Discoveries from Norway World Cinema

A teenager struggles to keep her scandal-ridden past and a big secret from getting out when she strikes up an unlikely romance with the crown prince.

Johanne falls in love with her teacher and records her fantasies and feelings in writing. Together with her mother and grandmother, they debate the literary potential and whether to publish it.

A teenage girl fights for survival and to locate her young sister during the 2011 terrorist attack at a political summer camp on the Norwegian island of Utøya.

Overweight loner Rino spends his days in seclusion, until his dad rents a room to an overtly sexual girl who challenges Rino to break down his walls.

When one of them breaks a leg, five friends snowboarding in the Norwegian mountains take shelter in an abandoned ski lodge and soon realize they’re not alone.

Three years after his wife, acclaimed photographer Isabelle Reed, dies in a car crash, Gene keeps everyday life going with his shy teenage son, Conrad. A planned exhibition of Isabelle’s photographs prompts Gene's older son, Jonah, to return to the house he grew up in - and for the first time in a very long time, the father and the two brothers are living under the same roof.

On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. This three-part story focuses on the survivors, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.

10 million euros go missing and the prime suspect is forced to flee and ends up in the city dump. In the search for the truth, two heads clash – but what price friendship?

After two years in prison for participating in an illegal street race, Roy says no to a new illegal winter race from Bergen to Murmansk. But then he hears that his daughter will participate with a boyfriend.

Increasingly overshadowed by her boyfriend's recent rise to fame as a contemporary artist creating sculptures from stolen furniture, Signe hatches a vicious plan to reclaim her rightfully deserved attention within the milieu of Oslo's cultural elite.

On 9 April 1940, German soldiers arrive in the city of Oslo. The King of Norway faces a choice that will change his country forever. The King's Choice is a story about the three most dramatic days in Norway's history, the royal family's escape and King Haakon's difficult choice after Nazi Germany's invasion of Norway.

A group of former military elites set out to explore an uncharted abyss, not knowing their worst nightmare is waiting for them deep beneath the ground.

During World War II, enemy fighter pilots find themselves face to face after shooting down one another's planes over a desolate landscape. In order to survive, they must set aside the rules of war.

A young man returns home from college during a holiday break to visit his widowed mother. Along the way he meets an attractive woman and they hit it off so well during his return trip that she accepts an invitation from him to stay at his Mother's house during his stay. But his Mother is not pleased with this surprise as she has rather strong feelings for her own son and desires to keep him all for herself.

Captain Sabertooth and his crew are up against a sunburnt vampire, a manipulating queen, a violent monkey army and two young pirates while on the hunt for the magical diamond.

For all who remember Cannonball Run. Here is a modern twist on the subject. The longest, wildest and funniest car race, ever. From Oslo to the North Cape. The only rule is getting there first!

Max Manus is a Norwegian 2008 biographic war film based on the real events of the life of resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96), after his contribution in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The story follows Manus through the outbreak of World War II in Norway until peacetime in 1945.

13 year old kind-hearted Sonja arrives at a tiny village together with a company of bandits. But there is a curse on the village. A long time ago, the King’s only daughter Goldhair disappeared while searching for the Christmas Star. The Queen died of a broken heart, leaving the shattered King all on his own. From that day on, the King cursed the Christmas Star, thereby causing darkness and grief to descend upon the land. However, an old sage has revealed that Goldhair is still alive, and will return only if the King finds the way back to the Christmas Star. Ever since, the King has been searching for the Christmas Star every Christmas, but all in vain.

The secret life of a young World of Warcraft gamer is vividly reimagined when his online friends contact his family after his death.

Sámi reindeer herder Maia fights to protect her ancestral lands from a looming mining project. Amid the growing protests, she is also confronted with deeply buried family traumas. Maia is forced to make a decision.

Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school. While no one knows what actually happened between the two boys, the incident triggers a series of events, forcing parents and school staff into a captivating battle of redemption where madness, desire and obsession arise.

An old sanatorium is deteriorating in an isolated forest in the mountains. Five contract workers have taken on the task of tracking the huge building for hazardous waste before it's demolished. They realize that the job is more than a search for asbestos and mercury when they encounter the building's frightening past. You can demolish a building, but never remove the past.

Set in Rodeløkka of Kristiania eastside around the year 1900 and is a rough sketch of how it was to be young and unmarried working girl at the time.

In Northern Norway during the 1860s, a little girl named Dina accidentally causes her mother's death. Overcome with grief, her father refuses to raise her, leaving her in the care of the household servants. Dina grows up wild and unmanageable, with her only friend being the stable boy, Tomas. She summons her mother's ghost and develops a strange fascination with death as well as a passion for living.

