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Netflix announced today that production of Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole has wrapped after 113 days of shooting across 160 locations. The streaming service has shared a first-look video featuring Tobias Santelmann as Harry Hole and Joel Kinnaman as Tom Waaler in Harry’s shabby Oslo apartment.

From best-selling author Jo Nesbø, one of the leading crime writers in the world, the nine-episode series will launch on Netflix in 2026.

The streaming service also revealed that Anders Danielsen Lie, Ane Dahl Torp and pop singer Dagny (Home for Christmas) have joined the cast of the anticipated series.

Filming started on May 23, 2024, and has lasted over 113 days in Oslo, including iconic Harry Hole locations like Harry’s favorite hangout Restaurant Schrøder and Frognerbadet.

Created by one of the greatest storytellers in crime fiction, Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is a whodunnit serial killer mystery led by famed anti-hero Harry Hole. Underneath the surface, this...

The Next Nordic Generation competition strand of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund is where some of the most gifted talents from the Nordics such as Gustav Møller (“The Guilty”) or Katrine Brocks (“The Great Silence”) pitched their graduation films in recent years, before making their international breakthroughs.

This year’s curated program of 10 graduation films from Nordic film schools will be showcased Aug. 21 in Haugesund, Norway.

The 10 short films were selected by a jury consisting of producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir of Stær Film, filmmakers Gunnbjörg Gunnarsdóttir (“Victoria Must Go”) and Fredrik S. Hana (“Code Name: Nagasaki”), in association with program coordinator Christian Høkaas.

“Fear, confusion, dark humor, power, anxiety and love. Anger, love, power. This year’s slate offers a lot of strong emotions, in-keeping with the Scandinavian tradition of dark humour and relationship drama,” said Pirir who’s enjoyed the “playful and daring selection.”

Norway is out in force with five fiction films,...

Deadline reports that Netflix has announced the casting of 28 actors for the upcoming whodunnit mystery series Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole. The mystery’s plot is led by “famed anti-hero detective Harry Hole. Underneath the surface, this series is a nuanced character drama about two police officers — and supposed colleagues — operating on opposite sides of the law. Throughout the first season, Harry goes head-to-head with his long-time adversary and corrupt detective, Tom Waaler. Harry is a brilliant but tormented homicide detective who struggles with his demons. As the two navigate the blurred ethical lines of the criminal justice system, Harry must do all he can to catch a serial killer and bring Waaler to justice before it is too late.”

The series was previously reported to star Tobias Santelmann, Joel Kinnaman and Pia Tjelta. The series is now welcoming character actor Peter Stormare (Fargo) to the cast, as well as...

Exclusive: Peter Stormare (Fargo) is among 28 new additions to the cast of Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole, Netflix’s forthcoming crime series based on the novels from Norwegian author Jo Nesbø.

Others featuring in prominent secondary roles include Anders Baasmo (Power Play), Ellen Helinder (Exit), Simon J. Berger (Exit), Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Westworld) and Kelly Gale (Plane). Director Anna Zackrisson (Deliver Me) has also joined the production, which as previously reported, will star Tobias Santelmann, Joel Kinnaman and Pia Tjelta.

Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole is a whodunnit serial killer mystery led by famed anti-hero detective Harry Hole (Santelmann). Underneath the surface, this series is a nuanced character drama about two police officers — and supposed colleagues — operating on opposite sides of the law. Throughout the first season, Harry goes head-to-head with his long-time adversary and corrupt detective, Tom Waaler (Kinnaman). Harry is a brilliant but tormented homicide detective who struggles with his demons.

"Shut them down or we won't have an industry." Netflix has revealed the first official trailer for the mini-series The Playlist, arriving this October. This is pretty much The Social Network but about the creation of Spotify, following other series recently about tech businesses – from Uber to WeWork. In this hyper-fictionalized account of the true story: led by Swedish tech entrepreneur Daniel Ek, a group of passionate young people come together in what seems to be the impossible task to revolutionize the music industry - and the world. They set out to create a legal streaming service for music. The series stars Edvin Endre as Daniel Ek, Ulf Stenberg as Per Sundin, Gizem Erdogan as Petra Hansson, Joel Lützow as Andreas Ehn, Christian Hillborg as Martin Lorentzon, and Janice Kamya Kavander as "Bobbie T". Also with Valter Skarsgård, Amy Deasismont, Hanna Ardéhn, Ella Rappich, Agnes Kittelsen, and Sofia Karemyr. This all looks like extremely exaggerated,...

GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Scandi sales shingle The Yellow Affair has added to its Göteborg lineup the Swedish series “The Chosen Ones” (“Det Utvalda”), currently playing on Swedish pubcaster Svt’s streaming service Svt Play.

The short form sci-fi thriller stars a strong Swedish female cast of model-turned actress Frida Gustavsson (“Swoon”), singer/actress Amy Deasismont, Felice Jankell (“Young Sophie Bell”), Tind Soneby (“Modus”), Segal Mohamed, Isabella Touma Pettersson and Astrid Morberg.

Liza Morberg, Christian Hallman and Stina Hammar direct, from a screenplay by Leif Alexis and Henrik Lilliér. Erik Magnusson produces for top Swedish indie Anagram.

The show kicks off with 12 girls who wake up in a secluded mansion, without knowing how or why they got there. As they realize they are locked in, the situation in the house threatens to escalate. But the mansion also harbors a dark secret. The girls are part of a medical experiment. If they don...

HBO has released the first international trailer for its quirky Norwegian sci-fi drama Beforeigners. The series, which comes out of HBO Europe and stars Blade Runner 2049’s Krista Kosonen and Aquitted’s Nicolai Cleve Broch, is to launch on August 21.

The drama, which will be available in the U.S. via the WarnerMedia-owned network’s digital platforms, was created by Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the creative team behind Netflix’s Lilyhammer.

It follows a new phenomenon that starts happening all over the world. Powerful flashes of light occur in the ocean, and people from the past appear. They come from three separate time periods: The Stone Age, The Viking era and late 19th Century. No one understands how this is possible, and the people from the past, called ”beforeigners”, have no memory of what’s transpired. Only one thing is certain: they keep coming and there is no way back.

Going in with no expectations besides the recent news that the film had been shortlisted for Norway’s 2017 Oscar selection, director Erik Skjoldbjærg‘s Pyromaniac could not have delivered a better start. With extended camera movements capturing subtle detail from a car driving to an older woman’s look of panic inside the house as she searches for her husband with ominous words, “He’s here,” I was enraptured. Glass breaks and fire bursts out from door to hallway to living room at an extremely fast pace. The homeowners do escape, but she decides to go back for a photo book, only to discover her way out blocked. It’s a chilling scene: fire everywhere, hope erased.

Unfortunately, the film never really matches this level of intensity once it travels back in time three weeks to show nineteen-year old Dag (Trond Nilssen) playing with matches in the forest. We’re suddenly at his house,...

Pyromaniac

Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg

Writer: Bjorn Olaf Johannssen

Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg is still best known for his 1997 thriller Insomnia, which was later remade by Christopher Nolan in 2002. The title arrived well before the modern movement (or craze) for Nordic Noir, which explains why he never quite benefitted from the success (as say, Morten Tyldum did). Following a maligned English language debut with 2001’s Prozac Nation, Skjoldbjaerg has been regularly turning out dramatic features, including 2013’s Pioneer. He’s ready with his sixth feature, Pyromaniac, which deals with an arsonist terrorizing a small community and the policeman who discovers the culprit is one of the town’s firemen. Among the cast members is the excellent Agnes Kittelsen from Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (2010).

Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelson, Trond Nilssen

Production Co.: Pravda Film, Bleck Film & TV, Glor Film As

U.S. Distributor: Rights available Tbd (domestic/international)

Release...

The European Film Academy will hold the 26th European Film Awards in Berlin on December 7th, 2013. To make fans part of the celebration every year the audience gets to choose the winner of the Efa People's Choice Award. This  year one lucky fan will also have the chance to attend the awards ceremony and be part of a fantastic event that brings together Europe's greatest film stars, directors, actors and actresses.

Audiences in the past have  awarded the honor to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's beloved Amelie, Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, and incredibly 3 times to Spanish master Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Volver).

To vote and for a chance to win a trip to the 26th European Film Awards click Here

The Nominees Are:

Anna Karenina

UK, 124 min

Directed By: Joe Wright 

Written By: Tom Stoppard 

With: Keira Knightley, Aaron Johnson, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander

The Best Offer (La Migliore Offerta)

Italy, 130 min

Written & Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore 

With: Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Belgium, 100 min

Directed by: Felix van Groeningen 

Written by: Carl Joos & Felix van Groeningen 

With: Veerle Baetens, Johan Heldenbergh, Nell Cattrysse, Geert van Rampelberg, Nils de Caster

The Deep (Djúpið)

Iceland/Norway, 92 min

Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur 

Written by: Jón Atli Jónasson & Baltasar Kormákur 

With: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson, Stefán Hallur Stefánsson, Björn Thors, Thorbjorg H. Thorgilsdótir

