31/05/2006

Norwegian films are surfing on a historical wave of success, both internationally and domestically. Last Sunday, Bobbie Peers’ short film Sniffer, produced by Maria Ekerhovdt and Glenn Gardner for Bergen-based Dreamfactory, received the Palme d’Or, making it the first time a Norwegian film has won the prestigious award.

Just two nights earlier, Jens Lien’s The Bothersome Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jens Lien
interview: Jørgen Storm Rosenberg
film profile], shown in the Critics’ Week, was awarded the ACID Prize (Prix de l’Agence du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion) and seduced several international distributors as reported by the film’s sales agent, Bavaria Film International. And last weekend, Norwegian films also passed a record 1m admissions at home, boosting their market share to over 20%, a sharp increase from 2005’s 12% and 2004’s 15% market shares.

Seven films have been released so far in Norway, encompassing a wide variety of genres. At the top of the list is the comedy Playing Wide [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Bjørn Fast Nagell (148,842 admissions); followed by children’s film The Junior Olsen Gang at the Circus) by Arne Lindtner Næss (237,588 admissions); quality auteur film High School Teacher Pedersen by Hans Petter Moland (180,365); Free Jimmy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Christopher Nielsen (the closing film of the Critics’ Week, 145,934 admissions); family film Svein and the Rat (130,761); Aslaug Holm’s documentary, The Rich Country; and the successful auteur film The Bothersome Man, which premiered in Norway last Friday through Sandrew Metronome (3,688 admissions).

"For the last couple of years, our long-term plan has been to stabilise total admissions for local films to at least at 2m a year. With 14 other premieres scheduled through the autumn, we are easily within reach of this goal for 2006", said Stein Slyngstad, head of the Norwegian Film Fund.