Scandinavian Film Directors
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Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. His subsequent features Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991) have been equally ambitious both thematically and visually, though his international fame is most likely to be based on The Kingdom (1994), a TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and Twin Peaks (1990)-style surrealism that was so successful in Denmark that it was released internationally as a 280-minute theatrical feature.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Though Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director Susanne Bier's work often plays out against a wide-reaching global backdrop, its focus is intimate, carefully exploring the explosive emotions and complexities of familial bonds. This unique combination is part of the formula that has made her Denmark's leading female filmmaker and a powerhouse worldwide.
Bier's 2010 film In a Better World won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011, as well as an Italian Golden Globe Award® for Best European Film and Best Director at the European Film Awards. She previously helmed the multi-award-winning After the Wedding (2006), which was also an Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, and was remade as an English-language film in 2019 starring Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Billy Crudup.
Bier won an Emmy Award in 2016 for directing the six-part AMC mini-series The Night Manager, based on the 1993 novel of the same name by John le Carré, with stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman all winning Golden Globes for their work.
Bier followed this with the 2018 Netflix film Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock, which went on to become the most-watched film in Netflix history. In 2020, she directed the six-part HBO series The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, the network's first original series to grow its audience each week.
Prior to this, Bier co-wrote and directed the romantic comedy The One and Only (1999), which won Best Film at the Danish Robert Awards and was the most watched domestic film in Denmark in 20 years, with one-fifth of the country's population having seen it at the cinema.
In 2002, she directed Open Hearts, shot in accordance with the Dogme '95 filmmaking aesthetic. The film won numerous awards, including the Audience Award at the Robert Festival (Danish Academy Award) and the International Film Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bier followed this with Brothers (2004), which won, among others, the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2007, Bier directed the award-winning Things We Lost in the Fire, starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, her first English-language film.
In 2012, Bier made her triumphant return to the genre with the 2013 winner of the European Film Award for Best Comedy, Love Is All You Need, starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. In 2014, Bier directed A Second Chance, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Most recently, Susanne Bier directed the Showtime limited series The First Lady, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfieffer, and Gillian Anderson.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll.
In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).- Director
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Lukas Moodysson was born on 17 January 1969 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for Show Me Love (1998), Lilya 4-Ever (2002) and Together (2000). He has been married to Coco Moodysson since 1994. They have three children.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (1996) is the trilogy closed. Here, as in 'Den Goda Viljan' Pernilla August play his mother. Note that all three movies are not always full true biographical stories. He began his career early with a puppet theatre which he, his sister and their friends played with. But he was the manager. Strictly professional he begun writing in 1941. He had written a play called 'Kaspers död' (A.K.A. 'Kaspers Death') which was produced the same year. It became his entrance into the movie business as Stina Bergman (not a close relative), from the company S.F. (Swedish Filmindustry), had seen the play and thought that there must be some dramatic talent in young Ingmar. His first job was to save other more famous writers' poor scripts. Under one of that script-saving works he remembered that he had written a novel about his last year as a student. He took the novel, did the save-poor-script job first, then wrote a screenplay on his own novel. When he went back to S.F., he delivered two scripts rather than one. The script was Torment (1944) and was the fist Bergman screenplay that was put into film (by Alf Sjöberg). It was also in that movie Bergman did his first professional film-director job. Because Alf Sjöberg was busy, Bergman got the order to shoot the last sequence of the film. Ingmar Bergman is the father of Daniel Bergman, director, and Mats Bergman, actor at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theater. Ingmar Bergman was also C.E.O. of the same theatre between 1963-1966, where he hired almost every professional actor in Sweden. In 1976 he had a famous tax problem. Bergman had trusted other people to advise him on his finances, but it turned out to be very bad advice. Bergman had to leave the country immediately, and so he went to Germany. A few years later he returned to Sweden and made his last theatrical film Fanny and Alexander (1982). In later life he retired from movie directing, but still wrote scripts for film and T.V. and directed plays at the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre for many years. He died peacefully in his sleep on July 30, 2007.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
With Sidste omgang (1993) (Last Round), his graduation short from The National Film School of Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg got an early taste of critical success. He received the Jury's and Producers' Awards at the International Student Film Fest in Munich and won the 1st Prize at the Tel Aviv Film Fest. Popular success followed with his breakthrough short fiction film, Drengen der gik baglæns (1995), about a boy, who - after the death of his brother - discovers he can turn back time by walking backwards. This poetic short film was followed the reckless and fast-paced thriller, The Biggest Heroes (1996).
Vinterberg is one of the founding "brothers" of dogme95, a set of rules dedicated to reintroducing the element of risk in filmmaking. The Celebration (1998) was not only his first Dogme95 project it was also his first international success. With this movie he "penetrated a layer of evil and abomination [he'd] never been to before" (according to an interview by Bo Green Jensen for Weekend Avisen). The story revolves around Family patriarch Helge Klingenfeldt Hansen, celebrating his 60th birthday. In a speech the eldest son addresses his father, supposedly to honor him, only to reveal the father's darkest secret. Among other international prizes, Vinterberg received the Prix du Jury of the Cannes International Film Festival.