The Gilded Cage (La Cage Dorée)

Portugal/France, 90 min

Directed by: Ruben Alves 

Written by: Ruben Alves, Jean-André Yerlès, Hugo Gélin

With: Rita Blanco, Joaquim de Almeida, Roland Giraud, Chantal Lauby, Barbara Cabrita, Lannick Gautry

I'm So Excited (Los Amantes Pasajeros)

Spain, 90 min

Written & Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar

With: Javier Cámara, Carlos Areces, Raúl Arévalo, Lola Dueñas, Cecilia Roth

The Impossible (Lo Imposible)

Spain, 114 min

Directed by: J.A. Bayona

Written by: Sergio G. Sánchez & María Belón

With: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast

Kon-Tiki

Norway, Denmark, UK, Germany, Sweden, 113 min 

Directed by: Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg

Written by: Petter Skavlan

With: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Bassmo Christiansen, Tobias Santelmann, Gustaf Skarsgaard, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Jakob Oftebro, Agnes Kittelsen

Love Is All You Need (Den skaldede frisør)

Denmark, 111 min 

Directed By: Susanne Bier

Written By: Anders Thomas Jensen & Susanne Bier

With: Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Paprika Steen, Kim Bodnia

Oh Boy

Germany, 83 min

Written & Directed by: Jan Ole Gerster 

With: Tom Schilling, Marc Hosemann, Friederike Kempter, Michael Gwisdek

Searching for Sugar Man

UK/Sweden, 83 min

Directed by: Malik Bendjelloul...

Daniel Wagner’s BiFrost Pictures has announced that the company will finance and produce the feature film “The Swimmer” with Richard L. Fox attached to direct and Bard Ivar Engelsas as the screenwriter. The film is an official selection of the U.S.-Norway Film Development Project founded in 2011 by Lisa G. Black of Garnet Girl, LLC and Brandi Savitt of Senza Pictures. The Development Project is also in collaboration with Norway’s regional film funds. The film will star Ben McKenzie, best known for his work on “Southland” and “The O.C.” Also starring in the film are two of Norway’s best-known actors, Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner. They’ll be playing supporting roles [ Read More ]

The post Ben McKenzie Joins Norwegian Film The Swimmer appeared first on Shockya.com.

Here's today's helping of casting news: Nicole Kidman (Stoker) is being eyed to replace Naomi Watts as explorer Gertrude Bell in Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert. Christopher Plummer (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) joins Philip Martin's heist film, The Forger, starring John Travolta and Tye Sheridan. Ben McKenzie (Southland) is set to star in Richard L. Fox's The Swimmer; Norwegian actors Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner also join. Hit the jump for more on each announcement. Deadline reports that Kidman is in talks replace Watts in Queen of the Desert. The story centers on Bell, an "explorer, writer, archaeologist and attaché for the British Empire who is credited with helping to catalyze the formation of the Middle East at the dawn of the 20th century." The film also stars James Franco and Robert Pattinson. Here are more details on Plummer joining The Forger: Oscar...

Ryan Atwood as a swimmer? Swoon. Variety reports this is actually happening as “Southland” and “The O.C.” star Ben McKenzie is set to star in indie drama “The Swimmer,” in which he’ll play an American swimmer out to conquer the treacherous rivers of Norway. Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner co-star, while Richard L. Fox will [...]

The post “Southland”‘s Ben McKenzie is “The Swimmer” in Indie Drama appeared first on Up and Comers.

"Southland" and "The O.C." actor Ben McKenzie is set to slip on some speedos for Richard L. Fox's "The Swimmer" at BiFrost Pictures.

Bard Ivar Engelsas penned the script in which he plays an American extreme swimmer who embarks on a mission to conquer one of the wildest rivers in Norway. At the same time, he is forced to confront his inner demons and reconcile his troubled past.

Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner also star in the project which Daniel Wagner, Lisa G. Black and Brandi Savitt will produce. Filming begins in Northern Norway in June 2014.

Source: Prodigy...

Daniel Wagner's BiFrost Pictures has announced today that the company will finance and produce the feature The Swimmer, starring Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.) and to be directed by Richard L. Fox. The film, written by Bard Ivar Engelsas, is an official selection of the U.S.- Norway Film Development Project founded in 2011 by Lisa G. Black of Garnet Girl, LLC and Brandi Savitt of Senza Pictures, in collaboration with the regional film funds of Norway.

