film; the third and final installment of the Twigson-trilogy – one of the most successful movie franchises in Norwegian cinema history – premiering fall 2011.
