Empire, an absurdist period drama about Denmark’s colonial history from filmmaker Frederikke Aspöck and writer Anna Neye, has won the 2023 Nordic Council Film Prize.
The award was announced Tuesday evening during the Nordic Council Prize ceremony at the Opera house in Oslo. The gong was handed to Aspöck and Neye alongside producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff, and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen.
Speaking of Empire, the council jury said: “It is a rare thing to come across a film that is so confidently and thoroughly thought through in every single detail, and where such an extraordinarily clear vision from the filmmakers behind it shines from every frame. They serve a beautiful, sweet, and colorful treat laced with bitter poison and low-intensity rage. The film is complex and thought-provoking, and the filmmakers do not stumble once while telling their tale about an ugly part of history.”
Conceived and written by Neye,...
The award was announced Tuesday evening during the Nordic Council Prize ceremony at the Opera house in Oslo. The gong was handed to Aspöck and Neye alongside producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff, and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen.
Speaking of Empire, the council jury said: “It is a rare thing to come across a film that is so confidently and thoroughly thought through in every single detail, and where such an extraordinarily clear vision from the filmmakers behind it shines from every frame. They serve a beautiful, sweet, and colorful treat laced with bitter poison and low-intensity rage. The film is complex and thought-provoking, and the filmmakers do not stumble once while telling their tale about an ugly part of history.”
Conceived and written by Neye,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The award was handed out tonight during a ceremony at Oslo’s Opera House.
Danish drama Empire (Viften) has won the lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize for 2023.
The prize, worth $45,000, is split between director Frederikke Aspöck, screenwriter Anna Neye and producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen.
The award was handed out tonight during a ceremony at Oslo’s Opera House.
Empire celebrated its world premiere in Göteborg and opened in Danish cinemas in April via Sf Studios. REinvent handles international sales.
The film was selected among six Nordic candidates by a jury consisting...
Danish drama Empire (Viften) has won the lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize for 2023.
The prize, worth $45,000, is split between director Frederikke Aspöck, screenwriter Anna Neye and producers Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen.
The award was handed out tonight during a ceremony at Oslo’s Opera House.
Empire celebrated its world premiere in Göteborg and opened in Danish cinemas in April via Sf Studios. REinvent handles international sales.
The film was selected among six Nordic candidates by a jury consisting...
- 10/31/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Six nominees vying for the lucrative annual award.
The Nordic Council Film Prize is including a Greenlandic nominee for the first time, with six titles in the running for the prize, worth $45,000.
The full list of nominees this year are:
The Edge Of The Shadow (Greenland) Directed and written by Malik Kleist and produced by Nina Paninnguaq for PaniNoir and Imalik Film. Empire (Den) Directed by Frederikke Aspöck, written by Anna Neye and Frederikke Aspöck and produced by Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen for Meta Film Bubble (Fin) Directed by Aleksi Salmenperä , written by Reeta Ruotsalainen and Aleksi Salmenperä,...
The Nordic Council Film Prize is including a Greenlandic nominee for the first time, with six titles in the running for the prize, worth $45,000.
The full list of nominees this year are:
The Edge Of The Shadow (Greenland) Directed and written by Malik Kleist and produced by Nina Paninnguaq for PaniNoir and Imalik Film. Empire (Den) Directed by Frederikke Aspöck, written by Anna Neye and Frederikke Aspöck and produced by Pernille Munk Skydsgaard, Nina Leidersdorff and Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen for Meta Film Bubble (Fin) Directed by Aleksi Salmenperä , written by Reeta Ruotsalainen and Aleksi Salmenperä,...
- 8/22/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The World War Two drama War Sailor — which debuted at last year’s Toronto Film Festival — swept Norway’s Amanda Awards last night, taking four main awards.
The War Sailor haul included best actor for Pål Sverre Hagen. This is his third Amanda and second consecutive win. Ine Marie Wilmann won the best supporting actress award for portraying Cecilia in the pic.
The film, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Gunnar Vikene, centers on Alfred Garnes, a working-class sailor who has recently become the father of a third child. He and his childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen are working on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out. They are unarmed civilians on the front lines of a war they never asked to join. The two men struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where German submarines may attack their valuable vessels at any moment.
The War Sailor haul included best actor for Pål Sverre Hagen. This is his third Amanda and second consecutive win. Ine Marie Wilmann won the best supporting actress award for portraying Cecilia in the pic.
The film, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Gunnar Vikene, centers on Alfred Garnes, a working-class sailor who has recently become the father of a third child. He and his childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen are working on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out. They are unarmed civilians on the front lines of a war they never asked to join. The two men struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where German submarines may attack their valuable vessels at any moment.
- 8/20/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
War Sailor (Krigsseileren) is a series set in World War II, a Norwegian production that returns to the war theme, as was done with Narvik. A great series written and directed by Gunnar Vikene starring Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen and Ine Marie Wilmann.
The tale of a few men who, onboard ship, suddenly find themselves facing the outbreak of World War II, on the high seas and without weapons.
If you like epic stories, ones which have strength and style and, above all, human stories of overcoming obstacles, War Sailor plunges us into this three-hour story divided into three episodes that completely immerse us in a tale which is, above all, well narrated.
As already happened in Narvik, it is a film very close to the human side rather than to the events themselves, a series that tries to get closer to the human suffering than to any political or sociological key aspects.
The tale of a few men who, onboard ship, suddenly find themselves facing the outbreak of World War II, on the high seas and without weapons.
If you like epic stories, ones which have strength and style and, above all, human stories of overcoming obstacles, War Sailor plunges us into this three-hour story divided into three episodes that completely immerse us in a tale which is, above all, well narrated.
As already happened in Narvik, it is a film very close to the human side rather than to the events themselves, a series that tries to get closer to the human suffering than to any political or sociological key aspects.
- 4/4/2023
- by Veronica Loop
- Martin Cid - TV
“Parsing the difference between movies, TV and streamers – it’s becoming really difficult.”
Producers should make the most of collapsing boundaries between feature film and television content, according to Killer Films producer Christine Vachon, speaking today (February 18) in Berlin.
Speaking on a European Film Market industry sessions talk titled ‘Producers Embracing New Horizons’, Vachon said, “To start parsing the difference between movies, TV and streamers – it’s becoming really difficult. I don’t know what makes something television anymore.”
Vachon has produced two films at this year’s Berlinale – Rebecca Miller’s opening title She Came To Me, and Celine Song...
Producers should make the most of collapsing boundaries between feature film and television content, according to Killer Films producer Christine Vachon, speaking today (February 18) in Berlin.
Speaking on a European Film Market industry sessions talk titled ‘Producers Embracing New Horizons’, Vachon said, “To start parsing the difference between movies, TV and streamers – it’s becoming really difficult. I don’t know what makes something television anymore.”
Vachon has produced two films at this year’s Berlinale – Rebecca Miller’s opening title She Came To Me, and Celine Song...
- 2/18/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Row Pictures is the producer of Emily Atef’s Berlin competition title Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything.
Karsten Stöter’s Germany-based Row Pictures, the producer of Emily Atef’s Berlin competition title Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, has unveiled a slate of features from Natja Brunckhorst, Markus Schleinzer and Eliza Petkova.
Brunckhorst’s second feature, Zwei zu Eins, is set to go into production this summer at locations in Central Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia. It will be co-produced by the Lübeck-based arm of zischlermann filmproduktion with backing from broadcasters Zdf and Arte as well as Mdm, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw and Bkm.
Karsten Stöter’s Germany-based Row Pictures, the producer of Emily Atef’s Berlin competition title Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, has unveiled a slate of features from Natja Brunckhorst, Markus Schleinzer and Eliza Petkova.
Brunckhorst’s second feature, Zwei zu Eins, is set to go into production this summer at locations in Central Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia. It will be co-produced by the Lübeck-based arm of zischlermann filmproduktion with backing from broadcasters Zdf and Arte as well as Mdm, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw and Bkm.
- 2/17/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Legal docudrama Saint Omer was voted Best Picture at the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which announced this year’s juried award winners today.
Saint Omer wins for its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release stated. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga. By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.”
The Palm Springs festival took place from January 5-16 and screened 134 films from 64 countries, including 27 premieres. The lineup includes 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar submissions.
The jury award categories included the Fipresci Prize for films...
Saint Omer wins for its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release stated. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga. By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.”
The Palm Springs festival took place from January 5-16 and screened 134 films from 64 countries, including 27 premieres. The lineup includes 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar submissions.
The jury award categories included the Fipresci Prize for films...
- 1/15/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Norway’s Oscar© 2023 Submission for Best International Feature: ‘War Sailor’ by Gunnar VikeneThis is a saga of war but it is not a war story. We do not see the slaughter so vividly depicted in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. The center stage is not the bonding of men under the duress of war. Instead we see a love story fold, unfold, refold and in its midst, we see the bond between the two men who love the same woman.
Surely this film will make the Oscar Shortlist and I predict the Nomination as well if not the Oscar itself.
Starring Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen, Ine Marie Wilmann
The story begins at a party with a loving family Alfred, Cecilia, their three children and his best friend Wally who is a professional sailor. He persuades Alfred to join him as a cook on the merchant ship. When World War II breaks out in 1939, Norway declares itself neutral. On April 9, 1940, German troops invade the country and quickly occupy Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik. The Norwegian government rejects the German ultimatum regarding immediate capitulation and it orders its merchant ships to continue delivering goods among the Allies. The sea is the most dangerous place with its unseen torpedos and bombs. Their ships take in survivors from other wreckages including underage youths, both male and female, who must also serve with these sailors. Alfred and Wally struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where at any moment German submarines may attack their valuable vessels. The war sailors have one goal: to survive — and to return home. They are the unarmed civilians on the front lines of a war they never asked to join.
Life at home under the Nazis is also difficult and Alfred’s wife Cecilia, back home in Bergen, has to raise three kids on her own not knowing if her husband is alive or dead. So many years go by as the husband and friend try to survive and the woman with her three children also try to survive.