The movie will also star two of Norway's celebrated actors, Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner, who are playing supporting roles opposite McKenzie. Wagner is producing the project with Black and Savitt and their respective companies, along with Sweet Films As of Norway. The Swimmer is scheduled to commence principal photography in Northern Norway in June 2014.

The film centers on an American extreme swimmer (McKenzie) who embarks on a mission to conquer one...

Daniel Wagner’s BiFrost Pictures will finance and produce The Swimmer starring Ben McKenzie of TV hits Southland and The O.C.

Richard L Fox will direct from a screenplay by Bard Ivar Engelsas about an extreme swimmer who must overcome inner demons in his bid to conquer one of the wildest rivers in Norway.

The Swimmer is an official selection of the Us- Norway Film Development Project founded in 2011 by Lisa G Black of Garnet Girl and Brandi Savitt of Senza Pictures in collaboration with the regional film funds of Norway.

Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner will also star. Wagner is producing the project with Black and Savitt alongside Sweet Films of Norway.

Production is scheduled to commence principal photography in Northern Norway in June 2014.

“BiFrost has been looking at European co-productions for some time now, but when I read Bard’s script I immediately knew this was the one,” said Wagner...

Daniel Wagner's BiFrost Pictures has announced that the company will finance and produce the feature The Swimmer , starring Ben McKenzie ("Southland," "The O.C.") and to be directed by Richard L. Fox. The film, written by Bard Ivar Engelsas, is an official selection of the U.S.- Norway Film Development Project founded in 2011 by Lisa G. Black of Garnet Girl, LLC and Brandi Savitt of Senza Pictures, in collaboration with the regional film funds of Norway. The movie will also star two of Norway's celebrated actors, Agnes Kittelsen and Kristoffer Joner, who are playing supporting roles opposite McKenzie. Wagner is producing the project with Black and Savitt and their respective companies, along with Sweet Films As of Norway. The Swimmer is scheduled to commence...

Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company announced today the August 27 Blu-ray and DVD release of the film Kon-Tiki, from the directing duo of Joachim R&#248nning and Espen Sandberg (Max Manus, Bandidas, and the upcoming production of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 5 starring Johnny Depp).

Based on the amazing true adventure of Thor Heyerdahl (P&#229l Sverre Valheim Hagen), Kon-Tiki is the tale of a Norwegian explorer in 1947 who embarks on the voyage of a lifetime to prove a point. When the scientific community rejects his theory that South Americans were the first to settle in the Polynesian Islands, Heyerdahl resolves to prove its validity - and save his reputation - by embarking on the voyage himself. Recruiting a group of five men who are just bold enough to tackle the seemingly impossible trip, he builds a simple raft to original pre-Columbian specifications and sets off on the...

With the season of Summer blockbusters already in full swing here in the middle of May, you may have a tough time recalling the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film from the 85th Academy Awards ceremony way back in February. We here at the website have gotten to see the winner, Armour, and two other nominees, No and A Royal Affair (War Witch has yet to screen in our neck-of-the-woods). Now we finally get to see the entry from Norway, Kon-tiki. And it turns out that this is the perfect time for this film, for this isn’t a somber, human drama like Haneke’s intimate portrait, but a rollicking, edge-of-your-seat adventure. Yes, it is a true story set in the past like No and Affair, but after the heroes set out to sea, it feels as though their exploits could be happening right now. The story of the voyage...

Chicago – Mention the name Thor Heyerdahl or his sea-faring vessel “Kon-Tiki,” and half-remembered images of a voyage across the sea in a ship that looks like it was built on “Gilligan’s Isle” might cross memory neurons. Why, when and how he did it is brought to screen in the excellent and appropriately titled “Kon-Tiki.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

In the name and hope of man’s innate instinct to explore, “Kon-Tiki” serves as a lesson for visionaries, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the recent Oscars. Thor Heyerdahl simply had a higher calling to see what is “out there” and prove a point while doing it. The film meticulously and lovingly recreates the journey of that haphazard boat, and crispy reproduces the particular time frame in which it was done. All the sharks, odd sea life, storms, challenges and triumphs are explored, as well as a nicely wrought examination...

Los Angeles -- The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, whose biopic of World War II resistance fighter Max Manus was a huge hit on home turf, have turned to another native hero for "Kon-Tiki." One of the most-vaunted escapades of the 20th century, Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Peru-to-Polynesia expedition by raft gets glossy big-screen treatment in this efficiently told action-adventure. Delivering visual drama and understated character study, sometimes in disappointingly formulaic fashion, the feature has its incisive moments but falls short as both epic and intimate portrait.

