email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

FUNDING Norway

Holst, Johnsen and Ommundsen get NFI grants

by 

New films by Marius Holst (Mirush [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Sarah Johnsen (Kissed by Winter [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) and Arold Østin Ommundsen (Mongoland) have been awarded total production support of NOK31.5m (nearly €4m) from the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI).

The biggest NFI grant of approximately €1.7m was awarded to the €5m Bastøy by Holst, the most ambitious project ever produced by 4 ½ Production’s Karin Julsrud (Reprise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
interview: Karin Julsrud
film profile
]
). Based on an original idea by Lars Saabye Christensen and Mette Bølstad, adapted by scriptwriter Dennis Magnusson, the film will recapture true events that occurred in Oslo’s youth detention centre Bastøy in 1915, when Norwegian authorities crushed a rebellion by teenage boys.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

“The script is tight, dramatic, with a peculiar atmosphere and strong character portrayals. It’s perfectly cut out for Holst’s directing talent,” said NFI feature film consultant Nikolaj Frobenius. Filming will start in February 2009 and the delivery date is set for winter 2010.

The €2.4m Upperdog, scripted and directed by Johnsen, is the second collaboration between the 38 year-old filmmaker and producers Christian Fredrik Martin and Asle Vatn (Friland) following the critically acclaimed Kissed by Winter (2005). Shooting on the existential youth drama will start on September 9 and the Norwegian premiere is scheduled for August 20, 2009.

Ommundsen’s Rottenetter (“Rat Nights”) will depict the darker side of the oil financing business in Norway. Described by producer Finn Gjerdrum (Paradox) as a cross between Wall Street and The Godfather, the €2.2m film will start shooting on September 19. The delivery date is October 2009.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy