As the Utøya anniversary approaches, Nordic World adds to catalogue
- While Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik is awaiting his verdict, new documentaries examine the background for the July 22, 2011 massacre
As the first anniversary of Norway’s July 22, 2011 massacre approaches, there is an increasing interest worldwide for documentaries exploring the tragedy, when Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik bombed government buildings in Oslo, killing eight, then shot 69 people, mostly teenagers, on the Utøya island.
Norwegian international sales agency Nordic World has registered record television sales for Terror Island, the TV2 Norway and Documentary Company chronicle by Tommy Gulliksen-Kjell Øvre Helland, which scored Norway’s Gullruten TV prize and was named Best News Documentary at the Monte Carlo TV festival.
Two sequels will shortly be released, Terror Island: The Trial, and Terror Island: Back to the Island, and Nordic World will also add Two Days That Shook the World to its catalogue, a minute-by-minute account of the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
NRK kept in contact with three of the youngsters who were directly involved in the shooting drama. How is it possible to return to normal living after such a traumatic experience? In Aftermath they explain how it changed their lives, sharing their sorrows, doubts and fears, as well as their laughter, joys and hopes for the future.
Breivik has consistently refused to talk about his childhood and upbringing. NRK’s Brennpunkt found two close relatives who knew him before he became a terrorist, and who had not previously spoken openly about him – his father and his stepfather. In Fathers they talk about the man who is, to them, still simply Anders.
In memory of the massacre, the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund (August 17-23) will screen Norwegian director Kari Anne Moe’s Bravehearts about four politically involved youngsters and Norwegian director Vibeke Løkkeberg is preparing a documentary on the event to conclude her anti-war trilogy.
Originally set up as a joint venture by commercial broadcasters TV2 Norway and TV4 Sweden, Nordic World international sales now represents public broadcasters NRK Norway, YLE Finland, as well as private stations TV2 Denmark, MTV3 Finland and K2 Estonia.
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