With effective immediacy, the directors dramatize some incidents from Heyerdahl's 1950 Oscar-winning documentary about the trip, and cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen pays tribute in re-created B&W footage of the building of the raft. Too much of the action, though, devolves into close encounters with sharks, scenes that leave the on-deck characters adrift rather than helping to define them.

The film,...

The Weinstein Company has released a new trailer for directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg‘s adventure Kon-Tiki. It is based on the true story of Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian ethnographer who set sail on a 4,300-mile journey on a Kon-Tiki raft – from South America to Polynesia on a balsa wood raft in order to prove his theory that previous settlers followed the same journey. Norway’s Epic Oscar-Nominated adventure stars Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Odd Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro, Agnes Kittelsen, and Eleanor Burke. Take a look at the trailer below and don’t forget to give us your thoughts in the...

Click to continue reading New Kon-tiki Trailer on | FilmoFilia

Related posts: Watch: New Trailer For Norway’s Oscar-Nominated Kon-tiki Norwegian Thesp Pal Hagen is Set the Lead Role for the Epic Kon-Tiki Norwegian Wood by Tran Anh Hung ‘The Oxford Murders...

Watch the trailer and browse the photo gallery for the Oscar-nominated Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg film starring Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen and Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Kon-Tiki opens in theaters on April 19th and contends for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year this weekend at the Academy Awards. The film was also a Golden Globe hominee and won the Audience Award at the Norwegian International Film Festival, as well as the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Director's To Watch Award for Rønning and Sandberg. Also in the cast are Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Odd Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro and Agnes Kittelsen. In 1947, the world is gripped with excitement as the young Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl embarks on an astonishing expedition - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft. From his days living in the Marquesas with his wife Liv, Thor...

Watch the trailer and browse the photo gallery for the Oscar-nominated Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg film starring Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen and Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Kon-Tiki opens in theaters on April 19th and contends for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year this weekend at the Academy Awards. The film was also a Golden Globe hominee and won the Audience Award at the Norwegian International Film Festival, as well as the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Director's To Watch Award for Rønning and Sandberg. Also in the cast are Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Odd Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro and Agnes Kittelsen. In 1947, the world is gripped with excitement as the young Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl embarks on an astonishing expedition - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft. From his days living in the Marquesas with his wife Liv, Thor...

The domestic trailer for Kon-Tiki has arrived and you can check it out in the player below, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies . Set for a limited release on April 19, Kon-Tiki is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from a script by Petter Skavlan. Starring Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Jakob Oftebro, Odd Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann and Agnes Kittelsen, the film is officially described as follows: In 1947, the world is gripped with excitement as the young Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl embarks on an astonishing expedition - a journey of 4,300 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean on the Kon-Tiki raft. From his days living in the Marquesas with his wife Liv, Thor suspected that the South Sea Islands had been settled...

Amour | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Mental | Up There | Hit So Hard | Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet | Happy Happy | The Pool | Son Of Sardar

Amour (12A)

(Michael Haneke, 2012, Aus/Fra/Ger) Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, 127 mins

Most romantic stories are beginnings; this is the endgame – the "till death us do part", as experienced by a cultured, elderly French couple after the wife's stroke. Call it a last slow dance in Paris. Watching body, mind and possibly love slowly diminish in their claustrophobic apartment, Haneke's gaze is stately and unflinching. However, there's also a slight remove, making this less emotional than you'd expect but rich in deeper themes.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (12A)

(Bill Condon, 2012, Us) Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner. 115 mins

The love/hate teenage supernatural saga comes to a spectacular/preposterous climax, for better or worse. Bella's enjoyment of her newfound vampire skills is dented...

This offbeam Scandinavian relationship comedy starts out cartoonish and winds up oddly endearing

A prizewinner at last year's Sundance, this offbeam relationship comedy sets out in territory that suggests a Scandinavian variant of TV's Suburgatory, as an ultra-liberal, somewhat superior Danish couple move with their adopted African child to a snowy Norwegian backwater, piquing the interest of perky neighbours – whose interests include hunting and homophobia. Nightly board games reveal differences not just between, but within, the couples; several guarded and complicated rounds of partner-swapping ensue. The film's quirks – such as a blues-harmony quartet deployed as on-screen punctuation – could easily have been omitted, but they're typical of how director Anne Sewitsky keeps her mind open, and her performers make us care about these characters, whichever way, and however clumsily, they happen to swing. Like Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen), the wide-eyed Madame Bovary at its heart, Happy, Happy starts out cartoonish and ends up oddly endearing.