When British aircrafts attempt to bomb the German submarine bunker in Bergen, they instead hit the primary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. When the news reaches Alfred and Wally in Canada, they wonder if they have anything left at home to return to.
War as the most Destructive Force on Earth is felt and witnessed through a very different lens from the typical war film and packs a greater anti-war whallop than those films where the woman and children are largely ignored as if war were between male forces and women were left to pick up the pieces when it was over. War Sailor spans the years 1939 to 1972 looking at the long-term consequences of what happened during the war years.
A discussion with writer/director Gunnar Vikene and producer Maria Ekerhovd about the making of War Sailor
writer/director Gunnar Vikene
Gunnar Vikene had been thinking about the true stories of the “war sailors” ever since he first heard about them when he was a young boy. Vikene’s father used to paint houses with a man who seemed to have no fears — Vikene found out this man had survived three torpedo attacks during World War II despite never enlisting in the military.
“There were 30,000 of these Norwegian sailors in the war. And there were similar Canadian merchant fleets, and British, and America,” Vikene explains. “They’re all the unsung heroes of that war — they were caught up in it and they couldn’t decide for themselves if they wanted to enlist. Then after the war, they didn’t fit into the idea of the war hero because they had no uniform and had no guns, no medals or anything.”
Vikene explains he wanted to avoid the usual war film cliches. “Yes, we have action scenes when it’s necessary for the story, but it comes down to the human factor. It’s not about the explosion, it’s about the consequences of the explosion.”
He discovered the true story of the real Alfred, Wally and Cecilia back in the early 1990s “and I never forgot it.” He researched their stories and similar stories of the time period and the legacy of war for decades later. Vikene doesn’t call this film a biography because it is a fictionalized version of their lives — “Alfred is not here anymore to explain anything, so I consider these fictional versions of the characters. But they are based on real people,” he says. “What I can say is that every war-related incident in the film actually happened. I read everything that I have come across.”
Another devastating true story in the film is when British aircrafts trying to bomb the German submarine bunkers in Bergen accidentally bomb the primary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. Vikene grew up knowing the story because one of his mother’s second cousins was killed that day, at only age 8, and another of her cousins survived.
What finally inspired him to make the film was a talk a few years ago with his then-12-year-old daughter, looking at images of a wounded child in Syria. He recalls, “My daughter said, ‘I’m so glad we don’t live in a country where we experience that.’ And I pointed out the window and said, ‘relatives of your grandmother were killed right over there.’ And my daughter didn’t know. It was the idea that we need to remind ourselves that we have been through it.”
The story then burst out of him onto the page. “I had been thinking about the story for so long that when I tried to just sit down and get the first draft of the script out, I finished it in a month.”
He dreamed of telling this story for decades “but I never thought I was going to be in a position where I was actually able to make it.” His longtime collaboration with Maria Ekerhovd at Mer Film made it possible, working together on their third feature (after their past collaborations Here is Harloldand Vegas).
Producer Maria Ekerhovd
At first, Ekerhovd wasn’t keen on any story related to World War II. “I gave her the script, and told her that it takes place during the war but also after the war. She called me after she read the script and said, ‘This isn’t really a war movie, so I’d love to produce it.’”
Ekerhovd knew the production would be her biggest ever. “It’s a big production and I never actually had the ambition that I would do that kind of big film, that was never a goal I had. But Gunnar came to me in 2016 with the script, and he’d already been thinking of this story for 20 years.”
She was fascinated by this story which hadn’t been told in film before: “Gunnar told me that during the Second World War, Norway had the fifth-biggest merchant fleet in the world. When the war started, the Norwegian government decided that all these normal Norwegian sailors had to sail throughout the war, and they didn’t have a choice. These ships had such an important job to get the supplies to the Allies. Their contribution to the war was never recognized. They were traumatized. The government never even paid them for the job they did during the war until the 1970s. This is a big scandal and it hasn’t been dealt with. This isn’t the kind of black-and-white story we usually see on the big screen. There is more complexity.”
Vikene adds, “All my films before were small arthouse movies, and I knew this would take more money and more resources, and Maria made it happen, she got all the right partners on board quickly.”
Ekerhovd put together the largest budget ever for Norwegian production, at 11m Euros, bringing on co-producers Rohfilm Factory, Studio Hamburg and Falkun Films.
She was excited to continue their 15-year-collaboration in new ways. The producer says, “I think it’s super important to really get to know the people you work with, in order to really know the strengths and weaknesses of each other and be open and honest and trust the process. It’s not going to be easy all the time, and we will have our ups and downs, but we can be together in all of those circumstances.”
Vikene is always impressed that Ekerhovd is brilliant both on the creative and the logistical sides of producing: “She’s a great reader and such a good analyst. And she can be compassionate about a project’s issues. She also doesn’t take no for an answer!”
Assembling the perfect cast
A trio of established Norwegian talents play the leads — Kristoffer Joner (The Wave) plays family man Alfred; Pal Sverre Hagen (Kon-Tiki) is his old friend Wally; and Ine Marie Wilmann (Sonia: The White Swan) plays Alfred’s wife Cecilia.
Vikene had made his first feature, 2002’s Falling Sky, with Joner and they have become good friends over the years. “He’s a fantastic actor and human being and I had written the script with him in mind, I was so lucky he said yes,” Vikene says.
Despite being two of the most acclaimed contemporary actors in Norway, Joner and Hagen had never met before. “It’s strange that in little Norway they hadn’t met each other. But after two minutes in the room together, I just felt that they really respected and liked each other. They became great friends during the shoot and I think you see that on screen,” the director says.
He had also worked with Wilmann before, and had a special challenge for her in this role of the wife left home in Bergen. He remembers, “I told her, ‘The trick this time was that you have to learn the local dialect.’ This is really difficult and very different from her own. I told her, ‘You have to learn it — not only learning the lines, you have to speak fluidly so we can improvise.’ And she spent a year learning it and was brilliant.”
“The process of working with the actors was very nice,” Vikene continues. “I told the actors that you need to own your characters. Because this is something that I need you to take responsibility for. And they did so in such a fantastic way.”
He also tried not to rehearse each scene too much. “We talked about the characters and scenes a lot but I do very few rehearsals. I was afraid if we rehearsed it too much they were going to drain it emotionally.”
An epic production
The film was originally scheduled to shoot in 2020 but had to pause for a year due to the pandemic. They eventually shot it during March to October 2021, in Norway, Malta and Germany, with just over 60 shooting days.
They worked with a mostly Maltese crew in Malta and again with German crews in Germany, and Vikene praises them as “great professionals,” but he was still glad to get back to the Norwegian part of the shoot “working with a lot of people I’ve worked with before, with so many people pitching in because my film family is here.”
The scale of the project was a step up for Ekerhovd. “It was super exciting…it was a new challenge that it was such a big film, you can’t just wing it. It was fun because it was learning new skills and working with new partners and seeing how that side of the business works.”
Because Vikene has also worked in big budget TV like Occupied, he found working a bigger-budget film wasn’t a shock to the system. “The process is basically the same thing as with a lower-budget film, it just involves a lot more people.”
One key collaborator was acclaimed DoP Sturla Brandth. “Sturla is one of the best cinematographers on the planet and he’s also such a great human being — that was one of the most inspiring collaborations I’ve had in my career,” the director says.
They didn’t use typical war films for visual inspiration, instead watching documentary footage from the era or even more recent documentary films like The White Helmets.
“We wanted that documentary feel when it comes to closeness to the character,” Vikene adds. The team shot digitally — and Vikene praises colourist William Kjarval for giving it “a filmic look” in the grading process.
The big set pieces were very carefully planned. “We prepared really well for all the technical sequences, so that was storyboarded in detail in advance,” Vikene explains.
And as much as possible was shot in camera, not added in post later. He adds, “I see so many films where you have 10 seconds of a CGI ship in an establishing shot. We weren’t interested in that. We only wanted the CGI to enhance what we already shot, to make the story better.”
Scenes of the ships and raft on the ocean are actually shot in the sea, not in a water tank. They thought the authenticity was worth going the extra mile. As Vikene recalls, “Sturla thought we would be able to detect the distinction where the real water ends, and maybe it would feel not quite right. The real thing is always better.”
They also didn’t just use spectacle for spectacle’s sake. “The explosions and actions are there because they have real consequences for human beings. There are a lot of very romantic films made about war and the great heroes, and we tried to stay away from that. It was a film about survival to make it home to your loved ones, not about heroism in action. I hope you can see on screen the fear and the panic in the those war scenes.”
Ekerhovd adds, “I think what Gunnar has achieved with the film is to actually give us a feeling of how it was for them to be out on the boats and also how it really played out for the families at home.”
Vikene also praises the authentic work across so many members of the crew — such as by costume designer Stefanie Bieker (“she gave it a texture that feels really believable and not like a typical costume drama”; makeup designer Jens Bartram and his team (“they nailed it for this documentary feel we were going for”) production designer Tamo Kunz. The director adds that editors Peter Brandt and Anders Albjerg Kristiansen “were so enthusiastic and brave during the process, and challenged me and the material in a great and constructive way.”
Honoring the legacy of the war sailors
Vikene hopes this film will personally touch people who still live with the legacy of the war sailors. “People remember being children and not knowing if their beloved father is coming home. I’ve spoken to so many children of those kinds of families. That’s an important part of the story. It is so much about what happens with families after the war.”
He felt the importance of the story today when the team were shooting in his hometown of Bergen. “We were shooting in places that were so close to the school that was bombed, and there are so many people in Bergen who had families impacted by that, so that felt very special. People stopped to tell us their stories. It felt so close in a way that was inspiring, we were dealing with real people’s stories and that’s a big responsibility.”
