\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund has unveiled the full program of its 53rd edition running over Aug.16-22.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tAhead of Venice where she will be in the running for the Golden Lion with her third pic as a helmer, \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee,\u201d the Norwegian-born\u00a0writer-director Mona Fastvold will bring her star power to the picturesque coastal town of Haugesund,\u00a0where she will present the Oscar-winning \u201cThe Brutalist,\u201d for which she earned an Oscar nod for best screenplay, shared with her partner, helmer Brady Corbet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe Brutalist\u201d will\u00a0both screen at Haugesund\u2019s architecture-led Norwegian Archfest sidebar and compete for best foreign language film at Norway\u2019s annual Amanda Awards, due to unspool Aug. 16 as a preamble to the Norwegian Film Festival.\u00a0The national film awards, administered by the Norwegian International Film festival, will be transmitted live that day\u00a0by NKR1.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u2028\u201cWe are thrilled that Mona Fastvold will attend the Amanda Awards, and present the magnificent \u2018The Brutalist,\u2019 which opens the festival\u2019s Norwegian ArchFest section,\u201d said festival honcho Tonje Hardersen. \u201cHer presence brings a touch of Hollywood glamour while also enriching the festival with a bold, artistically ambitious work that engages deeply with architecture, identity and cinematic form.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u2028More glitz and glamour will shine on Haugesund, as most Amanda nominees are due to attend, such as best acting candidates Renate Reinsve (\u201cArmand\u201d), Andrea Br\u00e6in Hovig (\u201cLove\u201d), Ella \u00d8verbye (\u201cDreams\u201d), Gard B. Eidsvold (\u201cQuisling \u2013 The Final Days\u201d) and Helga Guren (\u201cLoveable\u201d).\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe have an amazingly strong Amanda year with major films competing for best film [Lilja Ingolfsdottir\u2019s \u201cLoveable,\u201d Halfdan Ullmann T\u00f8ndel\u2019s \u201cArmand,\u201d and Dag Johan Haugerud\u2019s \u201cDreams\u201d],\u00a0titles that have enjoyed a phenomenon international festival run and reflect the strong year for Norwegian cinema,\u201d said Hardersen who also chairs the Amanda committee.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tOther stars expected on the red carpet include actors Line Sjeldstad (\u201cExit,\u201d \u201cSo Long Marianne\u201d) and Thorbj\u00f8rn Harr (\u201cVikings,\u201d \u201cSex\u201d), set to make history on Haugesund\u2019s\u00a0own\u00a0 Walk of Fame. Meanwhile this year\u2019s Festival Honoree, production mogul John M. Jacobsen (\u201cTroll Hunter\u201d, \u201cMax Manus\u201d) will deliver a masterclass on Aug. 17.\u2028\u2028The same day, the festival will officially kick-start with the screening of the Norwegian event movie \u201cThe Battle of Oslo\u201d (\u201cBl\u00fccher\u201d) starring Bj\u00f8rn Sundquist (\u201cHandling the Undead,\u201d \u201cHere is Harold\u201d).\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tBased on a true story, the historical thriller is set on April 9, 1940, when Norway is under siege. As German warships close in on Oslo, Colonel Birger Eriksen, commander of the Oscarsborg Fortress, a stronghold in the Oslo Fjord, is forced to act on his own judgment. His decision proves vital for the course of the war in Norway, states the official synopsis.<\/p>\n
\n\tBesides Sundquist, the solid Norwegian cast takes in Jon \u00d8igarden (\u201cRequiem for Selina,\u201d \u201c22 July\u201d), Fridtjov S\u00e5heim (\u201cTroll,\u201d \u201cThe Wave\u201d), and \u00d8ystein R\u00f8ger (\u201cArmand\u201d).\u2028The WWII drama, handled by Vuelta Group\u2019s Global Constellation, marks the first venture into fiction film for the multi-awarded TV helmer Daniel Fahre (\u201cRebound,\u201d \u201cRod Knock\u201d) and his regular producers at Fenomen Studios. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re extremely proud to launch the film at Norway\u2019s biggest film festival and industry event and to collaborate for the first time with Global Constellation,\u201d said Knut Inge Solbu who produces with Tom Marius Kittilsen and Aurora Huseth Bj\u00f8rnhaug.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe film is a very well-known story in Norway. It\u2019s an intense drama about civil preparedness, and standing up for what\u2019s right, which feels deeply relevant today,\u201d added Hardersen who chosen another politically-charged pic to close the festival: Tarik Saleh\u2019s Cannes-selected \u201cEagles of the Republic.