His feature, It's All About Love (2003), is a departure from the dogme95 project. It is the story of John (Joaquin Phoenix) and Elena (Claire Danes), whose marriage has fallen apart. Their troubled relationship is reflected in their surroundings as Vinterberg attempts to create a parallel between the chaos of the world and the chaos inside the characters.
Back in his homeland, Thomas Vinterberg nevertheless sticks to the English language. His Dear Wendy (2005), written by Lars von Trier, is a fierce attack against America's obsession with weapons. In 2007, Vinterberg returns to Danish with When a Man Comes Home (2007) whose subject (a singer comes home to the town he left behind) is appropriate to the circumstances. Vinterberg strikes hard with his next two works, Submarino (2010), the gloomy story of two brothers who try to cope with their depressing everyday lives and The Hunt (2012), the shocking tale of a man who falls prey to a madding crowd. It was no surprise to anyone that his next project was a new adaptation of a Thomas Hardy novel with Far from the Madding Crowd (2015).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Niels Arden Oplev was born on 26 March 1961 in Denmark. He is a director and producer, known for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), Drømmen (2006) and Held for Ransom (2019).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. New York quickly became his city and soon began to shape Nicolas' future.
At seventeen, Nicolas moved back to his native Copenhagen to complete his high-school Education. After graduation, he swiftly flew back to New York, where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. However, this education was cut short when Nicolas threw a desk at a classroom wall and was expelled from the Academy. Consequently, he applied to the Danish Film School and was readily accepted. This education too was to be short-lived, though, as one month prior to the start of the semester, Nicolas dropped out.
A short film Nicolas had written, directed, and starred in was aired on an obscure cable TV channel and lead to the offer of a life-time. Nicolas was spotted and offered 3.2 million kroners to turn the short into a feature. At only twenty-four, Nicolas had written and directed the extremely violent and uncompromising Pusher (1996), which became a cult phenomenon and won Nicolas instant international critical acclaim. The success of his debut spurred him to push the boundaries of his creative filmmaking further, which resulted in the close-to-the-edge and intricately gritty Bleeder (1999). Highly stylized and focused on introverted reactions to outward situations, this film was a marking point for the shaping of Nicolas's future career. The movie was selected for the 1999 Venice International Film Festival as well as winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize in Sarajevo.
Nicolas's fourth feature, the much-anticipated Fear X (2003) was also his first foray into English-language movies. Starring the award-winning actor John Turturro, "Fear X" made its world premiere at the Sundance Film festival. However, Fear X divided critics and it flopped, which made Nicolas Winding Refn broke and in debt.
Having to provide for his family and paying his debt, he returned to Denmark to revisit "Pusher." Refn was reluctant to revisit his past success but decided that he could both make commercially viable and artistically pleasing films. In just two years he managed to write, direct and produce the two sequels. Pusher II (2004) and Pusher III (2005) sealed the box and success of the internationally renowned "Pusher" trilogy. In 2005, the Toronto Film Festival held a "Pusher" retrospective showing all three features cementing its worldwide phenomenon.
In 2006 Nicolas embarked on a second English-language (and first digital) feature called Valhalla Rising (2009), which was inspired by a story his mother read to him at the age of five about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. Not recalling the ending of this story has been a long time fascination of Nicolas's with the unknown. During the pre-production on "Valhalla Rising," his long time collaborator and friend, Rupert Preston, urged him into accepting an offer to write and direct Bronson (2008), an ultra-violent, surreal, and escapist film following the real-life landmarks and self-entrapment of Charles Bronson, Britain's most notorious criminal. Before its cinematic release, "Bronson" was making waves inside and outside the film industry. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival selected the blistering film for its World Cinema Dramatic Competition and it soon became the talk of the festival. With such a prestigious premiere, "Bronson" went on to be selected for other major international film festivals and reap strong box-office rewards. But, even with such a buzz surrounding the film, no one could predict how the British press would bite at "Bronson's" bit. The content was close to the knuckle, the subject matter controversial, but Nicolas's take on this was even more inspired leading him to be labeled by the British media as the next great European auteur.