The cast and crew were away from their families for four and a half months while making the film, and while that’s not as extreme as the story of the sailors — Vikene wanted the cast and crew to draw on that feeling. He told them, “Take this emotion that you come home to your children and they have grown five centimeters since last time you saw them. And then multiply that emotion by a million. That’s how they felt.”
Sadly, this kind of war story still feels relevant today. “This story about the civilians, the working-class perspective hasn’t been told,” Vikene says. “90% of people dying in war today are civilians. They aren’t wearing uniforms. You just have to look at Ukraine.”
He continues, “I haven’t lived through war. If you live long enough, you have things in your life that you cannot fix for ourselves. Things that we can’t control and has sent our life in a different direction. I hope everyone can relate to that feeling. I hope we can all relate to having a father that you don’t know if you will ever see again, or relate to being a wife who doesn’t know if her husband is alive when she wakes up in the morning. I think on a basic human level, people can relate to that. I hope the audience can identify with the characters, there is something universal about the feelings they have towards each other.”
The Crew
Gunnar Vikene — The Director
Gunnar Vikene directed his first feature film, Falling Sky (Himmelfall) in 2002. His following feature films — Trigger(2007), Vegas (2009), and Here is Harold (2014) — have all received both critical acclaim and a number of international prizes.
In 2017 he directed the TV-series Borderline, which earned him a best director-prize at Gullruten (Norwegian Emmys). He also directed several episodes of the acclaimed show Occupied (2020) and was in 2022 again nominated for a best director-prize for his work in the TV-series Pørni (2021).
Gunnar lives in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. Before starting to work with films he was a submarine officer for several years.
Sturla Brandth GRØVLEN — Director Of Photography
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen is a Norwegian cinematographer based in Denmark. He won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for his work on Victoria (2015) and has since worked on films such as Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents, Benh Zeitlin’s Wendy and Josephine Decker’s Shirley.
Volker Bertelmann — Composer
Volker Bertelmann is a German composer. He won an Oscar for his work on Lion (2016), together with Dustin O’Halloran. He has composed scores for such films as Ammonite (2020), The Old Guard (2020) and All Quiet On The Western Front (2022).
The Main Cast
Kristoffer Joner — Alfred
Kristoffer Joner has starred in Norwegian and International films as The Wave, The Quake, Mission: Impossible — Fallout and The Revenant. He has won the Norwegian Film Award Amanda for Best Male Actor three times and starred in Gunnar Vikene’s first feature film Falling Sky in 2002.
Ine Marie Wilmann — Cecilia
Ine Marie Wilmann has starred in Norwegian films and TV-series as Sonja: The White Swan (Sundance 2018), Homesick (Sundance 2015), Exit (2021-) and Furia (2021-). She has won the Amanda Award for Best Female Lead and the Norwegian Emmy for her work in the TV-series The Third Eye, directed by Gunnar Vikene.
PÅL Sverre Hagen — SIGBJØRN
Pål Sverre Hagen has starred in Norwegian films such as Kon-Tiki, Troubled Water, Amundsen and Out Stealing Horses. He has won the Amanda Award for Best Actor two times — most recently for his performance in The Middle Man(Toronto, 2021).
International Sales Agent Beta Films has licensed the film to
Norway, Germany, Malta 2022
Length 151 min
Screen Ratio 1:1.85
Format Digital 3.2K
Sound 7.1 Dolby Digital
Languages Norwegian, English, German...
Surely this film will make the Oscar Shortlist and I predict the Nomination as well if not the Oscar itself.
Starring Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen, Ine Marie Wilmann
The story begins at a party with a loving family Alfred, Cecilia, their three children and his best friend Wally who is a professional sailor. He persuades Alfred to join him as a cook on the merchant ship. When World War II breaks out in 1939, Norway declares itself neutral. On April 9, 1940, German troops invade the country and quickly occupy Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik. The Norwegian government rejects the German ultimatum regarding immediate capitulation and it orders its merchant ships to continue delivering goods among the Allies. The sea is the most dangerous place with its unseen torpedos and bombs. Their ships take in survivors from other wreckages including underage youths, both male and female, who must also serve with these sailors. Alfred and Wally struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where at any moment German submarines may attack their valuable vessels. The war sailors have one goal: to survive — and to return home. They are the unarmed civilians on the front lines of a war they never asked to join.
Life at home under the Nazis is also difficult and Alfred’s wife Cecilia, back home in Bergen, has to raise three kids on her own not knowing if her husband is alive or dead. So many years go by as the husband and friend try to survive and the woman with her three children also try to survive.
When British aircrafts attempt to bomb the German submarine bunker in Bergen, they instead hit the primary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. When the news reaches Alfred and Wally in Canada, they wonder if they have anything left at home to return to.
War as the most Destructive Force on Earth is felt and witnessed through a very different lens from the typical war film and packs a greater anti-war whallop than those films where the woman and children are largely ignored as if war were between male forces and women were left to pick up the pieces when it was over. War Sailor spans the years 1939 to 1972 looking at the long-term consequences of what happened during the war years.
A discussion with writer/director Gunnar Vikene and producer Maria Ekerhovd about the making of War Sailor
writer/director Gunnar Vikene
Gunnar Vikene had been thinking about the true stories of the “war sailors” ever since he first heard about them when he was a young boy. Vikene’s father used to paint houses with a man who seemed to have no fears — Vikene found out this man had survived three torpedo attacks during World War II despite never enlisting in the military.
“There were 30,000 of these Norwegian sailors in the war. And there were similar Canadian merchant fleets, and British, and America,” Vikene explains. “They’re all the unsung heroes of that war — they were caught up in it and they couldn’t decide for themselves if they wanted to enlist. Then after the war, they didn’t fit into the idea of the war hero because they had no uniform and had no guns, no medals or anything.”
Vikene explains he wanted to avoid the usual war film cliches. “Yes, we have action scenes when it’s necessary for the story, but it comes down to the human factor. It’s not about the explosion, it’s about the consequences of the explosion.”
He discovered the true story of the real Alfred, Wally and Cecilia back in the early 1990s “and I never forgot it.” He researched their stories and similar stories of the time period and the legacy of war for decades later. Vikene doesn’t call this film a biography because it is a fictionalized version of their lives — “Alfred is not here anymore to explain anything, so I consider these fictional versions of the characters. But they are based on real people,” he says. “What I can say is that every war-related incident in the film actually happened. I read everything that I have come across.”
Another devastating true story in the film is when British aircrafts trying to bomb the German submarine bunkers in Bergen accidentally bomb the primary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet, resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths. Vikene grew up knowing the story because one of his mother’s second cousins was killed that day, at only age 8, and another of her cousins survived.
What finally inspired him to make the film was a talk a few years ago with his then-12-year-old daughter, looking at images of a wounded child in Syria. He recalls, “My daughter said, ‘I’m so glad we don’t live in a country where we experience that.’ And I pointed out the window and said, ‘relatives of your grandmother were killed right over there.’ And my daughter didn’t know. It was the idea that we need to remind ourselves that we have been through it.”
The story then burst out of him onto the page. “I had been thinking about the story for so long that when I tried to just sit down and get the first draft of the script out, I finished it in a month.”
He dreamed of telling this story for decades “but I never thought I was going to be in a position where I was actually able to make it.” His longtime collaboration with Maria Ekerhovd at Mer Film made it possible, working together on their third feature (after their past collaborations Here is Harloldand Vegas).
Producer Maria Ekerhovd
At first, Ekerhovd wasn’t keen on any story related to World War II. “I gave her the script, and told her that it takes place during the war but also after the war. She called me after she read the script and said, ‘This isn’t really a war movie, so I’d love to produce it.’”
Ekerhovd knew the production would be her biggest ever. “It’s a big production and I never actually had the ambition that I would do that kind of big film, that was never a goal I had. But Gunnar came to me in 2016 with the script, and he’d already been thinking of this story for 20 years.”
She was fascinated by this story which hadn’t been told in film before: “Gunnar told me that during the Second World War, Norway had the fifth-biggest merchant fleet in the world. When the war started, the Norwegian government decided that all these normal Norwegian sailors had to sail throughout the war, and they didn’t have a choice. These ships had such an important job to get the supplies to the Allies. Their contribution to the war was never recognized. They were traumatized. The government never even paid them for the job they did during the war until the 1970s. This is a big scandal and it hasn’t been dealt with. This isn’t the kind of black-and-white story we usually see on the big screen. There is more complexity.”
Vikene adds, “All my films before were small arthouse movies, and I knew this would take more money and more resources, and Maria made it happen, she got all the right partners on board quickly.”
Ekerhovd put together the largest budget ever for Norwegian production, at 11m Euros, bringing on co-producers Rohfilm Factory, Studio Hamburg and Falkun Films.
She was excited to continue their 15-year-collaboration in new ways. The producer says, “I think it’s super important to really get to know the people you work with, in order to really know the strengths and weaknesses of each other and be open and honest and trust the process. It’s not going to be easy all the time, and we will have our ups and downs, but we can be together in all of those circumstances.”
Vikene is always impressed that Ekerhovd is brilliant both on the creative and the logistical sides of producing: “She’s a great reader and such a good analyst. And she can be compassionate about a project’s issues. She also doesn’t take no for an answer!”
Assembling the perfect cast
A trio of established Norwegian talents play the leads — Kristoffer Joner (The Wave) plays family man Alfred; Pal Sverre Hagen (Kon-Tiki) is his old friend Wally; and Ine Marie Wilmann (Sonia: The White Swan) plays Alfred’s wife Cecilia.
Vikene had made his first feature, 2002’s Falling Sky, with Joner and they have become good friends over the years. “He’s a fantastic actor and human being and I had written the script with him in mind, I was so lucky he said yes,” Vikene says.
Despite being two of the most acclaimed contemporary actors in Norway, Joner and Hagen had never met before. “It’s strange that in little Norway they hadn’t met each other. But after two minutes in the room together, I just felt that they really respected and liked each other. They became great friends during the shoot and I think you see that on screen,” the director says.
