15/12/2003

For the first time Norway will be represented in competition at the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival with Magnus Martens' debut feature, United that will be unveiled at the new ‘14 Plus’ Section dedicated to children films.

Although the film has already been shown in Haugesund, at the Buster Children Film Festival in Copenhagen and at the Nordic Film Festival in Lübeck, this will be it's first selection in competition at an international film festival.
Born in 1973, Magnus Martens studied at the London International Film School and directed the award-winning short film Eddie Stargazer in 1999. He then worked with commercials and music videos before making the Pokemon Power episode for the film Utopia-Nobody is Perfect In The Perfect Country.
United, both written and directed by Martens, is a romantic comedy about a young football fanatic who dreams of playing for Manchester United, but who ends up as a warehouse worker at the local shipyard. The film was produced by Håkon Øverås and Aagot Skjeldal from 4 ½ Films, the company behind Marius Holst’s Dragonflies that was shown in Berlin’s Panorama Section two years ago. United is sold internationally by Nordisk Film Sales.