An American family fulfills their dream of moving back to their roots after inheriting a remote cabin in the mountains of Norway. But there's a surprise waiting for them.

In July 1944, with the Allies landed at Normandy but unable to push past German forces, a young German soldier is enlisted for a spy mission by a mysterious American OSS officer named Harry which could turn the tide of the war.

The story Peter is telling the about a special summer, when he is invited over to summer holiday from bickering parents, to his aunt and uncle in the country. He's been there before, but this summer was quite one to remember.

A young boy whose grieving family has forgotten about Christmas forms an unexpected, healing bond with a bubbly girl full of holiday spirit.

During World War II, millions of Jews from all over Europe are deported and killed in German concentration camps. When the German troops invade Norway, the Norwegian Jews feel safe and protected. But anti-Semitism knows no borders and as the war escalates in Europe, the situation changes drastically. Suddenly, their radios are taken away; their passports are stamped with a big J and one day, all the men men over the age of 15 are arrested and taken to prisons camps. Many of the women left behind are too frightened to escape and are desperately waiting for their husbands and sons to come back home. On November 26, 1942, hundreds of Jews are picked up by the police in the middle of the night and are transported to the dock in Oslo. Unknowing and frightened men, women, children, sick and old are forced on board the awaiting German cargo ship "SS DONAU". The ship leaves with 532 Norwegian Jews onboard; 302 men, 188 women and 42 children. The end station is Auschwitz.

Fredrik isn’t the bravest of men, but now he is faced with a great responsibility and an enormous task - to get the entire Norwegian gold reserve away from the Nazis during the invasion of Norway.

Kaya has always wanted to be just like all the other cells in her part of the body. So, when the others begin preparing for the great quest, and she’s left behind - her heart breaks. Determined to find her own way, Kaya sets off, alone, into the vast and mysterious world of the body. Along the way, she rescues the grumpy but noble General Abel and despite being total opposites, an unlikely friendship begins to bloom. When danger grows from within, Kaya and Abel must work together to protect the body they call home, and Kaya must discover that what sets her apart might just be what makes her truly special.

When the King and Queen are poisoned, brothers Per and Pål get arrested, suspected of being behind it. Younger brother Espen "Ash Lad" and Princess Kristin set out on a quest to find the mythical Soria Moria castle, which is said to be built of pure gold. In Soria Moria, there sits a well containing the Water of Life; the only thing that can cure Kristin's parents. But some wicked Danes are also on the hunt to find the castle. If Espen and Kristin fail, it will spell the end for the brothers, the kingdom - and perhaps the entire world.

Pioneer is set in the early '80s, at the beginning of the Norwegian Oil Boom. Enormous oil and gas deposits are discovered in the North Sea and the authorities aim to bring the oil ashore through a pipeline from depths of 500 meters. A professional diver, Petter, obsessed with reaching the bottom of the Norwegian Sea has the discipline, strength and courage to take on the world's most dangerous mission. But a sudden, tragic accident changes everything. Petter is sent on a perilous journey where he loses sight of who's pulling the strings. Gradually he realizes that he is in way over his head and that his life is at stake.

11-year-old gaming enthusiast Hedvig finds her life turned upside down when she is forced to replace her father as the town’s superhero much earlier than expected. But Hedvig is no superhero, and the challenges are far greater than her coaching father anticipated.

An uncompromising and controversial short set in the Scandinavian suburbia on the hottest day of the summer. A sister reluctantly babysits her little brother. Two young boys catch her attention, and she makes a crucial decision.

Nine year old Sara befriends a newborn dragon, together they will turn Christmas upside down and literary put it on fire.

Maria finds herself at a crossroads when her husband suddenly announces that he wants to end their relationship. She must either let her whole world come crashing down, or come to terms with the life she has and find a way forward.

Eva Arctander is born with hypertrichosis, meaning that she is covered from head to toe with fine blonde hair. Her father is so ashamed of her that he hides her away from the world in their apartment. However, Eva’s nanny fights for her right to be treated like everyone else.

Fueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.

A young woman tries to find her origins after having been abandoned as an infant at a cemetery wrapped in a cloth with satanic symbols, but as she gets closer to answers a malevolent spirit is telling her to leave.

In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.

Two sisters raised on a charter resort in Gran Canaria. After 27 years, they reluctantly return to their childhood island to deal with their parents death, and end up with a half-finished esoteric retreat center in the Canary Islands.