He had also worked with Wilmann before, and had a special challenge for her in this role of the wife left home in Bergen. He remembers, “I told her, ‘The trick this time was that you have to learn the local dialect.’ This is really difficult and very different from her own. I told her, ‘You have to learn it — not only learning the lines, you have to speak fluidly so we can improvise.’ And she spent a year learning it and was brilliant.”
“The process of working with the actors was very nice,” Vikene continues. “I told the actors that you need to own your characters. Because this is something that I need you to take responsibility for. And they did so in such a fantastic way.”
He also tried not to rehearse each scene too much. “We talked about the characters and scenes a lot but I do very few rehearsals. I was afraid if we rehearsed it too much they were going to drain it emotionally.”
An epic production
The film was originally scheduled to shoot in 2020 but had to pause for a year due to the pandemic. They eventually shot it during March to October 2021, in Norway, Malta and Germany, with just over 60 shooting days.
They worked with a mostly Maltese crew in Malta and again with German crews in Germany, and Vikene praises them as “great professionals,” but he was still glad to get back to the Norwegian part of the shoot “working with a lot of people I’ve worked with before, with so many people pitching in because my film family is here.”
The scale of the project was a step up for Ekerhovd. “It was super exciting…it was a new challenge that it was such a big film, you can’t just wing it. It was fun because it was learning new skills and working with new partners and seeing how that side of the business works.”
Because Vikene has also worked in big budget TV like Occupied, he found working a bigger-budget film wasn’t a shock to the system. “The process is basically the same thing as with a lower-budget film, it just involves a lot more people.”
One key collaborator was acclaimed DoP Sturla Brandth. “Sturla is one of the best cinematographers on the planet and he’s also such a great human being — that was one of the most inspiring collaborations I’ve had in my career,” the director says.
They didn’t use typical war films for visual inspiration, instead watching documentary footage from the era or even more recent documentary films like The White Helmets.
“We wanted that documentary feel when it comes to closeness to the character,” Vikene adds. The team shot digitally — and Vikene praises colourist William Kjarval for giving it “a filmic look” in the grading process.
The big set pieces were very carefully planned. “We prepared really well for all the technical sequences, so that was storyboarded in detail in advance,” Vikene explains.
And as much as possible was shot in camera, not added in post later. He adds, “I see so many films where you have 10 seconds of a CGI ship in an establishing shot. We weren’t interested in that. We only wanted the CGI to enhance what we already shot, to make the story better.”
Scenes of the ships and raft on the ocean are actually shot in the sea, not in a water tank. They thought the authenticity was worth going the extra mile. As Vikene recalls, “Sturla thought we would be able to detect the distinction where the real water ends, and maybe it would feel not quite right. The real thing is always better.”
They also didn’t just use spectacle for spectacle’s sake. “The explosions and actions are there because they have real consequences for human beings. There are a lot of very romantic films made about war and the great heroes, and we tried to stay away from that. It was a film about survival to make it home to your loved ones, not about heroism in action. I hope you can see on screen the fear and the panic in the those war scenes.”
Ekerhovd adds, “I think what Gunnar has achieved with the film is to actually give us a feeling of how it was for them to be out on the boats and also how it really played out for the families at home.”
Vikene also praises the authentic work across so many members of the crew — such as by costume designer Stefanie Bieker (“she gave it a texture that feels really believable and not like a typical costume drama”; makeup designer Jens Bartram and his team (“they nailed it for this documentary feel we were going for”) production designer Tamo Kunz. The director adds that editors Peter Brandt and Anders Albjerg Kristiansen “were so enthusiastic and brave during the process, and challenged me and the material in a great and constructive way.”
Honoring the legacy of the war sailors
Vikene hopes this film will personally touch people who still live with the legacy of the war sailors. “People remember being children and not knowing if their beloved father is coming home. I’ve spoken to so many children of those kinds of families. That’s an important part of the story. It is so much about what happens with families after the war.”
He felt the importance of the story today when the team were shooting in his hometown of Bergen. “We were shooting in places that were so close to the school that was bombed, and there are so many people in Bergen who had families impacted by that, so that felt very special. People stopped to tell us their stories. It felt so close in a way that was inspiring, we were dealing with real people’s stories and that’s a big responsibility.”
The cast and crew were away from their families for four and a half months while making the film, and while that’s not as extreme as the story of the sailors — Vikene wanted the cast and crew to draw on that feeling. He told them, “Take this emotion that you come home to your children and they have grown five centimeters since last time you saw them. And then multiply that emotion by a million. That’s how they felt.”
Sadly, this kind of war story still feels relevant today. “This story about the civilians, the working-class perspective hasn’t been told,” Vikene says. “90% of people dying in war today are civilians. They aren’t wearing uniforms. You just have to look at Ukraine.”
He continues, “I haven’t lived through war. If you live long enough, you have things in your life that you cannot fix for ourselves. Things that we can’t control and has sent our life in a different direction. I hope everyone can relate to that feeling. I hope we can all relate to having a father that you don’t know if you will ever see again, or relate to being a wife who doesn’t know if her husband is alive when she wakes up in the morning. I think on a basic human level, people can relate to that. I hope the audience can identify with the characters, there is something universal about the feelings they have towards each other.”
The Crew
Gunnar Vikene — The Director
Gunnar Vikene directed his first feature film, Falling Sky (Himmelfall) in 2002. His following feature films — Trigger(2007), Vegas (2009), and Here is Harold (2014) — have all received both critical acclaim and a number of international prizes.
In 2017 he directed the TV-series Borderline, which earned him a best director-prize at Gullruten (Norwegian Emmys). He also directed several episodes of the acclaimed show Occupied (2020) and was in 2022 again nominated for a best director-prize for his work in the TV-series Pørni (2021).
Gunnar lives in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. Before starting to work with films he was a submarine officer for several years.
Sturla Brandth GRØVLEN — Director Of Photography
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen is a Norwegian cinematographer based in Denmark. He won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for his work on Victoria (2015) and has since worked on films such as Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Eskil Vogt’s The Innocents, Benh Zeitlin’s Wendy and Josephine Decker’s Shirley.
Volker Bertelmann — Composer
Volker Bertelmann is a German composer. He won an Oscar for his work on Lion (2016), together with Dustin O’Halloran. He has composed scores for such films as Ammonite (2020), The Old Guard (2020) and All Quiet On The Western Front (2022).
The Main Cast
Kristoffer Joner — Alfred
Kristoffer Joner has starred in Norwegian and International films as The Wave, The Quake, Mission: Impossible — Fallout and The Revenant. He has won the Norwegian Film Award Amanda for Best Male Actor three times and starred in Gunnar Vikene’s first feature film Falling Sky in 2002.
Ine Marie Wilmann — Cecilia
Ine Marie Wilmann has starred in Norwegian films and TV-series as Sonja: The White Swan (Sundance 2018), Homesick (Sundance 2015), Exit (2021-) and Furia (2021-). She has won the Amanda Award for Best Female Lead and the Norwegian Emmy for her work in the TV-series The Third Eye, directed by Gunnar Vikene.
PÅL Sverre Hagen — SIGBJØRN
Pål Sverre Hagen has starred in Norwegian films such as Kon-Tiki, Troubled Water, Amundsen and Out Stealing Horses. He has won the Amanda Award for Best Actor two times — most recently for his performance in The Middle Man(Toronto, 2021).
International Sales Agent Beta Films has licensed the film to
Norway, Germany, Malta 2022
Length 151 min
Screen Ratio 1:1.85
Format Digital 3.2K
Sound 7.1 Dolby Digital
Languages Norwegian, English, German...
- 12/20/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
From Bergen to Malta, Liverpool, New York and Halifax: Norwegian merchant seamen Alfred (Kristoffer Joner) and Sigbjorn (Pal Sverre Hagen) sometimes seem to be competing for screen time with datelines in Gunnar Vikene’s epic War Sailor, Norway’s Oscar submission. Sprawling, packed with anecdote and surging from one dramatic peak to the next, War Sailor sets out to tell the stories of the ordinary but unsung heroes who helped defeat Germany in 1945. It has the best of intentions.
Perhaps if it had focused on fewer of those horror stories and cut that plot in half, it might not have also felt quite so much like a whistle-stop tour. As it is, director Gunnar Vikene takes us speeding through death, injuries and emotional trauma, the difficulties of post-war peace and onward to the farthest reaches of post-war Ptsd, three decades later. As a conscientious guide, he is determined we won’t miss a thing.
Perhaps if it had focused on fewer of those horror stories and cut that plot in half, it might not have also felt quite so much like a whistle-stop tour. As it is, director Gunnar Vikene takes us speeding through death, injuries and emotional trauma, the difficulties of post-war peace and onward to the farthest reaches of post-war Ptsd, three decades later. As a conscientious guide, he is determined we won’t miss a thing.
- 12/18/2022
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
A version of this story about “War Sailor” first ran in the International Film issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
“War Sailor,” the most expensive Norwegian film ever made with a budget of 11 million, traces the story of Norway’s involvement in World War II through the eyes of a sailor (Kristoffer Joner) who is drafted into joining the Allied war effort and shattered by his experience at sea.
Writer-director Gunnar Vikene, 56, drew upon stories that he heard as a child among his parents’ generation. The result is a war film that’s both epic and intimate, detailing the horrors of war and its long-term consequences — subjects that Gunner discussed during a conversation with TheWrap. The movie is Norway’s official selection for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
Why was this an important part of history for you to tell on screen?
The story of the Norwegian sailors, as far as I know,...
“War Sailor,” the most expensive Norwegian film ever made with a budget of 11 million, traces the story of Norway’s involvement in World War II through the eyes of a sailor (Kristoffer Joner) who is drafted into joining the Allied war effort and shattered by his experience at sea.
