Already scheduled for US release, Happy, Happy eyes an Oscar

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

01/09/2011 - As the Norwegian Oscar Committee today (Sept 1) decided to submit Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky’s feature debut, Happy, Happy [trailer] as the country's candidate for the Best Foreign Language trophy, the drama-comedy is already performing in the US.

Launched domestically in November 2010, the Synnøve Hørsdal production for Maipo Film & TV Produksjon AS was internationally discovered at the Sundance Film Festival in the US, where it received the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize.

Also screened in New York’s New Directors-New Films programme, it has been sold to more than 50 countries by TrustNordisk. Magnolia Pictures picked up American rights and will release the film on Sept 16.

Starring Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens and Joachim Rafaelsen, Happy, Happy was shortlisted for the submission with Joachim Trier’s Oslo, 31 August [trailer, film focus] and Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway [trailer].

A Maipo film has previously been nominated for an Oscar - Peter Næss’s Elling [trailer], in 2002. Norway’s only win for a full-length film was for Thor Heyerdahl’s documentary, Kon-Tiki, in 1952 (and it went to the Swedish producer).

The five candidates for the 2012 award will be announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on January 24, ahead of the February 26 ceremony. This year's winner was Danish director Susanne Bier's In a Better World [trailer].