materie 2004* - Norsk filminstitutt

A LEAP INTO THE FUTURE!
Norwegian films attracted a lot of attention and received a number of prizes at international festivals in 2007. This was particularly true for The
Art of Negative Thinking, The Bothersome Man, Gone with the Woman, Mirush and Reprise. A great many new Norwegian films are now lining up
to conquer the world market, with a lot of thematic variations and in several genres. Launched during this year's Tromsø Festival, Nils Gaup's long
awaited major film The Kautokeino Rebellion is in a class of its own. The film depicts a tragic conflict between Norwegians and Samí people in the
mid-1800's, and features central Nordic actors like Mikkel Gaup, Bjørn Sundquist and Mikael Persbrandt in leading roles. The film was shot at
the new regional film enterprise Film Camp in Målselv, Northern Norway, where also the American major film The Golden Compass as well as Far
North was shot. This centre offers essential opportunities to foreign producers in search of unique locations in the Northern region of the world.
The more artistic section of this year's film repertoire includes Bent Hamer's fifth film O'Horten. A cheerful and poetical film about the train engineer
Odd Horten and his adventures during a few days in Oslo, after his recent retirement. Hamer's universe focuses on the elderly, and lets their
inner reflections change places with the stress and hassles of everyday life. Another exciting film in the same genre is the debutante Eva Sørhaug's
ironic and slightly surrealistic Cold Lunch, written by Per Schreiner, the man who wrote the screenplay for the award-winning The Bothersome
Man, and who has also collaborated with Jens Lien for his short films.
Finally, great expectations are also set for the forthcoming reorganization of the Norwegian film administration, which from April 1 merges the
Norwegian Film Fund, the Norwegian Film Institute and Norwegian Film Development into one institution under the leadership of Managing
Director Nina Refseth. An account of the departments and undertakings of the new institution can be found in this catalogue.
Vigdis Lian
Managing Director
Oslo, January 2008
Jan Erik Holst
Director, International Dep.
NORWEGIAN FILMS 2008
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