Around the year 1000 AD warlike people, the so-called "tjuder", roam in northern Scandinavia. As they brutally kill a family in a remote area, including the parents and their little daughter, the family's teenage son, Aigin, observes the slaughter. He manages to flee from these killers and reaches a camp with other Sámi whose inhabitants are worried if he has been able to hide his track. Afraid of the murderous people, they decide to flee to the coast. The boy stays alone to avenge his family's murder. Unfortunately, they get him before he can do anything and force him to lead them to the other Sámi. He guides them but has a plan to destroy the barbarous people before reaching the camp.

Andreas has everything a man can wish for – a wonderful wife, a big house in the country, and a great job. But a sudden car accident puts him in a wheelchair, leaving him paralysed below the waste and impotent. Will his marriage work?

A British chef paddles 3,000 kilometers along Greenland's west coast, surviving on nature's bounty and discovering the power of community in a country surrounded by geopolitical tensions.

At the age of 25, Hauge had an experience of God that changed both him and the whole of Norway. Through preaching, writing and publishing their own books, business start-ups, by hiring both the mentally and physically ill, and exalting the women as both preachers and business leaders. Hauge stood in the breeze for a Norway that did not fall into good soil with the State, which in turn brought life to the Convict Poster to prevent Hauge from spreading the message of equality for all. The price was high, but Hauge and his successors left indelible traces in modern Norway.

A glimpse into the raw and simple power of nature through encounters with farm animals: the eponymous Gunda, a mother pig; two cows, and a one-legged chicken.

Sixteen year-old Nisha lives a double life. At home with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager. When her father catches her in bed with her boyfriend, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. To set an example, Nisha's parents decide to kidnap her and place her with relatives in Pakistan. Here, in a country she has never been to before, Nisha is forced to adapt to her parents' culture.

"Kon-Tiki" was the name of a wooden raft used by six Scandinavian scientists, led by Thor Heyerdahl, to make a 101-day journey from South America to the Polynesian Islands. The purpose of the expedition was to prove Heyerdal's theory that the Polynesian Islands were populated from the east- specifically Peru- rather than from the west (Asia) as had been the theory for hundreds of years. Heyerdahl made a study of the winds and tides in the Pacific, and by simulating conditions as closely as possible to those he theorized the Peruvians encountered, set out on the voyage.

Marianne, a doctor, and Tor, a nurse, avoid relationships. After meeting on a ferry where Tor seeks casual encounters, Marianne explores the possibility of spontaneous intimacy, questioning societal norms.

He thought his Norwegian father was a journalist. In reality, he was a CIA spy who fired AK-47s in the Kuwaiti desert and infiltrated cocaine laboratories in Colombia. It is time to face the truth, and it's stranger than fiction.

After surviving the events in the Jotunheimen mountains in which four of her friends were murdered, the badly injured Jannicke is brought to the local hospital. But when she wakes up, the building is dark and deserted... and she soon realizes that her nightmare isn’t over yet.

A woman walks over jagged, weather-beaten rocks by the sea. She is barefoot, wearing a simple white dress. The wind blows unchecked, her face hidden beneath the brim of a floppy hat. She walks and walks, resolute. Sometimes she carries a large jute bag. What is happening here?

The story of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the leader of the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911, and the first person to reach both the North and South Poles in 1926. Follows his all-consuming drive as a polar explorer and the tragedy he brought on himself and others by sacrificing everything in the icy wastelands to achieve his dream.

We’ve all dreamed about making it big. About doing something that sets us apart and makes an indelible claim about who we are. Gunnar Ryan Wiik is a dreamer. But what makes him stand out is that he is seemingly willing to do anything to make his dreams come through. Directors Even G. Benestad and August B. Hanssen has been following the Norwegian entrepreneur Gunnar Ryan Wiik since 2017 when his spectacular film project about the Western hero Morgan Kane collapsed and became front-page material in Norwegian newspapers. Ryan lost everything. With unique access over seven years, the film follows Ryan's new and adventurous projects. Can he finally succeed, or will the ghosts of the past consume him?

After a brave rescue mission in stormy weather, a young rescue boat is headhunted to a larger harbor where he realizes that bigger is not always better.

Kristoffer brings a girl home for the first time, that which at first seems as a fragile and tender love story makes a tragic shift.

After stowing away on a rescue helicopter, three children find themselves stuck on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean with little hope of rescue. They have to conquer fear, wild animals, raging weather, lack of food, and find a way to communicate with the mainland.

Norwegian winter, 1915. On the island Bastøy, outside Oslo, a group of young boys aged 11 to 18, are held in an institution for delinquent youth, notorious for its sadistic regime. One day a new boy, Erling, arrives, determined to escape from the island. After a tragic incident, he ends up leading the boys in a violent uprising. When the boys manage to take over the island, 150 soldiers are sent in to restore order.