Happy Happy (or, Sykt Lykkelig, to give it its proper name), is an often hilarious snapshot of family life amongst the snowy plains of Norway. Bored with the everyday routine of marriage and lack of appreciation from husband, Erik (Joachim Rafaelsen), Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) welcomes the change of pace and possibility of forming a friendship with the shiny, similar aged couple that move in next door. But though Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens) may have a perfect exterior, they are not necessarily as happy as they would have Kaja and Erik believe.

Sweet, full of sentiment and utterly delightful, Happy Happy shows just a fraction of the lives of a very interesting and diverse set of characters. As her husband goes hunting for days at a time, Kaja is left feeling unfulfilled and unloved, relishing in time spent with her new neighbours, while her young son Theodor (Oskar...

Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize at this year.s Sundance Film Festival and Norway.s official selection for the upcoming Best Foreign Film Oscar race, Happy, Happy is the feature debut of Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky. The clever new dark comedy is the story of a successful but unhappy Danish couple trying to rebuild their damaged marriage. Along with their preteen African-adopted son, the well-educated Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens) buy a secluded house in the country next to the less bright but equally unhappy Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and her surly husband Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen), who have a son of their own. Since there.s not a lot to do in this isolated locale, the unlikely foursome begin sharing dinners and playing games. These games lead to uncomfortable marital comparisons and during one, it.s revealed that Kaja and Eirik have not had sex in over...

Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, that showcase of contemporary British acting, has opened in the UK this weekend, and that roundup has been updated through today. The entry on Gus Van Sant's Restless has been updated with pointers to pieces related to the Museum of the Moving Image's retrospective, running through September 30. And of course, we've got roundups running on Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive and Rod Lurie's remake of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs. Meantime, two weeks after the release of Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, we've entered the think piece stage, so that roundup's been kept up-to-date through today as well.

"Imagine that a semi-pagan society quietly survives in the heartland of Russia, amid the leftover Soviet-era factories, the old shops and stores strung along the roadsides, the new concrete towns with their shopping malls." Stuart Klawans in the Nation: "Imagine that the people of...

Happy, Happy Click here to read the review! Happy, Happy is one of the most captivating explorations of married couples that one can hope to see. The devil’s in the details, and Sewitsky manages to pack an amazing amount of subtlety into the 88 minute running time. And one cannot rave enough about the amazing performance of Agnes Kittelsen, whose always present smile and indefatigable will to be happy is both a survival mechanism for her character and the driving force of the film.

In a cold, remote Norwegian town, two houses sit side by side. In one, chipper junior-high-school teacher Agnes Kittelsen lives with her gruff, frequently absent husband Joachim Rafaelsen, who makes a habit of telling his wife how unattractive she is. In the other house resides icy, adulterous lawyer Maibritt Saerens and her affable husband Henrik Rafaelsen, who’ve just moved to the middle of nowhere in an effort to save their marriage. It’s no surprise that the teacher and the henpecked husband of Happy, Happy eventually fall into bed together, though what happens next is somewhat surprising, as director ...

The Norwegian Oscar Committee has submitted Anne Switsky's feature directorial debut, Happy, Happy, to Best Foreign-Language Feature Film, after it took the top prize at Sundance. Happy, Happy's victory at Sundance marked the first time that a Norwegian film won fest's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. The film, which stars Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens and Joachim Rafaelsen, tells of story two couples with complicated and semi-comedic relationships in neighboring homes. The meeting of the pairs causes each spouse to questions their relationships, but despite the drama, Happy, Happy manages to stay charming and true to its title. Watch the trailer below: Toh!'s Sophia Savage confirms the quirky film will have audiences chuckling and charmed, while THR writes: "Kittelsen’s performance is the linchpin of ...

Happy, Happy stars Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens in the Magnolia Pictures comedy drama from director Anne Sewitsky. The story follows Kaja, whose family is the most important thing in the world. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's l ife. But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir...

Happy, Happy stars Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens in the Magnolia Pictures comedy drama from director Anne Sewitsky. The story follows Kaja, whose family is the most important thing in the world. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's l ife. But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir...

Taking home the World Cinema dramatic prize at Sundance earlier this year, we also adored Anne Sewitsky‘s comedy/drama Happy, Happy when it played at New Directors/New Films this spring. We called it “a joyous journey full of incisive wit and heart that could easily be enjoyed beyond the art house.” The first trailer has arrived and it looks simply wonderful. Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen and Joachim Rafaelsen star and you can see the preview below via Apple.

Synopsis:

Family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn’t interested in having sex with her anymore because she “isn’t particularly attractive.” Whatever. That’s life. But when “the perfect couple” moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful,...