\u201d \u201cWith striking visuals, powerful performances, and razor-sharp direction, Saleh delivers a story that feels both urgently contemporary and deeply reflective of bigger questions surrounding freedom of speech, control and the role of art in society, said the festival programmer and director.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tA handful of other Cannes film entries will screen at Haugesund\u2019s 21-title strong main program, such as the Dardenne Brothers\u2019 best screenplay winner \u201cYoung Mothers,\u201d Jodie Foster starrer \u201cA Private Life,\u201d \u201cNouvelle Vague\u201d and \u201cAlpha\u201d. \u201cJulie Ducournau\u2019s film sent shock waves in Cannes and I\u2019m really curious to see how our audience will react to it,\u201d Hardersen said.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tTwo Nordic low-budget pics will make their world premiere in the Nordic Focus. \u2028Danish newcomer \u00c5ske Bang, 2017 Oscar-nominated for his short live action \u201cSilent Night\u201d, will showcase his debut feature \u201cWelcome to the Moon.\u201d In his quirky take on the Danish film industry, Bang has a starring role as helmer Bo, invited by actor Martin (Stanislav Sevcik) to his own bachelor party. Bo has promised him the lead role in his next feature film, without telling him that he has already given the role to the celebrated Mads Mikkelsen, reads the logline.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom Sweden, \u201cCat Kingdom\u201d (\u201cKattriket\u201d) is co-directed and produced by first-timers John Hellberg and Bernhard Rasmusson. The story turns on the unemployed Kenneth who spends all his time building models. On his way to a job interview, he meets marine scientist Sten, who offers him a job at the shipyard, but what seems like a simple painting job soon develops into an unexpected investigative labor.\u2028<\/p>\n
\n\tNordic excellence will also be celebrated with the announcement in Haugesund Aug. 18, of the five contenders for the prestigious Nordic Council Film Prize, coordinated in conjunction with Nordisk Film & TV Fond.<\/p>\n
\n\t75 Features\u2028<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tA total of 75 feature films and 18 shorts will be showcased in Haugesund, which boasts a unique position in the Norwegian film landscape as a festival for a general audience and an essential meeting place for the Norwegian and Nordic film industry via the New Nordic Films,\u00a0a parallel market attended annually by more than 250 international guests.\u2028<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are an industry festival. We are majority owned by Film & Kino [the local film association organisation] and coordinate the film selection with local distributors,\u201d pointed out Harversen,\u00a0who will celebrate this year her tenth anniversary at the head of the festival.<\/p>\n \n\tSharing with Variety<\/em> some of her best memories, she said: \u201cThe 2022 edition was our 50th anniversary and that festival is perhaps my favorite year. It was the first \u2018normal\u2019 festival post-COVID, after two years with major cinema restrictions. We celebrated a record number of guests and visitors. It was just fantastic.<\/p>\n \n\tBefore COVID, there was a lot of talk about cinema being dead, streamers taking over, then during the pandemic, we saw that people missed the feeling of togetherness that the silver screen brings about. We realised how vital it is. Today, cinemas are still struggling post-COVID, but there is optimism. At Haugesund, we can see how our audience \u2013including many kids \u2013 love the big screen experience, but we need to transform this into an everyday cinemagoing experience,\u201d she\u00a0insisted.\u2028<\/p>\n \n\tThe topic of reaching out and finding audiences will be one of the issues at the various\u00a0panels to be held\u00a0as part of Haugesund\u2019s New Nordic Films market, running Aug. 19-22.\u00a0Watch out on Variety<\/em> for the New Nordic Films\u2019 full program.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund has unveiled the full program of its 53rd edition running over Aug.16-22.\u2028 Ahead of Venice where she will be in the running for the Golden Lion with her third pic as a helmer, \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee,\u201d the Norwegian-born\u00a0writer-director Mona Fastvold will bring her star power to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1540,1171,1052,6749,531,6750,536,908],"class_list":{"0":"post-13052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-festival","9":"tag-film","10":"tag-full","11":"tag-haugesunds","12":"tag-international","13":"tag-norwegian","14":"tag-program","15":"tag-unveils"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}