The Karlovy Vary IFF presents annually for the first time in the Czech Republic more than 200 new films from the whole world. Among them two Norwegian films will be presented on the 44th IFF Karlovy Vary that takes place from 3rd to 11th July 2009.
Dead Snow
Død snø
Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2009, 90 min
Section: Midnight Screenings
http://www.dodsno.no
Film screenings:
2C9 - 4.7., 24:00, Čas Cinema
527 - 7.7., 24:00, Small Hall - Thermal
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Screenplay: Stig Frode Henriksen, Tommy Wirkola
Dir. of Photography: Matt Weston
Music: Christian Wibe
Editor: Martin Stoltz
Producer: Tomas Evjen, Terje Strømstad
Production: Miho Film AS
Sales: Elle Driver
Contact: Norwegian Film Institute
Distributor: Magic Box - division Bioscop
Cast: Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Jenny Skavlan
Synopsis
A group of medical students unloads an ample supply of beer and there is nothing to indicate that their stay at a mountain cabin won’t be utterly relaxing. Some of them sneer at an uninvited guest who tells them the story of a Nazi unit that froze to death nearby during the Second World War. And yet one shouldn’t discount mysterious nighttime guests – at least not when they appear in a zombie bloodfest comedy like this one. This self-conscious movie works with irony and black humor to wittily vary and even make use of the genre’s typical attributes. The characters here are not intended for quick slaughter. Instead they courageously fight against superior odds, and the film allows them to live long enough for us to judge their eventual demise a disappointment. Several parallel plot lines add to the tension and interest in the developing situation. How many of the protagonists will escape the “zombie pickle”? And by what inventive means will those not slated to survive depart from this world?
About the director
Tommy Wirkola (b. 1979, Alta, Norway) studied media at Finnmark University and film science at Lillehammer University College. He received his bachelors in film and television from Bond University, Australia. He debuted with the low-budget film Kill Buljo – The Movie (2007), which notched up great success and presaged the possibilities Wirkola developed in Dead Snow. The director also made the short films Stealing Candy and Little Red Riding Hood from the Hood, and the TV series “The Saga of Kurt Josef Wagle.” He also co-wrote the script for Dead Snow.
North
Nord
Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2008, 78 min
Section: Another View
Film screenings:
526 - 7.7., 21:30, Small Hall - Thermal
832 - 10.7., 10:00, Congress Hall - Thermal
Director: Rune Denstad Langlo
Screenplay: Erlend Loe
Dir. of Photography: Philip Øgaard
Music: Ola Kvernberg
Designer: Hege Pålsrud
Editor: Zaklina Stojcevska
Producer: Sigve Endresen, Brede Hovland
Production: Motlys AS
Sales: Memento Films International
Contact: Norwegian Film Institute
Distributor: Aerofilms
Cast: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Kyrre Hellum, Marte Aunemo, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Lars Olsen, Astrid Solhaug
Synopsis
Robust Jomar was once a successful athlete, but he shut himself off from the rest of the world after suffering a mental breakdown. The film, which its creators characterize as “an anti-depressive off-road movie,” uses gentle humor to portray Jomar’s journey to see a son whom he has never met. Along the way, he meets other individuals who are just as confused and lonely as he: a girl who lives alone with her grandmother in the middle of nowhere, a young excavator driver who is terrified of gays (but has invented a wonderful recipe for a guaranteed cheap drunk using tampons), and an old man humbly waiting for a dignified departure. Each new encounter gives Jomar the strength to carry on, and to face, as he nears the end of his journey, the things in life he fled from. Director Rune Denstad Langlo, a rising star of Scandinavian cinema, bets on a string of original jokes in combination with a certain melancholy and the beauty of the snowy arctic landscape. Another prime asset is Anders Baasmo Christiansen’s excellent performance as the hapless Jomar.
About the director
Rune Denstad Langlo (b. 1972) gained attention with two documentaries successfully screened in Norwegian theaters: Too Much Norway (Alt for Norge, 2005) and 99% Honest (99% ærlig, 2008) featuring the hip-hop group Forente Minoriterer. The latter film, which went into domestic distribution last year and was shown in the Czech Republic at the One World festival, earned Langlo the prestigious Kanon Award (Norwegian national award) for Discovery of the Year. His feature directorial debut, the comedy North, is celebrating one festival success after another: at the Berlinale it took the Europa Cinemas Label Award and the FIPRESCI Prize in the Panorama section, as well as an award from the recent Tribeca festival in New York. Currently, Langlo is engaged as a director and producer at Motlys productions, and is working on his next film, the comedy Nater.