Here is our first look at the poster for Happy, Happy, opening in New York and Los Angeles on September 16.

Here is a description of the film:

"Happy, Happy" is the feature directorial debut from award-winning Norwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky. In the film, family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen). She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's life.

But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir, they have also adopted a child – from Ethiopia! These new neighbors open a whole new world to Kaja, with consequences for everyone involved. And when Christmas comes around,...

ComingSoon.net has your exclusive first look at the poster for Happy, Happy , opening in New York and Los Angeles on September 16. "Happy, Happy" is the feature directorial debut from award-winning Norwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky. In the film, family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen). She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's life. But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir, they have also adopted a child . from Ethiopia!...

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Black Moon: The Criterion Collection (1975)

Directed by: Louis Malle

Starring: Cathryn Harrison, Therese Giehse

Criterion.com Synopsis: Louis Malle meets Lewis Carroll in this bizarre and bewitching trip down the rabbit hole. After skirting the horrors of a mysterious war being waged in the countryside, beautiful young Lily (Cathryn Harrison) takes refuge in a remote farmhouse, where she becomes embroiled in the surreal domestic life of an extremely unconventional family. Evocatively shot by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, Black Moon is a Freudian tale of adolescent sexuality set in a post-apocalyptic world of shifting identities and talking animals. It is one of Malle’s most experimental films and a cinematic daydream like no other.

Camille 2000: Extended Version (1969)

Directed by: Radley Metzger

Starring: Daniel Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo

IMDb.com Synopsis: Marguerite, a beautiful woman of affairs, falls for the young and promising Armand,...

Today's pick for the Sydney Film Festival Trailer of the Day is the sexy, sexy Happy, Happy. Here's what the Sff Program says about the film: World Cinema Grand Jury Prize-winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Happy, Happy is a sexy comedy that takes delight in indiscretion and snowy romps. Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) is endlessly chipper (think Poppy in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky), although sex is in short supply. Her somewhat dour husband, Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen, Elling) and young son fail to share her enthusiasm when a new couple and their adopted son move in next door. Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens, Frederikke, Sff 2008) and Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) are sophisticated, beautiful and they can sing - in short, they're everything Kaja would like to be...

Not to paint the good people of Norway with the same brush, but if the country's recent films are any indication, the problem of sexual dissatisfaction amongst women is making it frostier for some in the country than the usual climate in winter. Only weeks ago at the Tribeca Film Fest, Jannicke Systad Jacobsen's "Turn Me On, Goddammit" won a screenplay prize for the story of a young woman whose openness about her horniness leads her to be ostracized from her small village, and then there's "Happy, Happy," Anne Sewitsky's Sundance winner which contrary to its title deals with the discontent of two married couples in Norwegian wilderness and in particular, the sexual awakening of Kaja, a cheery housewife who, upon tiring of her husband's rejection of her advances, winds up in the arms of another.

Although the logline may sound like it may come from the Ingmar Bergman wing of Scandinavian cinema,...

Caught between humor and drama, the average audience will not put out the effort to stick with this film. Awarding winning short film director Anne Sewitsky showed her debut film .Happy Happy. at the New York New Directors, New Films festival. It promises great things, if a bit thin for most American audiences. The film is screenwriter Ragnhild Tronvoll.s first feature film as well. He seems well matched with director Sewitsky, but both could have used more experience in the other. The film does a delicate balancing act, combining some soul-searching Bergmanesque relationship surgery with a degree of dry humor Bergman never imagined. Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen) and his wife Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) live a peaceful, boring life in rural...

The feature film debut of Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky promises to be a “comedy about infidelity, moose meat, blowjobs and cottage cheese,” but proves to be so much more.

Happy Happy, which won the narrative World Cinema Jury award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, is a character-driven comedy that centers on Kaja (played with a sprightly brightness by Agnes Kittelsen), a devoted wife and mother who lives in rural Norway and manages to find the silver-lining to every rain cloud. Though starved for affection and regularly mocked by her son (Oskar Hernæs Brandsø) and husband (Joachim Rafaelsen), Kaja is happy enough – that is until a new (and decidedly more modern) family moves in next door. Fascinated by the sophisticated couple (Henrik Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens) and their adopted African child (Ram Shihab Ebedy), Kaja strives to make fast friends, and soon find the cracks beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect marriage.

Happy, Happy

Directed by Anne Sewitsky

Written by Ragnhild Tronvoll

Norway, 2010

Seeing the word “Happy” in the title of an independent film, and especially a European independent film, is a pretty good indicator that it’s being used ironically. Such is definitely the case in Norwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky’s debut film Happy, Happy.

