13/07/2015 - The Norwegian director’s feature debut follows a teenage girl who finds new excitement in her dull suburban life

Los Angeles-based Norwegian director Sten Hellevig, who has made more than 100 commercials and 30 music videos – including the first shot on a mobile phone – is on his way to completing his first feature, Dryads - Girls Don’t Cry [+see also:
trailer
interview: Sten Hellevig
film profile].

Named after a Kristiansand group that played British pop 20 years ago, and scripted with US screenwriter Randall Jahnson (Oliver Stone’s The Doors/1991), his film “for young audiences – a third of it music” will be domestically released by Last Filmdistribution on 7 August.

Norwegian actress Iben M Akerlie, who played the title role in Norwegian director Torun Lian’s Victoria (2013), based on Knut Hamsun’s novel, performs as Henriette, the singer of the pop group Dryads. The band, which also comprises Alba August and Allan Hyde, moves into the house next door to Hilde’s (played by Anneli Aune).

Bored by her dull suburban life, lead character Hilde finds new excitement in the mysterious band; she spies on the members from her bedroom window, takes photos of them and falls under the spell of the charismatic singer – but she also learns that being cool has a price.

“Originally, we wanted to make an up-to-date film for young audiences, but it is difficult because the way they communicate changes all the time. We started with a girl who was a blogger, but now they are on Instagram and Snapchat,” Hellevig explained. 

With a cast including Vilde Zeiner, Morten Abel, Jannike Kruse and Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Dryads – Girls Don’t Cry was produced by Teréz Hollo-Klausen, for The King of Popcorn and Anna Kron Film. Marius Christiansen and Thom Hell delivered the original music, while Akerlie herself wrote the lyrics, which she sang with the group at Norway’s Hove Festival, especially for the film.