Nordic and European cinema in focus at Norway’s Haugesund festival
- Running between 16-22 August, the Norwegian International Film Festival lets Beatles launch a line-up of 74 films from 35 countries
“The gap between the blockbuster and world cinema may seem bigger than ever, but perhaps not. Sharp-minded analysts find underlying interpersonal dramas also in Hollywood entertainment,” observed programme director Håkon Skogrand of the Norwegian International Film Festival, before launching its 42nd edition, which runs between 16-22 August.
There are a few US blockbusters in the line-up, such as Patrick Hughes’ The Expendables 3, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li, which opens in America today (15 August) – 1 and 2 grossed $188 million worldwide. Otherwise the festival focuses on Nordic and European cinema, with a main selection of 21 features from 11 countries, including two Norwegian features, Danish director Peter Flinth’s Beatles [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (news), and Norwegian director Solveig Melkeraaen’s Good Girl.
The selection lists two Cannes winners, Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile] and Italian director Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Rohrwacher
interview: Tiziana Soudani
film profile]; Boyhood, by US director Richard Linklater, named Best Director at the Berlinale; and Sundance-awarded 20,000 Days on Earth [+see also:
trailer
film profile], with Australian author-musician-artist and actor Nick Cave, by UK directors Ian Forsythe-Jane Pollard. The section will be concluded on 20 August by Belgian Dardenne Brothers’ Two Days, One Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile], with Luc Dardenne attending.
With sidebars Focus on the Nordic Countries, Cinema Italia, French Touch, Cinemagi (for children), Videorama and Next Nordic Generation, including the New Nordic Films co-production and finance market, festival director Gunnar Johan Løvvik will this year screen 74 films from 35 countries. One is missing, though: Norwegian actress-director Liv Ullmann, who is honorary president of the showcase, will attend, but her first film as a director for 14 years, Miss Julie [+see also:
trailer
interview: Liv Ullmann
film profile], from August Strindberg’s 1888 classic, will have its world premiere in Toronto.
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