Writer-director Gunnar Vikene, 56, drew upon stories that he heard as a child among his parents’ generation. The result is a war film that’s both epic and intimate, detailing the horrors of war and its long-term consequences — subjects that Gunner discussed during a conversation with TheWrap. The movie is Norway’s official selection for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
Why was this an important part of history for you to tell on screen?
The story of the Norwegian sailors, as far as I know,...
- 12/9/2022
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field star in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.
“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.
The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.
“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.
- 12/6/2022
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor tells the forgotten story of the 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who were conscripted at the beginning of World War II to serve on convoys keeping Allied supply chains open.
Conditions were treacherous with a high risk of being torpedoed by German U-boats or attacked from the air. When ships went down, it was too dangerous for other vessels to stop or turn back to pluck sailors from the water, a fact that would haunt survivors.
Related: The Contenders International – Deadline’s Full Coverage
Spanning the years 1939-72 and drawing on true stories, the drama follows the fate of friends and civilian sailors Alfred and Sigbjørn as they face endless perils at sea, buffeted by a war in which they are not playing a combat role.
Back home in Bergen, Alfred’s wife struggles to survive with their three children as the port becomes a target for British bombing raids,...
Conditions were treacherous with a high risk of being torpedoed by German U-boats or attacked from the air. When ships went down, it was too dangerous for other vessels to stop or turn back to pluck sailors from the water, a fact that would haunt survivors.
Related: The Contenders International – Deadline’s Full Coverage
Spanning the years 1939-72 and drawing on true stories, the drama follows the fate of friends and civilian sailors Alfred and Sigbjørn as they face endless perils at sea, buffeted by a war in which they are not playing a combat role.
Back home in Bergen, Alfred’s wife struggles to survive with their three children as the port becomes a target for British bombing raids,...
- 12/3/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The first calendar year to see the physical return of almost every major film festival since the pandemic, 2022 has been a huge morale booster for filmmakers from all around the globe. And now, with the third edition of Deadline’s Contenders Film: International kicking off Saturday at 8 a.m. Pt, that outreach expands even further: leaving a carbon-free footprint, our online event will showcase the myriad films that soared at Sundance, beguiled Berlin, captivated Cannes, thrilled Telluride, vitalized Venice and touched Toronto, all the while shining a spotlight on the must-see movies that might have flown under your radar.
Click her to register for and watch today’s Contenders livestream.
Since submissions accepted for the Best International Feature Film Oscar category continue to grow — up by something like 30 from just 10 years ago, buoyed no doubt by the boundary-breaking success of 2019’s Parasite — it is harder than ever before to see...
Click her to register for and watch today’s Contenders livestream.
Since submissions accepted for the Best International Feature Film Oscar category continue to grow — up by something like 30 from just 10 years ago, buoyed no doubt by the boundary-breaking success of 2019’s Parasite — it is harder than ever before to see...
- 12/3/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Winston Churchill acknowledged that the 30,000 Norwegian merchant sailors signed up by their government to aid England and the Allies during World War II were instrumental in the victory against Hitler. But the story of these men and women, who never enlisted in the armed forces, remains a footnote, generally overshadowed by accounts of more traditional military heroes. Writer-director Gunnar Vikene pays stirring tribute to them in War Sailor (Krigsseileren), an impressively crafted chronicle of male friendship, courage and trauma that folds together intense action and intimate psychological observation with a moving portrait of the enduring after-effects on one family.
Norway’s Oscar submission in the best international feature race doesn’t have the Netflix visibility or classic source material of Germany’s war-themed entry, All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is an experience both visceral and emotional, distinguished by well-drawn characters...
Winston Churchill acknowledged that the 30,000 Norwegian merchant sailors signed up by their government to aid England and the Allies during World War II were instrumental in the victory against Hitler. But the story of these men and women, who never enlisted in the armed forces, remains a footnote, generally overshadowed by accounts of more traditional military heroes. Writer-director Gunnar Vikene pays stirring tribute to them in War Sailor (Krigsseileren), an impressively crafted chronicle of male friendship, courage and trauma that folds together intense action and intimate psychological observation with a moving portrait of the enduring after-effects on one family.
Norway’s Oscar submission in the best international feature race doesn’t have the Netflix visibility or classic source material of Germany’s war-themed entry, All Quiet on the Western Front. But this is an experience both visceral and emotional, distinguished by well-drawn characters...
- 11/18/2022
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unveiled its main competition lineup, including Elvis, White Noise, Top Gun: Maverick and Empire of Light, which is set to open the 30th edition.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has also booked into its main competition the cinematographic work for All Quiet on the West Front, War Sailor, Tár, The Perfect Number and The Angel in the Wall. The international festival has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race.
Camerimage earlier announced that Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, which was lensed by Roger Deakins, will open the 2022 edition set to be held Nov. 12-19 in Toruń, Poland. Mendes will also receive the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during the festival.
Also previously announced, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Stephen Burum (Hoffa) will accept the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s festival.
The EnergaCamerimage international cinematography film festival has unveiled its main competition lineup, including Elvis, White Noise, Top Gun: Maverick and Empire of Light, which is set to open the 30th edition.
Camerimage, held annually in Poland, has also booked into its main competition the cinematographic work for All Quiet on the West Front, War Sailor, Tár, The Perfect Number and The Angel in the Wall. The international festival has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race.
Camerimage earlier announced that Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, which was lensed by Roger Deakins, will open the 2022 edition set to be held Nov. 12-19 in Toruń, Poland. Mendes will also receive the Special Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Director during the festival.
Also previously announced, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Stephen Burum (Hoffa) will accept the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s festival.
- 10/21/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/27/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/26/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
War Sailor TIFF Contemporary World Cinema Section Reviewed for Shockya.com by Abe Friedtanzer Director: Gunnar Vikene Writer: Gunnar Vikene Cast: Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen, Ine Marie Wilmann Screened at: Critics’ link, NY, 9/20/22 Opens: September 9th, 2022 (Toronto International Film Festival) There are many facets to war, and one person’s experience of living through […]
The post TIFF 2022: War Sailor Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post TIFF 2022: War Sailor Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/23/2022
- by Abe Friedtanzer
- ShockYa
‘The Blackening’, ’Sisu’, ’How To Blow Up A Pipeline’ all in play.
After a traditionally quiet start over the first weekend, market activity is heating up with a Focus Features worldwide buy on Alexander Payne’s off-festival title The Holdovers as interest builds on a number of films in selection.
The Holdovers deal is understood to have closed in the 30m region and excludes Middle East. The 1970-set project reunites Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti and follows an unpopular New England prep schoolteacher forced to spend Christmas holidays with a stranded, unruly student and a Black head cook...
After a traditionally quiet start over the first weekend, market activity is heating up with a Focus Features worldwide buy on Alexander Payne’s off-festival title The Holdovers as interest builds on a number of films in selection.
The Holdovers deal is understood to have closed in the 30m region and excludes Middle East. The 1970-set project reunites Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti and follows an unpopular New England prep schoolteacher forced to spend Christmas holidays with a stranded, unruly student and a Black head cook...
- 9/12/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
‘The Blackening’, ’Sisu’, ’How To Blow Up A Pipeline’ all in play.
After a traditionally quiet start over the first weekend, market activity is heating up with a Focus Features worldwide buy on Alexander Payne’s off-festival title The Holdovers as interest builds on a number of films in selection.
The Holdovers deal is understood to have closed in the 30m region and excludes Middle East. The 1970-set project reunites Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti and follows an unpopular New England prep schoolteacher forced to spend Christmas holidays with a stranded, unruly student and a Black head cook...
After a traditionally quiet start over the first weekend, market activity is heating up with a Focus Features worldwide buy on Alexander Payne’s off-festival title The Holdovers as interest builds on a number of films in selection.
The Holdovers deal is understood to have closed in the 30m region and excludes Middle East. The 1970-set project reunites Payne with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti and follows an unpopular New England prep schoolteacher forced to spend Christmas holidays with a stranded, unruly student and a Black head cook...
- 9/12/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Co-Production Market’s best project award goes to ‘The Love Pill’ from Sweden.
Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor has won the audience award at the 50th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.
Inspired by a true story, War Sailor follows two Norwegian civilian merchant sailors who find themselves thrust into danger when World War II breaks out; it also explores the legacy of war on their lives decades later.
War Sailor, which opened the festival, will have its international premiere in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema section. Beta Cinema handles sales and Maria Ekerhovd produces for Mer Film. The cast features Kristoffer Joner,...
Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor has won the audience award at the 50th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.
Inspired by a true story, War Sailor follows two Norwegian civilian merchant sailors who find themselves thrust into danger when World War II breaks out; it also explores the legacy of war on their lives decades later.
War Sailor, which opened the festival, will have its international premiere in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema section. Beta Cinema handles sales and Maria Ekerhovd produces for Mer Film. The cast features Kristoffer Joner,...
- 8/26/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Erik Poppe’s historical drama “The Emigrants” scored the top Andreas Award at the 50th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund. Produced by Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, it is distributed by Sf Studios. Poppe is also known for “Utøya: July 22” and “The King’s Choice.”
Based on Vilhelm Moberg’s series of novels about Swedes who decided to leave their country and search for a better future, it “tackles deep questions about cultural and religious identity,” argued the jurors.
“Even though the events in this story are long behind us, the film reminds us of our own present,” they added.
Interestingly enough, in 1971 Jan Troell also took on the story, ending up with four Academy Awards nominations – including one for Liv Ullmann.
“She was able to see our film and she is its biggest ambassador now. She just loves this take and noticed that it’s about the refugees today. It takes place 150 years ago,...
Based on Vilhelm Moberg’s series of novels about Swedes who decided to leave their country and search for a better future, it “tackles deep questions about cultural and religious identity,” argued the jurors.
“Even though the events in this story are long behind us, the film reminds us of our own present,” they added.
Interestingly enough, in 1971 Jan Troell also took on the story, ending up with four Academy Awards nominations – including one for Liv Ullmann.
