The Norwegian Film Institute backs two feature debuts
- Kim Hiorthøy’s The Rules for Everything and Joern Utkilen’s Lake over Fire are receiving production funding
The Norwegian Film Institute will back the production of two debut features by Norwegian directors: Kim Hiorthøy’s The Rules for Everything [+see also:
trailer
interview: Kim Hiorthøy
film profile] (Motlys) and Joern Utkilen’s Lake over Fire [+see also:
trailer
interview: Joern Utkilen
film profile] (Ape&Bjørn).
Educated at the art academies in Trondheim and Copenhagen, Hiorthøy worked as a designer, musician, cinematographer and choreographer before he wrote the comedy about unusual family life.
One day, ten-year-old Storm’s father declares that life is so short that he wants his young mistress to move in with them. His wife reluctantly accepts, and shortly after, the father and the mistress are run over by a bus and killed. Storm realises he must find a new way of living with his mother in a world so closely linked to death.
“Hiorthøy has a view of the world, a sense of humour and an artistic nerve that I look forward to seeing realised through a feature,” said Norwegian producer Yngve Sæther, who will stage the production for Motlys. Natalie Press, Tindra Hillestad Pack, Pavle Heidler and Ingrid Olava star in the lead roles.
Utkilen has himself written the script for Lake over Fire, set in a village in the wilderness, which has come to a virtual standstill due to the citizens’ overwhelming wealth, earned from the nearby mine. Nobody wants to take on the less attractive jobs needed for a society to function.
“Utkilen is one of Norway’s most exciting directors. He has a unique signature on his films; his cinematic universe is both recognisable and completely strange in its absurdity,” said Wibecke Rønseth, commissioning editor of the Norwegian Film Institute.
A graduate from Scotland’s Screen Academy, Utkilen has already directed a number of award-winning shorts (Little Red Hoodie in 2009, Wind over Lake in 2010 and Asylum in 2011). His first feature will be produced by Isak Eymundsson and Ruben Thorkildsen, for Ape&Bjørn.
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