about the program: norway's new wave april 7 - 15, 1999 photo: WATER EASY REACH / EN DAG TIL I SOLEN

This series was organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in collaboration with the Norwegian Film Institute. Special thanks to Jan Erik Holst, Astri Dehli Blindheim and Stine Oppegaard from the NFI for their good advice and help in arranging this series. Thanks also to Consulate General of Norway in New York for their support. back to main program calendar

DEATH IS A CARESS / DODEN ER ET KJAERTEGN GJEST BARDSEN THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY / SONDAGSENGLER ONLY CLOUDS MOVE THE STARS / BARE SKYER BEVEGER STJERNENE

The history of Norwegian film can be divided roughly into seven or eight eras, each with its own particular character and cultural and economic context. In general, however, Norwegian film has been qualitatively and quantitatively weaker than Danish and Swedish cinema, although individual films have done well internationally in every era. In contrast to neighboring countries, Norwegian cinemas have since 1913 been almost all exclusively owned by local Municipal Councils, instead of private companies, a factor that has greatly influenced film production. Today, the government is primarily responsible--largely through the Norwegian Film Institute--for financing Norwegian films. The international reputation of Norwegian film has risen and ebbed. Arne Skouen's films were seen and admired abroad in the 1950s and 1960s (his NINE LIVES was nominated for an Oscar in 1959), while the work of Anja Breien and Per Blom was shown widely on the festival circuit in the 1970s. In 1986 Oddvar Einerson's youth drama X received a Special Jury Prize at Venice, while Vibeke Lokkeberg's SKIN was featured in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes that same year. Norwegian cinema's greatest breakthrough, however, came with Nils Gaup's PATHFINDER, made in 1987. Produced by John Jacobsen, and based on a legend of the Sami (known as "Lapps" outside Scandinavia), the film was an enormous international success and the second Norwegian film nominated for an Oscar. In 1997, Berit Nesheim's THE OTHER SIDE OF SUNDAY (included in this series) became the third Norwegian film to compete for the Oscar. The 1990s have been one of the most fruitful decades in our film history. With a steady annual production of 15-20 feature films, and several domestic box office successes such as KRISTIN LAVRANSDATTER, THE TELEGRAPHIST and GURIN WITH THE FOXTAIL, Norwegian cinema has become increasingly well established at home. Many of the directors mentioned above--Anja Breien, Nils Gaup, Vibeke Lokkeberg, et al.--continue to produce strong work, while they have been joined by a new generation of directors such as Bent Hamer, Unni Straume, Marius Holst, Knut Erik Jensen, and Pal Sletaune. And in 1998, three Norwegian films received commercial releases in New York: Alexander Rosler's MENDEL, Pal Sletaune's JUNK MAIL, and Erik Skjoldbjaerg 's INSOMNIA, prompting some critics to speak of a new "Norwave" in the cinemas--a trend we very much hope this series presented at the Walter Reade Theater will continue. -- Jan Erik Holst, Executive Director, The Norwegian Film Institute