“She was able to see our film and she is its biggest ambassador now. She just loves this take and noticed that it’s about the refugees today. It takes place 150 years ago,...
- 8/25/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market runs August 23-26.
Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market has unveiled the works in progress presentations for its 2022 edition, running August 23-26.
The line-up includes new films from the likes of Pathfinder director Nils Gaup’s new drama The Riot (Sulis), sold by REinvent and set against a workers revolt in 1907 Lapland; The Worst Person In The World producer Thomas Robsahm, who presents Aurora Gossé’s Norwegian youth film Dancing Queen, sold by Level K; and Berlinale prize-winning director Selma Vilhunen’s new Finnish production, polyamory drama Four Little Adults.
Scroll down for full...
Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market has unveiled the works in progress presentations for its 2022 edition, running August 23-26.
The line-up includes new films from the likes of Pathfinder director Nils Gaup’s new drama The Riot (Sulis), sold by REinvent and set against a workers revolt in 1907 Lapland; The Worst Person In The World producer Thomas Robsahm, who presents Aurora Gossé’s Norwegian youth film Dancing Queen, sold by Level K; and Berlinale prize-winning director Selma Vilhunen’s new Finnish production, polyamory drama Four Little Adults.
Scroll down for full...
- 8/12/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
For its 50th edition unspooling Aug. 20-26, Norway’s top film event, the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, will be treating its 400-plus international guests and local audiences with a beefed-up onsite program of 72 feature length films and 19 shorts.
“We’ve had more films to choose from than ever before, “says festival honcho Tonje Hardersen about her non-competitive program, put together in close collaboration with local distributors and exhibitors. “We can still see the post-covid effects on distribution as many titles were delayed. We have therefore slightly older films – from 2020 up to 2022 – which is unusual. But this makes for an exceptional program, hopefully for all tastes,” she adds.
World premieres take in the blockbuster Norwegian opener ‘War Sailor’ by Gunnar Vikene starring Kristoffer Joner (‘The Revenant’), Pål Sverre Hagen (‘Kon-Tiki’), and Ine Marie Wilmann (‘Homesick’), about Norwegian war sailors’ heroic efforts during WWII. Prolific outfit Mer Film (‘The Innocents’) is producing,...
“We’ve had more films to choose from than ever before, “says festival honcho Tonje Hardersen about her non-competitive program, put together in close collaboration with local distributors and exhibitors. “We can still see the post-covid effects on distribution as many titles were delayed. We have therefore slightly older films – from 2020 up to 2022 – which is unusual. But this makes for an exceptional program, hopefully for all tastes,” she adds.
World premieres take in the blockbuster Norwegian opener ‘War Sailor’ by Gunnar Vikene starring Kristoffer Joner (‘The Revenant’), Pål Sverre Hagen (‘Kon-Tiki’), and Ine Marie Wilmann (‘Homesick’), about Norwegian war sailors’ heroic efforts during WWII. Prolific outfit Mer Film (‘The Innocents’) is producing,...
- 8/5/2022
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Variety has been given exclusive access to the first teaser for Norwegian drama “War Sailor,” which follows two Norwegian sailors whose merchant ship is attacked by German submarines at the outbreak of World War II. Beta Cinema will be selling the film at the Cannes Market.
The film centers on Alfred Garnes, a working-class sailor, who has recently become the father of a third child, and his childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen, known as Wally. The men are working on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out. The two men struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where at any moment German submarines may attack their vessel.
Meanwhile, Alfred’s wife Cecilia struggles through the war alone in Bergen. When British aircrafts attempt to bomb the German submarine bunker in Bergen, they instead hit the elementary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet,...
The film centers on Alfred Garnes, a working-class sailor, who has recently become the father of a third child, and his childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen, known as Wally. The men are working on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out. The two men struggle for survival in a spiral of violence and death, where at any moment German submarines may attack their vessel.
Meanwhile, Alfred’s wife Cecilia struggles through the war alone in Bergen. When British aircrafts attempt to bomb the German submarine bunker in Bergen, they instead hit the elementary school at Laksevåg and civilian homes at Nøstet,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
With a top prize of $44,000 it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.
Denmark won big with the two Dragon awards handed out in Goteborg on February 5, with Tea Lindeburg’s As In Heaven winning the prize for best Nordic film. With a prize of $44,000, it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.
The film, which previously won best director and best actress at San Sebastian, is about a girl in the 19thcentury who hopes to leave her family’s farm to be the first in her family to study. Her future prospects change...
Denmark won big with the two Dragon awards handed out in Goteborg on February 5, with Tea Lindeburg’s As In Heaven winning the prize for best Nordic film. With a prize of $44,000, it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.
The film, which previously won best director and best actress at San Sebastian, is about a girl in the 19thcentury who hopes to leave her family’s farm to be the first in her family to study. Her future prospects change...
- 2/7/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
18 works in progress by some of the Nordic region’s biggest names – Bille August, Björn Runge, the multi-prized Jp Valkeapää and Malou Reymann will be showcased at the hybrid Nordic Film Market (Feb. 3-6), along with some Sundance and Rotterdam competition entries.
The Nfm runs parallel to the final stretches of the Göteborg Film Festival (Jan.28-Feb.6).
So far, over 450 international delegates have signed up for the major Nordic film confab. Only 250 will be able to attend in-person, due to Covid restrictions in Sweden.
“We’ve received a huge interest from professionals to attend in-person, following the decision of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin’s European Film Market to go online. It’s been very difficult to say ‘no’ to people, but our priority is to guarantee a safe event,” said Göteborg head of industry Cia Edström who underlines the various safety measures to be implemented at the Nfm, from vaccination checks,...
The Nfm runs parallel to the final stretches of the Göteborg Film Festival (Jan.28-Feb.6).
So far, over 450 international delegates have signed up for the major Nordic film confab. Only 250 will be able to attend in-person, due to Covid restrictions in Sweden.
“We’ve received a huge interest from professionals to attend in-person, following the decision of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin’s European Film Market to go online. It’s been very difficult to say ‘no’ to people, but our priority is to guarantee a safe event,” said Göteborg head of industry Cia Edström who underlines the various safety measures to be implemented at the Nfm, from vaccination checks,...
- 1/21/2022
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Ekerhovd will be presented with the award at the scaled-back ceremony on December 11.
Norwegian producer Maria Ekerhovd of Mer Film is to receive this year’s Eurimages Co-production Award at the European Film Awards.
The award is to be presented at the scaled-back ceremony on December 11. Attendees for the 2021 European Film Awards will now be limited to just nominees due to rising Covid cases in Germany.
The award, according to a release from the European Film Academy, aims to acknowledge “the decisive role of co-productions in fostering international exchange”.
Ekerhovd founded Mer Film in 2011. Her latest film is the Eurimages...
Norwegian producer Maria Ekerhovd of Mer Film is to receive this year’s Eurimages Co-production Award at the European Film Awards.
The award is to be presented at the scaled-back ceremony on December 11. Attendees for the 2021 European Film Awards will now be limited to just nominees due to rising Covid cases in Germany.
The award, according to a release from the European Film Academy, aims to acknowledge “the decisive role of co-productions in fostering international exchange”.
Ekerhovd founded Mer Film in 2011. Her latest film is the Eurimages...
- 11/23/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Keshet International (Ki) has completed high-profile licensing deals with WarnerMedia Latin America and Spain’s Filmin TV on “Pørni,” the heartwarming Norwegian comedy-drama created by and starring “Lilyhammer” actor Henriette Steenstrup.
Steenstrup, who won a Dragon Award at Goteborg Festival in 2020 for her performance in “Beware of Children,” stars in the bittersweet series as a middle-aged single parent of three teenagers.
The most-watched Norwegian Original series on Nent Group’s streamer Viaplay, “Pørni” screens next week at Series Mania 2021 in the Panorama competition. “Pørni” was previously part of the Berlinale Series Market Selects. Viaplay has ordered two more seasons of the show produced by Monster Scripted. Both seasons are set to premiere in 2022.
WarnerMedia Latin America acquired season one of the show exclusively for HBO Max. The WarnerMedia-owned streaming platform, which recently launched across 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, has committed to picking up the second and third seasons of the popular show.
Steenstrup, who won a Dragon Award at Goteborg Festival in 2020 for her performance in “Beware of Children,” stars in the bittersweet series as a middle-aged single parent of three teenagers.
The most-watched Norwegian Original series on Nent Group’s streamer Viaplay, “Pørni” screens next week at Series Mania 2021 in the Panorama competition. “Pørni” was previously part of the Berlinale Series Market Selects. Viaplay has ordered two more seasons of the show produced by Monster Scripted. Both seasons are set to premiere in 2022.
WarnerMedia Latin America acquired season one of the show exclusively for HBO Max. The WarnerMedia-owned streaming platform, which recently launched across 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, has committed to picking up the second and third seasons of the popular show.
- 8/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Keshet International has come on board as sales agent on the drama-comedy “Pørni.” The six-part Norwegian show, produced by Monster Scripted for Nent Group’s streamer Viaplay, is world premiering as part of Berlinale Series Market Selects.
“Lilyhammer” actor Henriette Steenstrup makes her debut as creator/writer on top of headlining the show. Gunnar Vikene (“Occupied”) and Charlotte Blom (“Next Summer”) serve as co-directors. The cast also includes Nils Ole Oftebro (“Mammon”), Gunnar Eiriksson (“Twin“), Johanna Mørck (“Trollhunter”) and Vivid Falk Berg.
Steenstrup plays childcare worker and single mum Pørni, who struggles to please everyone at home – her two teenage daughters, 15-year-old nephew and aging father – with no quality time with any of them. She also has to deal with a hopeless ex-husband and the loss of her sister who recently passed away. “ ‘Pørni’ is a drama about everyday dilemmas you find yourself in when, to the best of your ability,...