Happy, Happy tells the story of Kaja, a resilient optimist determined to hang on to her rosy outlook despite warning signs that her marriage is falling apart. Kaja’s husband, Eirik, spends weeks away on hunting trips and hasn’t made love to her in over a year. Even her son seems to tolerate her more than he respects or loves her. But Kaja thinks she notices an opportunity for things to improve when a stylish, seemingly adoring couple moves into the house next door, but as Kaja tries to force a relationship between the two families,...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Anne Sewitsky

Written by: Ragnhild Tronvoll

Starring: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Oskar Hernæs Brandsø and Ram Shihab Ebedy

“Happy, Happy” has a wonderful peculiarity to it. The film approaches such topics as love, betrayal and deceit with a mannered whimsy, achieving its mischievously comedic tone with clinical precision. Its story of two very different couples who live next door to one another in a small Norwegian town seems at first like a cute trifle, then explodes with a torrent of emotions.

Director Anne Sewitsky obviously knew she was making a film with undertones of Greek drama because she included a chorus to chime in on the characters’ affairs. That chorus takes the form of a smiling male vocal quartet singing catchy tunes. Its harmonies bring us to a countryside town where Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Anne Sewitsky

Written by: Ragnhild Tronvoll

Starring: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Oskar Hernæs Brandsø and Ram Shihab Ebedy

“Happy, Happy” has a wonderful peculiarity to it. The film approaches such topics as love, betrayal and deceit with a mannered whimsy, achieving its mischievously comedic tone with clinical precision. Its story of two very different couples who live next door to one another in a small Norwegian town seems at first like a cute trifle, then explodes with a torrent of emotions.

Director Anne Sewitsky obviously knew she was making a film with undertones of Greek drama because she included a chorus to chime in on the characters’ affairs. That chorus takes the form of a smiling male vocal quartet singing catchy tunes. Its harmonies bring us to a countryside town where Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and...

It has been another great year of film. I still have but seven movies left to watch before I complete my “Best of the Year List” but we are already looking towards 2011.

The 57 feature films selected for the four competition programs of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, and the titles include some exciting works from returning filmmakers. While the lineup isn’t has loaded with big names it does feature the return of James Marsh whose documentary Man on Wire won the Grand Jury Prize at the fest in 2008. Some interesting movies we should mention that appear on the list are Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos), Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) Rashaad Ernesto Green‘s Gun Hill Road, Sean Durkin‘s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean‘s On the Ice, Dee Rees...

Among this year’s 13 selected (from 1073 - that's about one film for every 100 submitted) international narrative feature submissions, we find one title that is high up on our must see list in Paddy Considine's directing debut entitled Tyrannosaur. Last year we had Animal Kingdom ranked in the same spot. Here are the other 12 from pretty much all over the world. Abraxas /Japan (Director: Dai Sako; Screenwriters: Dai Sako and Naoki Kato) After botching a speech on career guidance at a local high school, a depressed Zen monk with a heavy metal past realizes that only music can revive his spirit. Cast: Suneohair, Rie Tomosaka, Manami Honjou, Ryouta Murai, Kaoru Kobayashi. International Premiere All Your Dead Ones (Todos Tus Muertos)/Colombia (Director Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno) One morning, a peasant wakes to find a pile of bodies in the middle of his crops. When he goes to the authorities,...

Agnes Kittelsen in Anne Sewitsky's Happy Happy World Cinema Dramatic Competition This year's 14 films were selected from 1,073 international narrative feature submissions. Abraxas / Japan (Director: Naoki Kato; Screenwriters: Dai Sako and Naoki Kato) – After botching a speech on career guidance at a local high school, a depressed Zen monk with a heavy metal past realizes that only music can revive his spirit. Cast: Suneohair, Rie Tomosaka, Manami Honjou, Ryouta Murai, Kaoru Kobayashi. International Premiere All Your Dead Ones (Todos Tus Muertos) / Colombia (Director Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno) – One morning, a peasant wakes to find a pile of bodies in the middle of his crops. When he goes to the authorities, he quickly realizes that the dead ones are a problem nobody wants to deal with. Cast: Alvaro Rodríguez, Jorge Herrera, Martha Marquez, Harold Devasten, John Alex Castillo. World Premiere The Cinema Hold Up [...]...

It's the first day in December, and whether you want to recognize it or not, January isn't too far away. Today the awesome folks at the Sundance Film Festival unveiled their first list of films, international and domestic, which will be presented at the festival. Check it out, and yes there are more to come. Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films.