Contemporary Norwegian filmmaking
By the early 1980s Norwegian film was in decline, and audiences, tired of grey social realism, wondered who was to blame. Then, with some success, filmmakers looked to the United States for inspiration in telling more exciting stories.
Orions belte ('Orion’s Belt', 1985) by Ola Solum and
Veiviseren ('The Pathfinder', 1987) by Nils Gaup found large audiences and made their mark internationally. In 1988
Veiviseren received an Oscar nomination in the best-foreign-film category.
The rest of the 1980s and the early 1990s represented a low point for Norwegian moviegoers - with a few unforgettable exceptions. These include Høyere enn himmelen ('Beyond the Sky', 1993) by Berit Nesheim, Stella Polaris (1993) by Knut Erik Jensen, Drømspel ('Dreamplay', 1994) by Unni Straume and Over stork og stein ('Stork Staring Mad', 1994) by Eva Isaksen. A new generational shift was under way.
Director Hans Petter Moland wrote a new chapter in Norwegian film history with his 1996 release of
Kjærlighetens kjøtere ('Zero Kelvin') in New York. In February 1997 Berit Nesheim’s
Søndagsengler ('The Other Side of Sunday', 1996) was nominated for the best-foreign-film Oscar.
Budbringeren ('Junk Mail', 1997), directed by Pål Sletaune, premiered during Critic’s Week at the Cannes Film Festival and came away with the main prize in that section. The film has been shown worldwide and has won several other awards. Erik Skjoldbjærg’s
Insomnia gained international attention that same year.
In 2001 Elling by Peter Næss was Oscar-nominated in the familiar category of best foreign film. And Harald Zwart (One Night at McCool’s, 2001; Agent Cody Banks, 2003) has proven that being Norwegian is no barrier to Hollywood success. More recently, Skjoldbjærg, Moland, Næss and Hamer have all made films in the US, placing Norway firmly on the international film map with films such as Prozac Nation (2001), Beautiful Country (2004), Mozart and the Whale (2004) and Factotum (2005).
Norwegian short films compete successfully at festivals the world over. During Critic’s Week at Cannes in 2003, the winning short was Eivind Tolås’s
Love is the Law. At the same festival, in the
Quinzaine des réalisateurs section, Bent Hamer presented his full-length feature
Salmer fra kjøkkenet ('Kitchen Stories', 2003) to wide acclaim, winning the prize for European distribution and initiating global sales interest.
A number of exciting Norwegian documentary films have been released in recent years, including the successful Heftig og begeistret (Cool & Crazy) in 2001, Alt om min far (All About My Father) in 2002, Ungdommens råskap (Norwegian High School Kids Low on Concentration) in 2004 and Alt for Norge ('A Guide Through 100 Years of Norwegian History') in 2005.
The past few years have witnessed the launching of a record number of Norwegian films. National film attendance is high, Norwegian films have receivedinternational acclaim, and another new wave of filmmakers and acting talent has begun to emerge. Much of this is due to the restructuring of the support schemes and the establishment of the
Norwegian Film Fund in 2001.
