Discoveries from Norway World Cinema

Ellen, a young girl is on a bridge, on a random Friday night. Her motives, some what unclear. Here she meets Alex, a young and confident boy. A conversation occurs. And this conversation can save a life.

The story of the summer when a group of young people lost their innocence – each in their own way.

27 year old Thea is in a psychiatric hospital. She can’t distinguish between reality and fantasy. She’s living out a nightmare, has lost herself and also her will to live.

Shot in the valley district of Setesdal, this film shows how the fabric used for the black skirt of the local "bunad" (a Norwegian folk costume) used to be hand pleated. Other entries in this series of five, relate how the wool is sheared and cleaned, woven, and sewn into clothing.

The year is 1953. Olav is a carefree teenager with a relaxed attitude. His father is rarely home, and he has a turbulent relationship with his teacher. On a seemingly normal day, something happens that Olav will never forget.

When Magda's sister dumps her to go to an illegal Halloween party, she is left behind and has an unpleasant confrontation with some girls from school. In the course of the night, she meets Nils Olav. The two hit it off, giving Magda the confidence to ignore the mean girls.

Pho Pye, an 18-year-old punker from Myanmar, will soon play a concert in Yangon, his hometown, with friends, but he is unable to concentrate. He is depressed and confused by his parents' expectations. To gain peace of mind, he sets out on a meditation journey to a mythical temple town.

An old memory of how he met his wife in adolescence and that she is not there anymore, and in no time he himself will be gone too.

The movie about the legendary Norwegian musician and entertainer Halvdan Sivertsen.

The film is a short poetic documentary based on a text by author Tor Obrestad that describes the everyday life of "Gamlingen"; a distinctive outdoor pool in Stavanger.

This is a thematic innovative documentary film in which the director, Trygve Hagen, reflects on his role as both father and son. The framework for this is a journey Hagen makes with his seven-year-old son - from Oslo to Molde - to visit his old father

An intense and humorous montage about the horrors of an ever expanding bureaucracy.

A quiet and restrained boy in his late teens lives at home with his childlike mother and reserved father, in a sunny and lush suburb. The family seems to be in some strange trance, while an underlying, fleshy mystery makes itself visible.

Gabriel faces a difficult choice when his best friend reveals a startling dark secret.

A documentary about Daniel who works in Norways last coal mine on Svalbard.

About a young man, and his struggle towards revealing his sexual identity to his friends.

A bunch of Norwegian youths get lost in the mountains. Unfortunately for them is that these mountains are the home of Butcher Bob and his equally murderous brother Bill. Together, the brothers have a huge fervor for sadistic murders, homebrews and anal sex. This is something the youths will soon be aware of ...

A documentary about Mayhem's music that is primarily made up of interviews with Kjetil Manheim and Necrobutcher. It premiered in 2004 at the Oslo Film Festival and was later released on VHS. Some footage was reused in the 2008 documentary Pure Fucking Mayhem.

A portrait of Norwegian musician Frank Tønnesen.

In this film I was interested in making places that were far apart in physical distance appear next to each other in cinematic time. Each shot is an independent scene from a separate location and I animated objects and materials found in these places. The optical soundtrack is mixed low, so that the sound of the static electricity on the track mixes with the recorded soundtrack.

Dining room tables, kitchen tables, bedside tables, coffee tables, outdoors tables, computer tables, pool tables. To fit in, you´ll want to have a lot of tables. In a dystopian future a choir gathers. One of the members strive to keep the facade.

The movie follows the Krempig family as they travel through the north-western parts of Greenland.

A series of five ‘movements’. Each movement lasts between one and three minutes on a continuous loop. Individual movements can be shown on single or multiple screen systems.

A lament for the utopia of celluloid dreams, dreams of light and color in an almost monochrome world. It is also a lament for political utopia’s in general

A critique on the presence of cultural tourism in the high Arctic, an experience diminished by the hunger of the camera for fixed images.

God’s library is filled to capacity. People whose lives aren’t interesting enough are given their books back. This happens to Knut-Ronny, who immediately goes into an existential crisis and tries his utmost to get back into God’s library. Fresh fantasy comedy refrains from teaching ‘important’ life lessons and keeps things light until the end.

On a boat in an idyllic setting, Joachim goes down on one knee to propose to Toril, the love of his life. Toril has other thoughts about their relationship.

