On Thursday morning, it became clear that the Norwegian Film Institute is withdrawing from the Amanda Committee. The Amanda exit was a “protest” against the regulations. The prize can only be awarded to films that have been screened in ten of the largest cinemas in at least two of the largest Norwegian cities. It was the Netflix success Troll that started the debate about whether streaming films should be able to be nominated for the given award. This is the film that has created debate in the Norwegian film industry. Photo: Netflix The industry council for film is critical of the film institute’s Amanda exit. The majority of the unions in the Industry Council are on the Amanda committee. They believe that they had planned to take up the discussion after this year’s awards. – This is a decision everyone has known about, says Elisabeth Sjaastad, who is head of the Norwegian Film Association and who also sits on the industry council. Elisabeth Sjaastad is on the industry council for film. Photo: Gisle Bjørneby / Gisle Bjørneby Films can be taken up for assessment by the Amanda committee until the end of June. – Everyone agreed that we cannot change the rules in the middle of the race towards this year’s award ceremony, says Sjaastad. – NFI has pre-concluded But one statement from the head of the Amanda Committee to news last week caused the Norwegian Film Institute to turn around: There they said that the award’s criteria were not too strict, and that the Amanda Award should “promote the art of film that is made for the cinemas”. – Then we take it to mean that the debate was already concluded from the committee chair’s side, says Kjersti Mo, head of the Norwegian Film Institute. NFI leader Kjersti Mo saw the debate as concluded. Photo: NFI – The topic has come up in the committee several times without it having caused any movement until now, she believes. Sjaastad from the Industry Council admits that streaming films have been a topic, but that all parties agreed that the discussion should be held in the autumn. – It is NFI that has reached a preliminary conclusion, she says. Sjaastad nevertheless believes that it is right that NFI withdraws: – Because they, as public grant providers, should not be a player in the design of the criteria for the award. Brak debate Kjersti Mo, on the other hand, gives a completely different reason why NFI has withdrawn: – We want the discussion about a national film award to be more open than just within the Amanda Committee. We want a broader debate than what takes place within the framework of a cinema award, she says. Sjaastad says that the Amanda Committee naturally listens to the various players in the industry. – That debate is already widespread in the industry from before. It is already open, she says. And that “with a bang”. That’s what news’s culture commentator Inger Merete Hobbelstad says. – Everyone who hands out major film awards is a bit confused about what to do with the streaming films, she explains. news’s cultural commentator Hobbelstad believes that the movie offer on the sofa is considered a threat to cinema. Photo: Carina Johansen / NTB On the same day as Amanda’s exit to NFI, four Norwegian producers go out in Rushprint magazine and call it “a knee-jerk reaction”. In the post, they write that “the strategy of platform neutrality has failed”. The most common thing is that only cinema films receive film awards. This applies to both Norwegian awards and major international awards such as the Oscars. – The Norwegian Film Institute therefore wants the Amanda prize to go in the opposite direction, says cultural commentator Hobbelstad. She still does not think the film Troll would have been nominated, even if it had been eligible for it. Also, to win an Oscar, the films must have been shown in cinemas. Photo: Jordan Strauss/AP
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Thought they agreed. Then the film institute withdrew – news Culture and entertainment
