These are fighting to become Norway’s Oscar candidate – news Culture and Entertainment

Today, the Norwegian Oscar committee will announce which film will be the Norwegian Oscar candidate. At 12 o’clock on Telegrafen in Oslo, it will be known whether it is “Sick girl”, “Krigsseileren” or “Alle hater Johan” who will take over the baton from “The World’s Worst Man”, which was nominated for two Oscars last year. Sick girl – You recognize yourself a little, but you don’t really want to, say friends Nian Hassan and Paktaw Hajipour, laughing. – It’s a bit embarrassing. news meets the two friends outside the Gimle cinema in Oslo. They are two of over 27,000 who have seen the film in cinemas since its premiere. The film addresses a fundamental question: how far are you willing to go to get attention? If you are like the main character Signe, played by Kristine Kujath Thorp, the answer is very long. In her quest to be seen and gain sympathy, Signe self-medicates herself so that she becomes very ill. In this way, she gets attention and sympathy from friends and strangers. A phenomenon that is not completely unknown to most people, says psychologist Fanny Duckert. – The film reveals a very common phenomenon, but which can be embarrassing to admit one has. Most of us have a dash of it, no matter what we pretend. In the film “Sick girl”, the character Signe self-medicates herself, in order to be seen. Photo: Ymer Media / Ymer Media According to Duckert, there has always been a need for people to be seen and confirmed. But in today’s society it has become easier to become one. – Before, you got rewards when you worked hard and did great things. Then you got recognition from your group, but now you can get superficial confirmation. The director behind the film, Kristoffer Borgli, believes that status has become more complicated than it used to be before. – Before, status was more reserved for classical success in a career, for example, but now status is more about signaling who you are as a person, that you are a victim or that you have a special identity, says Borgli. Krigsseileren Krigsseileren tells the story of the more than 30,000 Norwegian war sailors and the fate of their families during and after the Second World War. It is estimated that around 3,700 Norwegian war sailors lost their lives and 473 ships were lost during the war. The film is the last in a series of Norwegian war films. In the last ten years, eight war films have been made, while four more are on the way. news has reviewed the Norwegian Film Institute’s awards over the past ten years and it is precisely war films that dominate the top prize. NFI has spent a lot of money on war films. In fact, they have given NOK 201,713,342 in advance and ex post subsidies to war films in the period between 2016 and 2021, according to their own figures. Which amounts to 11 per cent of the total NFI budget. This causes several filmmakers to react. – I am not against films from the war, I find it exciting myself. But it might be a bit too many, says Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen. He is behind films such as “Izzat” and “The last fox hunt”. – There have been a lot of them and you can’t stop thinking that since the war films are so expensive, it may be at the expense of other films. Krigsseileren tells the story of the more than 30,000 Norwegian war sailors and their families’ fate during and after the Second World War. Photo: Roxanna Reiss / MerFilm Filmmaker Mariken Halle also thinks it’s a shame that the large sums of money go to films that are similar to each other. – It is not a problem that there are many war films, but it is a problem that so much of the money goes to the war films. NFI defends that war films and historical dramas receive a lot of financial support because the public wants it. – Everyone wants big audience winners other than the war films. But it is they who turn out to attract the large audience, says NFI director Kjersti Mo. What do the NFI figures say? In the last ten years, eight Norwegian war films have been made, while four more are on the way. Of the 30 films that have received the most advance funding since 2016, eight are war films set in World War II. Of the 20 films that have received the most funding since 2016, six are war films. Total allocated support for war films with premieres between 2016 and 2021 is NOK 201,713,341 in advance and ex-post grants. This corresponds to 11 per cent of the total NFI budget. If we include next year’s war films, NFI expects the figure to rise to 13 percent. All Norwegian war films that have been made in recent years are among the 50 films that have received the most support from NFI. Alle hater Johan “Alle hater Johan” had a tough start to his cinema career. As one of several Norwegian films, it was supposed to premiere during the pandemic, but was postponed due to corona restrictions. When it was to have its original premiere, the rule in Norway was simple: a maximum of 50 people could sit in a cinema hall. Thus, the producers behind the film decided to postpone the premiere. When it first appeared in Norwegian cinemas, it quickly became an audience favourite. The film won two awards during the Amanda prize 2022: best original music and best mask/make-up. In addition, the film was nominated in the categories best supporting actress, best screenplay, best photography and best costume. In the film we meet Johan, played by Pål Sverre Hagen. Johan likes three things in particular: dynamite, his horse and the girl next door, who is his great love. By accident, he manages to blow her up a bit in her youth. Which makes Johan an unpopular character among the population of the local village. Who do you think deserves to be Norway’s Oscar candidate? Sick girl The war sailor Everyone hates Johan Show result



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