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

PRODUCTION Norway

Norwegian classic Carpenter Andersen Meets Santa Claus on its way to the screen

by 

- Terje Rangnes is filming “the classic of all Norwegian Christmas classics”, slated for a national premiere on 11 November

Norwegian classic Carpenter Andersen Meets Santa Claus on its way to the screen
Director Terje Rangnes

“It is a pleasure to be allowed to film the classic of all Norwegian Christmas classics, and I hope the film will ensure that new generations will also get to know this wonderful story from one of Norway’s most important narrators. I can’t wait to spread a warm and genuine Christmas spirit for the whole family,” said Norwegian director Terje Rangnes

The news journalist-turned-filmmaker, whose feature debut was Just Another Day at the Office (2010), is adapting Norwegian writer-musician Alf Prøysen’s 1959 novel Carpenter Andersen Meets Santa Claus [+see also:
trailer
interview: Terje Rangnes
film profile
]
 for the big screen with Norwegian actors Trond Espen Seim (the Varg Veum [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
franchise) and Anders Baasmo Christiansen (Kon-Tiki [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) in the leads.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

“Everybody in Norway has a relationship to Carpenter Andersen and Santa Claus – it is one of the most really Norwegian Christmas stories we have, and we have tried to keep the warmth and charm in the film,” added Norwegian producer Martin Sundland, who has staged the project with Are Heidenstrøm for Fantefilm Fiksjon.

Carpenter Andersen loves Christmas more than any other holiday, and he does everything he can to give his family a proper experience – including the notorious visit of (himself as) Santa Claus! But this Christmas does not go quite as planned: on a toboggan ride in full costume, he crashes into the real Santa Claus, and they decide to make a switch. “I go to your children, and you go to mine,” they agree; after all, Santa’s family had never been visited by a real carpenter, and the Andersen family had never met the real Santa. Norwegian writer John Kåre Raake has delivered the screenplay for the epitome of the Norwegian Christmas spirit, in which Ingeborg Sundre Hagen Raustøl plays Mrs Andersen and Johanna Mørck Mrs Santa.

Last year, Fantefilm launched Norwegian director Roar Uthaug’s The Wave [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roar Uthaug
film profile
]
– Norway’s (and Scandinavia’s) first disaster movie – which became the most popular film in 2015 and number seven of all time, taking 832,649 admissions. Nordisk Film Distribution has scheduled the national premiere of Carpenter Andersen Meets Santa Claus for 11 November.

(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