“Lilyhammer” actor Henriette Steenstrup makes her debut as creator/writer on top of headlining the show. Gunnar Vikene (“Occupied”) and Charlotte Blom (“Next Summer”) serve as co-directors. The cast also includes Nils Ole Oftebro (“Mammon”), Gunnar Eiriksson (“Twin“), Johanna Mørck (“Trollhunter”) and Vivid Falk Berg.
Steenstrup plays childcare worker and single mum Pørni, who struggles to please everyone at home – her two teenage daughters, 15-year-old nephew and aging father – with no quality time with any of them. She also has to deal with a hopeless ex-husband and the loss of her sister who recently passed away. “ ‘Pørni’ is a drama about everyday dilemmas you find yourself in when, to the best of your ability,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Mer Film, the well-established Norwegian film production banner, is reteaming with “Sami Boy” filmmaker Elle Sofe Sara on her feature debut “Arru.” The project will be pitched for the first time at the virtual Nordic Film Market, the industry program of the Goteborg Film Festival, whose full lineup has just been unveiled.
“Arru” is a musical drama set in Kautokeino, a small Sami village in Northern Norway. The film tells the journey of Kari, a Sami artist and single parent who is dragged along with her son into an activist campaign against the development of mines in reindeer herding areas. As the battle against the mines escalates, Kari meets a young girl who brings back a painful memory from her youth, when she lied to protect a family member. The film explores the issue of abuse within the Sami herding community.
Elisa Fernanda Pirir Ruiz, who is producing “Arru” at Mer Film,...
“Arru” is a musical drama set in Kautokeino, a small Sami village in Northern Norway. The film tells the journey of Kari, a Sami artist and single parent who is dragged along with her son into an activist campaign against the development of mines in reindeer herding areas. As the battle against the mines escalates, Kari meets a young girl who brings back a painful memory from her youth, when she lied to protect a family member. The film explores the issue of abuse within the Sami herding community.
Elisa Fernanda Pirir Ruiz, who is producing “Arru” at Mer Film,...
- 1/19/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Nordic film body has earmarked 11.5 million Norwegian crowns to back seven new audiovisual projects, alongside other distribution and industry initiatives. The Oslo-based agency Nordisk Film & TV Fond has announced the recipients of its January round of funding. In detail, the body has earmarked a total of 11.5 million Norwegian crowns to back seven new audiovisual projects, alongside other distribution and industry initiatives. On this occasion, four fiction features will be in receipt of the body’s production grants – namely, Martin Skovbjerg’s Copenhagen Doesn’t Exist, Frederikke Aspöck’s “non-traditional” period drama Empire, Gunnar Vikene’s war drama War Sailor and Rasmus A Sivertsen’s animated flick When the Robbers Came to Cardamom (3 million...
In this week’s International TV Newswire the English Premier League TV schedules are announced – including a first-ever broadcast on the BBC, Secuoya teams with Tiki Group on the first fiction program to be shot on the Easter Islands in 22 years, Keshet’s “Singletown” gets a Danish remake, De Mensen launches a new format in Belgium and Nent commissions “Suck it Up” from “Lillyhammer” actress Henriette Steenstrup.
BBC to Broadcast Epl for the First Time Ever
The English Premier League, the U.K.’s top soccer competition, has reached agreements over which games will air on which networks from the League’s June 17 restart date through July 2. Aston Villa and Sheffield United will kick off the post-Covid portion of the 2019-20 season followed by Manchester City vs. Arsenal on Sky Sports, which will also broadcast Friday night’s headline match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. June 20, the BBC will broadcast,...
BBC to Broadcast Epl for the First Time Ever
The English Premier League, the U.K.’s top soccer competition, has reached agreements over which games will air on which networks from the League’s June 17 restart date through July 2. Aston Villa and Sheffield United will kick off the post-Covid portion of the 2019-20 season followed by Manchester City vs. Arsenal on Sky Sports, which will also broadcast Friday night’s headline match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. June 20, the BBC will broadcast,...
- 6/5/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Following the smash hit Swedish series “Love Me,” Nent Group has come on board another drama-comedy, “Suck It Up” created by Henriette Steenstrup (“Lilyhammer”).
Steenstrup also stars in the six-part series as Pernille, a working parent of three teenagers who has to take care of her ageing father at home, and thirty children at work, leaving her little time for her love life. Steenstrup won this year’s Dragon Award at Goteborg for her performance in “Beware of Children.”
Now shooting in Oslo, the contemporary show will premiere exclusively across the Nordic region on Nent Group’s Viaplay streaming service in 2021.
“Our latest original series is at once heartwarming, infuriating and joyful – just like parenting. Henriette Steenstrup’s career continues to hit new heights and ‘Suck It Up’ is her most personal project yet, headlined by a complex character living a quietly heroic life that will resonate with audiences everywhere,...
Steenstrup also stars in the six-part series as Pernille, a working parent of three teenagers who has to take care of her ageing father at home, and thirty children at work, leaving her little time for her love life. Steenstrup won this year’s Dragon Award at Goteborg for her performance in “Beware of Children.”
Now shooting in Oslo, the contemporary show will premiere exclusively across the Nordic region on Nent Group’s Viaplay streaming service in 2021.
“Our latest original series is at once heartwarming, infuriating and joyful – just like parenting. Henriette Steenstrup’s career continues to hit new heights and ‘Suck It Up’ is her most personal project yet, headlined by a complex character living a quietly heroic life that will resonate with audiences everywhere,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Five Scandi shows will be judged for the award.
Five Nordic drama series will compete for the second annual Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, which will be presented on Jan 31 at the TV Drama Vision conference in Goteborg.
Source: About Premium Content
Deadwind
One drama series apiece from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden is nominated for the award, which comes with a prize of $25,000 (Sek 200,000) for the main writer(s) of the series. The first two episodes of each series are shown at the Goteborg Film Festival.
This year’s nominees are Borderliner from Norway, Deadwind from Finland, The Lawyer from Sweden, Ride Upon The Storm from Denmark, and Stella Blomkvist from Iceland.
This year’s jury includes Swedish acterss Sofia Helin (The Bridge); Walter Iuzzolino, the UK-based TV executive and curator of streaming service Walter Presents; and Finnish journalist Kirpi Uimonen Ballesteros.
Petri Kemppinen, CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond, said: “Initiating this prize...
Five Nordic drama series will compete for the second annual Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, which will be presented on Jan 31 at the TV Drama Vision conference in Goteborg.
Source: About Premium Content
Deadwind
One drama series apiece from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden is nominated for the award, which comes with a prize of $25,000 (Sek 200,000) for the main writer(s) of the series. The first two episodes of each series are shown at the Goteborg Film Festival.
This year’s nominees are Borderliner from Norway, Deadwind from Finland, The Lawyer from Sweden, Ride Upon The Storm from Denmark, and Stella Blomkvist from Iceland.
This year’s jury includes Swedish acterss Sofia Helin (The Bridge); Walter Iuzzolino, the UK-based TV executive and curator of streaming service Walter Presents; and Finnish journalist Kirpi Uimonen Ballesteros.
Petri Kemppinen, CEO of Nordisk Film & TV Fond, said: “Initiating this prize...
- 1/11/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s action comedy Børning received both the jury and the audiences’ film prize at the ceremony in Haugesund’s Maritim HallScroll down for full list of winners
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s feature debut, Børning – a local twist of Cannonball Run (1981), which became last year’s most popular Norwegian film, taking 381,648 admissions – was also the big winner at the Amanda awards ceremony in Haugesund on Saturday (Aug 15).
At the TV2 Norge televised presentation in Haugesund’s Maritim Hall, preceding today’s opening of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival, Børning received Amandas – Norway’s national film prizes - including Best Norwegian Feature, the People’s Amanda, Best Supporting Actor (Henrik Mestad) and Best Sound Design (Fredric Vogel, Petter Fladeby).
The frontrunner for the awards - Norwegian director Bent Hamer 1001 Grams (1001 gram), which has so far toured 25 international film festivals – was nominated in six categories, but won only Best Original Screenplay.
For the first...
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s feature debut, Børning – a local twist of Cannonball Run (1981), which became last year’s most popular Norwegian film, taking 381,648 admissions – was also the big winner at the Amanda awards ceremony in Haugesund on Saturday (Aug 15).
At the TV2 Norge televised presentation in Haugesund’s Maritim Hall, preceding today’s opening of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival, Børning received Amandas – Norway’s national film prizes - including Best Norwegian Feature, the People’s Amanda, Best Supporting Actor (Henrik Mestad) and Best Sound Design (Fredric Vogel, Petter Fladeby).
The frontrunner for the awards - Norwegian director Bent Hamer 1001 Grams (1001 gram), which has so far toured 25 international film festivals – was nominated in six categories, but won only Best Original Screenplay.
For the first...
- 8/17/2015
- by jornrossing@aol.com (Jorn Rossing Jensen)
- ScreenDaily
Norwegian road movie, about a man who sets out to kidnap the founder of Ikea, sold to Europe and Asia.
TrustNordisk has secured sales of Here Is Harold, first shown in Cannes as a three-minute promo.
The feature has been sold to Germany (Nfp), Japan (Nikkatsu Corporation), Switzerland (Frenetec Films), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Greece (FeelGood Entertainment S.A) and Estonia (Estin Film).
Here Is Harold is based on a novel by Frode Grytten and stars Bjørn Sundquist (Ragnarok). The road movie revolves around the owner of a small furniture shop who sets out on a quest to kidnap his biggest competitor, the founder of Ikea.
It marks the fourth features of director Gunnar Vikene whose previous film, Vegas, won the jury prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Producer is Maria Ekerhovd and executive producer is Axel Helgeland from Mer Film. It is co-produced by Lizette Jonjic and Daniel Andersson from Migma Film, Filmpool Nord and Fuzz...
TrustNordisk has secured sales of Here Is Harold, first shown in Cannes as a three-minute promo.
The feature has been sold to Germany (Nfp), Japan (Nikkatsu Corporation), Switzerland (Frenetec Films), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Greece (FeelGood Entertainment S.A) and Estonia (Estin Film).
