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HAUGESUND 2019 New Nordic Films

Gyda Velvin Myklebust • Programme director, New Nordic Films, Haugesund

“You’ll find a lot here to pick up and bring back home”

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- We caught up with Gyda Velvin Myklebust, programme director of the New Nordic Films industry section of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund

Gyda Velvin Myklebust  • Programme director, New Nordic Films, Haugesund

We chatted to Gyda Velvin Myklebust, programme director of the New Nordic Films industry section of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund.

Cineuropa: The New Nordic Films market turns 25 this year. When did you come on board?
Gyda Velvin Myklebust
: I was actually around 25 myself. I started out as an assistant to the previous programme director, whose position I was offered two years later – in 2003. And I’ve been here ever since.

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As a market forum for Northern European film, is there any place that has run even longer?
No. New Nordic Films started in 1995, initiated by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond together with the Norwegian Ministry of Culture with the aim of exporting Nordic cinema internationally. A little later, in 2003, Göteborg started their Nordic Film Market, and the two of us are in close collaboration: we take place in the summer, they in winter, and Haugesund’s focus is on film-related co-production projects while Göteborg specialises in TV drama. We have a very good relationship, and we both work closely and jointly with the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, with the different Nordic film institutes and with the different sales agents. We promote each other; we share strategies and make joint arrangements, not least at Cannes. Apart from our excellent relationship, we also share a very healthy level of competition, in that if we do something successful one year, Göteborg will surely try to top us next time around. We are very warm and tight with each other, but we don’t want them to be better than us, and they feel exactly the same in the other direction! It works quite swimmingly for all involved.

As for the other Nordic countries, they seem quite happy with the situation, rather than offering even more competition when it comes to Nordic markets.
They do national markets really well – the Finnish Film Affair, for example – but here and at Göteborg, we offer a platform for all of the Nordic countries to meet and truly focus on the region. We meet at Cannes and Berlin and other places, but in a hectic environment – here, we can relax and be truly Nordic, and this is our attraction. At least, we hope it is.

Non-Nordics seem to like it here as well. How many nationalities are represented among the market visitors?
Around 30 different nationalities – 32 last year, 29 the year before. This year, we have 310 visitors. Last year, there were fewer, but the year before that, there were more. It goes a little back and forth, but it’s generally a good turn-up.

Speaking of relaxing – or not – your four-day programme is fairly wall-to-wall with screenings, professional events and, not least, some very social events.
Very true. We did try to cut down a bit this year on, for example, some seminars, and instead focus on and support the films in financial development or in post-production, or some completed films that we hope as many people as possible will gather around and discover. Yes, you’ll find a lot here to pick up and bring back home – just don’t expect a holiday, despite all the great parties we have here.

Among the events that you present, which one should definitely not be missed?
Definitely the Work in Progress presentation. Here, the films have come a long way in their development – more or less all of them are in post-production and are ready to catapult themselves towards the big screens. You can find some true gems here, and at a very early starting point. Whoever you may be within the industry, it will help you to get a splendid overview of the things to come. I’m also very fond of the Nordic Co-Production Market, with very high-level pitches and projects. Many of the pitches in these forums will very likely be realised and completed. May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts [+see also:
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, for example, was pitched here, and Ruben Östlund’s debut feature, Guitar Mongoloid, turned up at the market. We have built up a nice track record over the years.

And through the years, you must have seen some trends coming and going. What can you spot on the horizon at the moment?
Right now, I can spot some very exciting Finnish cinema – just you wait and see. I also see more and more female directors – it looks like the days of one woman for every seven men are gone. I see courageous, sometimes even ugly, stories – stories that dare to raise some inconvenient questions. There’s entertainment, yes, but it’s more than just that. Overall, Nordic film seems to be in rude health these days. It’s really varied and is steadily increasing in terms of the number of films produced in the whole region.

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