Ellen-Astri Lundby's haunting documentary traces the stories of six elders in Norway who grew up under the weight of World War II. Reconciling the horrors of the past with the present, the elders recount their time as young people as they describe the reality of their childhoods. During the country's fall in 1944, more than 50,000 civilians were deported to the south, and another 20,000 more forced to flee their homes, becoming refugees in the same country they called home. In the present day, the film follows the survivors as they meet with refugees, also children, from Syria and Sudan. Both groups carry similar memories of war, hardship and impossible horrors, and both the elders and audiences are presented with the same question--how will the wartime memories of today's refugee children affect them as adults?

A short film about the stumbling stones (Stolpersteine/Snublesteiner) in Trondheim.

The film tells about the Second World War, when the Norwegians and Russians fought side by side to expel the fascists from their native land. About those who won the war, but lost the world. This is a tape about wounds inflicted by wars, about people whose fates turned out to be broken in the millstones of big politics. This is a story about how a son is trying to find out the truth about his father's past.

A lonely woman gets a dog.

Hus is a film which attempts to reveal the private and hidden layers of our habitation. It is a live animation film shot on location which incorporates both pixilation (stop motion) and time-lapse photography. Every single shot opens up a hidden layer of the house and exposes it to the passing light. Within the accelerated time of the film the house gradually breaks down piece by piece and frame by frame. Once the house is completely dismantled it is reconstructed in a different location.

When difficulties arise, Wanda simply runs from her problems. Fortunately, she does not have to run alone!

The torch to Oslo : the Winter Olympic city

In the middle of Norway lies the small town Mosjøen. Learn about the present, future and the past of this small town, from the culture personality Berith Pauline Olderskog.

In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets - called Kayayo, carrying heavy loads on their head (from 130 to 220 pounds), earning very little and some end up in prostitution to make ends meet. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a Kayayo to support her family. We follow her incessant longing to get away from the harsh markets, her journey back home and what awaits there.

The Norwegian animated film “Backyard Stories” shows how the childrens game “Refuge Reception Center” becomes sad reality for one of the players

Cargo is a 5-minute short film about a man ( Sven Nordin ) coming to an office to send many packets. Clerk ( Rune Temte ) receives and weighs one and a package . The clerk believes that they weigh the same and want to save time , but the client insists that all packages must be weighed one by one. A devious film about life and eternity.

Without being aware of it is the people in the big city everyday athletes in a huge choreography. Every athlete has their fixed pattern , but the composition of them every day will be casual .

Runa is more interested in hunting & fishing and outdoors then most others in his age. In this season of Villmarksbarna we get to be with Runa (9), her siblings Narve (5), Ida (12), and Guro (15), and her parents Inger and Lars on many new experiences. They leave for a summer ski-trip, an alternative 17'th of may celebration on a beach far from the city, on a glacier -trip and they help with tagging of reindeer calves. They build nesting boxes that they set out early in the spring and we get to participate in an adventurous trip to Alaska where we meet both mountain sheep, chipmunks and maybe also a grizzly bear?

The Red Apple follows different people through different situations, and gives a unique view into a world few of us have experienced. A place where every day is a struggle for survival, where hugs are worth their weight in gold. A fight for acceptance. A workplace where your colleagues may not be alive the next day.

Everything appears normal in the small Norwegian town of Skudeneshavn. But cycling along the beach road is Lauritz, an eleven year old boy en route to treat himself to an ice cream at The World's Smallest Café. Peddles spinning, wheels skidding, he rides his beloved bike through majestic woods and narrow roads to get to the café. Before sunset he will have lost something valuable, but perhaps gained something more precious.

Just as a presidential reception threatens to become a fiasco and thus expose the entire nation to ridicule, two men spring into action.

The film is about the longing for a new language, a language that can grasp things at the limit of what we can understand and perceive. A unique form of communication, a place where words are not enough.

Disa is a tough little 4 year old girl. We follow her when she has to leave Norway to live on the other side of the planet-to Japan. Here she meets a new world, totally different from the one she has come from.

Sverre Halvorsen draws the poles to celebrate Roald Amundsen reaching the south pole.

Mo is in need of some fast cash but the most unexpected thing happens! She gets into trouble with a drug lord.

After their once scalding hot relationship fails, Julie carries her ex-girlfriend's mementos in a large box wherever she goes.

About Norwegian women in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

When a man is found dead, the evidence at the scene leads officers Even and Martin to a local drug ring. But they soon realize that the drugrunners are not going to give in easily and trouble ensues.

On the windswept island of Givær, Olaug Olsen tends sheep and eider ducks, continuing a centuries-old practice of mutual care. As she prepares nests, she wonders how many birds will return this season. This character-driven documentary follows her quiet stewardship and reflections on shared belonging as eider populations decline.