The post-war period was a natural turning point for Norwegian film, and a new generation of filmmakers emerged. Edith Carlmar, Norway’s first female director, made 10 feature films between 1949 and 1959. Her critically-acclaimed works often sparked public debate, and had unusual drawing power at the box office. Today they are considered classics. In Carlmar’s final film – Ung flukt ('The Wayward Girl', 1959) – she cast Liv Ullmann in her first starring role. Ullmann is still Norway’s most famous actress and has directed films as well. Troløs ('Faithless'), which Ullmann made in 2000, was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival’s Palm d’Or award.

Arne Skouen, who made his directorial debut the same year that Carlmar did, has 17 feature films to his credit. Some of Norway’s greatest film triumphs were his doing, such as the Oscar-nominated Ni liv ('Nine Lives') in 1957. Many critics consider it the best Norwegian production of all time. Skouen’s films remain in demand at film festivals and other film events around the world.

At least two other names from the post-war period stand out. In 1948, furniture maker Ivo Caprino began experimenting with film and puppets in his living room. He quickly became Norway’s king of animation. Caprino’s unique system for producing films using puppets brought him international renown, and the box office success of his Flåklypa Grand Prix ('Pinchcliffe Grand Prix', 1975) has yet to be surpassed.

Representing quite a different genre is Thor Heyerdahl. Kon Tiki, which he filmed during his 1947 raft expedition in the Pacific, was awarded the Oscar for best documentary in 1952 and remains, remarkably, Norway’s only Oscar-winning film.

Another new breed of young filmmakers appeared in the 1960s, influenced by modernistic currents in continental Europe. Norway’s version of the French New Wave included Erik Løchen’s Jakten ('The Chasers', 1959) and Pål Løkkeberg’s Liv ('Life', 1967) and Exit (1970).

But Norwegian cinemas were dependent on Norwegian comedies and international blockbusters to fill seats. Overall, families tended to prefer television. Then came the activist youth boom of the 1970s that fuelled Norwegian film’s most rebellious, social realist period. Film was intended to be political, not artistic, as evidenced by titles such as Streik! ('Strike!', 1974) from Oddvar Bull Tuhus and Det tause flertall ('The Silent Majority', 1977) from Wam and Vennerød, as well as several progressive documentaries. Female filmmakers stepped out of the kitchen to dramatise feminist themes. They also produced hard-hitting accounts of childhood and adolescence that drew adult audiences. An unforgettable female director is Anja Breien. Her Hustru III ('Wives III') trilogy of 1975, 1985 and 1996 was a major success, chronicling the lives of three women over three decades.