Here Is Harold is based on a novel by Frode Grytten and stars Bjørn Sundquist (Ragnarok). The road movie revolves around the owner of a small furniture shop who sets out on a quest to kidnap his biggest competitor, the founder of Ikea.
It marks the fourth features of director Gunnar Vikene whose previous film, Vegas, won the jury prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Producer is Maria Ekerhovd and executive producer is Axel Helgeland from Mer Film. It is co-produced by Lizette Jonjic and Daniel Andersson from Migma Film, Filmpool Nord and Fuzz...
- 7/4/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
TrustNordisk has picked up the rights to Here Is Harold and will introduce the Norwegian dramedy to buyers in Cannes.
The film, based on a novel by Frode Grytten, is from Norwegian production company Mer Film, whose I Am Yours was Norway’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Academy Award.
Starring Bjørn Sundquist (Ragnarok) in the leading role, the humorous road movie revolves around the owner of a small furniture shop who sets out on a quest to kidnap his biggest competitor, the founder of Ikea. Unfortunately, the Ikea boss is quite happy to be kidnapped.
It marks the fourth feature of director Gunnar Vikene, whose 2009 film Vegas won a number of festival awards including the Jury Prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Here Is Harold is produced by Maria Ekerhovd and executive produced by Axel Helgeland from Mer Film, co-produced by Lizette Jonjic and Daniel Andersson from Migma Film, Filmpool Nord and Fuzz...
The film, based on a novel by Frode Grytten, is from Norwegian production company Mer Film, whose I Am Yours was Norway’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Academy Award.
Starring Bjørn Sundquist (Ragnarok) in the leading role, the humorous road movie revolves around the owner of a small furniture shop who sets out on a quest to kidnap his biggest competitor, the founder of Ikea. Unfortunately, the Ikea boss is quite happy to be kidnapped.
It marks the fourth feature of director Gunnar Vikene, whose 2009 film Vegas won a number of festival awards including the Jury Prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Here Is Harold is produced by Maria Ekerhovd and executive produced by Axel Helgeland from Mer Film, co-produced by Lizette Jonjic and Daniel Andersson from Migma Film, Filmpool Nord and Fuzz...
- 4/28/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Cologne, Germany -- Tine Klint, former sales exec at Scandi giant Nordisk Film and TrustNordisk, is setting off on her own with a new world sales company.
Called LevelK, the new label will have its market bow in Berlin in February with a Scandi-heavy slate that includes family drama "Vegas" from Norwegian director Gunnar Vikene ("The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar") and the documentary "Prostitution-Behind the Veil" from Iranian-Swedish director Nahid Persson.
Klint is the sole owner of the company and said she expects to build up a 50-strong catalog of titles by the end of 2010. Buyers will be able to screen LevelK titles on Klint's secure website: www.levelk.de.
Called LevelK, the new label will have its market bow in Berlin in February with a Scandi-heavy slate that includes family drama "Vegas" from Norwegian director Gunnar Vikene ("The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar") and the documentary "Prostitution-Behind the Veil" from Iranian-Swedish director Nahid Persson.
Klint is the sole owner of the company and said she expects to build up a 50-strong catalog of titles by the end of 2010. Buyers will be able to screen LevelK titles on Klint's secure website: www.levelk.de.
- 12/8/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MUNICH -- Generation, the children's and young people's sidebar at the Berlin International Film Festival, will feature a slate of 25 feature films from 22 countries in addition to 21 short films from 13 countries, organizers announced Friday.
The sidebar, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, will have three world premieres and ten international premieres in its two sections, Generation Kplus (formerly the Kinderfilmfest) and Generation 14plus.
The Generation Kplus competition will open Feb. 9 with the international premiere of Robert Shaye's fantasy adventure "The Last Mimzy", starring Timothy Hutton and Rainn Wilson.
The youth film competition, Generation 14plus, opens the same day with Tata Amaral's Brazilian hip-hop drama "Antonia". Amaral's 1996 film "Um Ceu de Estrellas" (A Starry Sky) appeared at the Berlinale in the Forum section.
A complete list of titles follows.
Generation Kplus
"Bloede Muetze!" (Silly's Sweet Summer) by Johannes Schmid, Germany; "Dek Hor" (Dorm) by Songyos Sugmakanan, Thailand; "Forortsungar" (Kidz in da Hood) by Ylva Gustavsson and Catti Edfeldt, Sweden; "Ice Keh-ki" (Ice Bar) by Yeo In-gwang, South Korea; "Iszka Utazasa" (Iska's Journey) by Csaba Bollok, Hungary; "Je m'appelle Elisabeth" (Call Me Elisabeth) by Jean-Pierre Ameris, France; "Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek" (Crusade in Jeans) by Ben Sombogaart, The Netherlands/Germany /Luxembourg/Belgium; "The Last Mimzy" by Robert Shaye, U.S.; "Leiutajatekula Lotte"(Lotte from Gadgetville) by Heiki Ernits and Janno Poldma, Estonia/Latvia; "Mukhsin" by Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia; "Razzle Dazzle" by Darren Ashton, Australia; "Sipur Hatzi Russi" (Love & Dance) by Eitan Anner, Israel; "Trigger" by Gunnar Vikene, Norway/Sweden/Denmark; "U" by Gregoire Solotareff & Serge Elissalde, France
Generation 14plus
Adama Meshuga'at (Sweet Mud) by Dror Shaul, Israel/Germany/France/Japan; "Antonia" (Antonia) by Tata Amaral, Brazil; "Cum mi-am petrecut sfars, itul lumii" (The Way I Spent the End of the World) by Catalin Mitulescu, Romania/France; "Cheonhajangsa Madonna" (Like a Virgin) by Lee Hae-young and Lee Hae-jun, South Korea; "Eagle vs.
The sidebar, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, will have three world premieres and ten international premieres in its two sections, Generation Kplus (formerly the Kinderfilmfest) and Generation 14plus.
The Generation Kplus competition will open Feb. 9 with the international premiere of Robert Shaye's fantasy adventure "The Last Mimzy", starring Timothy Hutton and Rainn Wilson.
The youth film competition, Generation 14plus, opens the same day with Tata Amaral's Brazilian hip-hop drama "Antonia". Amaral's 1996 film "Um Ceu de Estrellas" (A Starry Sky) appeared at the Berlinale in the Forum section.
A complete list of titles follows.
Generation Kplus
"Bloede Muetze!" (Silly's Sweet Summer) by Johannes Schmid, Germany; "Dek Hor" (Dorm) by Songyos Sugmakanan, Thailand; "Forortsungar" (Kidz in da Hood) by Ylva Gustavsson and Catti Edfeldt, Sweden; "Ice Keh-ki" (Ice Bar) by Yeo In-gwang, South Korea; "Iszka Utazasa" (Iska's Journey) by Csaba Bollok, Hungary; "Je m'appelle Elisabeth" (Call Me Elisabeth) by Jean-Pierre Ameris, France; "Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek" (Crusade in Jeans) by Ben Sombogaart, The Netherlands/Germany /Luxembourg/Belgium; "The Last Mimzy" by Robert Shaye, U.S.; "Leiutajatekula Lotte"(Lotte from Gadgetville) by Heiki Ernits and Janno Poldma, Estonia/Latvia; "Mukhsin" by Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia; "Razzle Dazzle" by Darren Ashton, Australia; "Sipur Hatzi Russi" (Love & Dance) by Eitan Anner, Israel; "Trigger" by Gunnar Vikene, Norway/Sweden/Denmark; "U" by Gregoire Solotareff & Serge Elissalde, France
Generation 14plus
Adama Meshuga'at (Sweet Mud) by Dror Shaul, Israel/Germany/France/Japan; "Antonia" (Antonia) by Tata Amaral, Brazil; "Cum mi-am petrecut sfars, itul lumii" (The Way I Spent the End of the World) by Catalin Mitulescu, Romania/France; "Cheonhajangsa Madonna" (Like a Virgin) by Lee Hae-young and Lee Hae-jun, South Korea; "Eagle vs.
- 1/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Christopher Plummer starrer Man In The Chair, Shane Meadows' skinhead drama This is England and Kidz in da Hood, a musical that looks at the life of illegal immigrants in Sweden, are among the first titles picked for the official lineup of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.
All three will screen in Berlin's children and youth sidebar, Generation (formerly Kinderfilmfest). 2007 will mark the 30th anniversary of Berlin's children's film section.
Other films chosen for the Generation Kplus (children) and Generation 14plus (youth) sections include Thai thriller Dorm, from Songyos Sugmakanan; "Bloede Mutze!" (Stupid Hat!), from German first-timer Johannes Schmid; Romanian director Catalin Mitulescu's "The Way I Spent the End of the World," a look at the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal regime; and Trigger, from Norwegian director Gunnar Vikene, which centers on a renegade racehorse.
Two animated features have made the cut: Estonian comedy Lotte from Gadgetville, from directors Heiki Ernits and Janno Poldma, and Gregoire Solotareff and Serge Elissalde's French animated fairytale "U," which bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year.
All three will screen in Berlin's children and youth sidebar, Generation (formerly Kinderfilmfest). 2007 will mark the 30th anniversary of Berlin's children's film section.
Other films chosen for the Generation Kplus (children) and Generation 14plus (youth) sections include Thai thriller Dorm, from Songyos Sugmakanan; "Bloede Mutze!" (Stupid Hat!), from German first-timer Johannes Schmid; Romanian director Catalin Mitulescu's "The Way I Spent the End of the World," a look at the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal regime; and Trigger, from Norwegian director Gunnar Vikene, which centers on a renegade racehorse.
Two animated features have made the cut: Estonian comedy Lotte from Gadgetville, from directors Heiki Ernits and Janno Poldma, and Gregoire Solotareff and Serge Elissalde's French animated fairytale "U," which bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year.
- 12/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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