Haugesund to celebrate Norwegian cinema with launch of seven films
Unspooling its 39th edition between August 21-26, the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund will be celebrating local cinema with five features and two full-length documentaries in its programme, which will be preceded by the New Nordic Films market (August 17-20) and Norway’s national film prizes, the Amanda awards ceremony on August 20.
Festival Director Gunnar Johan Løvvik said that he was pleased with the trust that local industry has shown the festival by launching seven films in Haugesund: ”The are all top quality, two of them have already been world-premiered in Cannes and Locarno,” added Programme Director Håkon Skogrand.
The main programme will be book-ended by the first showing of Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway [+see also:
film review
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] – the latter was screened in 'Un Certain Regard' at the Cannes International Film Festival and will also feature in the 'Vanguard' section in Toronto.
The 17th New Nordic Films plus a new sidebar, Nordic Focus, will start with Jannicke Systad Jacobsen’s Turn Me On, Goddammit [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
film profile], which was shown at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Screenplay in the World Narrative Competition.
Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters [+see also:
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Even Benestad and August Baugstø Hanssen will be showing their documentary on Norwegian artist Pushwagner; the local entries are concluded by Karoline Grindaker and Hilde K. Kjøs’ documentary, SjuKammers-Frontsøstrene.
Thirteen countries are represented in Haugesund’s main selection, which comprises festival winners from Berlin (Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) and Cannes (Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Maïwenn Le Besco’s Polisse [+see also:
film review
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interview: Maïwenn
film profile]).
With special programmes such as a French Touch, Cinema Italia, Critics’ Week and Videorama – and a tribute to the late Norwegian actress Wenche Foss – festival highlights also include the world premiere of Swedish director Richard Hobert’s A One-way to Antibes [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
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