With such critical acclaim, Nicolas's reputation as a producer, writer and director was solidly reaffirmed. Nicolas and his wife Liv Corfixen were the subjects of an acclaimed documentary, Gambler (2006), which premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2005. In addition, Nicolas already received two lifetime-achievement awards (one from the Taipei International Film festival in 2006 and the second from the Valencia International Film Festival in 2007), and it was the winner of the Emerging Master Award from the Philadelphia International Film Festival 2005.- Director
- Producer
- Executive
Espen Sandberg was born on 17 June 1971 in Sandefjord, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Kon-Tiki (2012), Max Manus: Man of War (2008) and Troll (2022).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ole Christian "OC" Madsen is from the "Golden Year" of the Danish Filmschool, including director's like Thomas Vinterberg and Per Fly. Ole Christian Madsen started out directing television series, but moved on to his first feature Sinans Wedding in 1997, followed by highly acclaimed second feature Pizza King (1998) - both films dealt with 2nd generation emigrant issues, and became the first of their kind approaching this subject in Denmark. OC moved on to the highly profiled miniseries "Edderkoppen", a film-noir vision of post-war Copenhagen in 1949, an elegant romantic gangster-flick. The seriel is still one of it's kind in Denmark, and became immensely popular. Award-winning breakthrough arised with "En Kaerlighedshistorie". Besides taking home international awards, it swept the national Bodil, and Robert-awards in 2002. With the adaptation of his good friend Jakob Ejersbo's Nordkraft, he made his first hit movie. One year later he wrote and directed Prag. And another year after came the 2WW resistance drama Flame & Citron. It became the biggest box-office hit in 10 years - and the most expensive danish-languaged movie ever. In 2010 "OC" shot his latest film Superclasico in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It will premiere in Copenhagen March 2011.- Director
- Producer
- Editor
Morten Tyldum was born on 19 May 1967 in Bergen, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Headhunters (2011), The Imitation Game (2014) and Passengers (2016).- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Marius Holst was born on 15 January 1965 in Oslo, Norway. He is a producer and director, known for Ti kniver i hjertet (1994), King of Devil's Island (2010) and Øyenstikker (2001).- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Mikael Marcimain was born on 17 March 1970 in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a director and assistant director, known for Call Girl (2012), Gentlemen (2014) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Erik Poppe (born 24 June 1960) is a Norwegian film director, screenwriter and former cinematographer.
Poppe is regarded as one of Europe's most experienced and compelling directors recognized for his work with actors and impeccably well crafted multi-pronged narratives. His movies are often built around strong ensemble casts, sharp writing, impressive camera work and an uncanny knack for rhythm and music in the editing. During the last decade Poppe has become one of the most frequently awarded film directors from Scandinavia.
Erik Poppe grew up in Portugal and Norway. He started his career as a photographer for the newspaper Verdens Gang and Reuters, covering domestic news as well as international conflicts. He was awarded by the Norwegian press association and World Press Photo during 1980's. Being hospitalized after an assignment in Colombia he decided to prepare leaving journalism and study filmmaking.
He graduated as a cinematographer at DI - University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991. He have conducted several artistic and directorial research programs between 2001 and 2010. In 2015 Poppe concluded a PhD as a research fellow at the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and as an Associated Professor at HIL, Lillehammer University College/The Norwegian Film School. "The Subjective Objective" is an exploration on how to achieve increased emotionally outcome by the use of a highly personalized and strictly subjectively point of view in conscious narrative film. Is it possible to achieve a stronger identification, empathy and a greater involvement for the spectator by applying a strict enforcement of the subjective point of view? -A point of view who never allows the filmmaker to show for the spectator more than the film's protagonist are seeing or experiencing at any time. The project developed various measures for an increased empathy with the narrative's protagonist and discuss further elements to be considered for a stronger subjectivity. The key artistic work made as part of the research was the feature movie A Thousand Times Good Night, a dramatization of his experiences as a conflict photographer in DRC Congo and Afghanistan.
Erik Poppe worked as Director of Photography on several features, as well as EGGS (1995) by Bent Hamer. He was awarded with the Kodak Award at the Moscow International Film Festival and won the Cinematographer of the year award in Norway. At the same time he announced his end of work as Director of Photography.
TROUBLED WATER (2008, aka: deUSYNLIGE) is the third part of his multi-awarded Oslo Trilogy, after his directorial debut with SCHPAAA (1998, aka Bunch Of Five) and HAWAII-OSLO (2004). Working on the research for Schpaaa; a terrifying look at multi-racial youth gangs in Norway and shot in the style of a documentary, he discovered realities he wanted to adapt into two more movies. Hawaii-Oslo tells a story about a number of people whose fates intertwine, sometimes by accident, during the hottest day of the year in downtown Oslo. Troubled Water is a story about a young man released from prison after serving a sentence for an alleged murder of a child. All of the movies are shoot in the area of Groenland and Grunerloekka in downtown Oslo. "The place where we live so close to each other, and know so little about each other."
1000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT (2013, aka: A Thousand Times Good Night, Tusen Ganger God Natt) was Poppe's first English-language movie. The film is partly an autobiographical story based on Poppe experiences as a conflict photographer. Poppe switched the lead roles around making the french actress Juliette Binoche as his his proxy, and King of Throne's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau playing the character based on Poppe's wife. A standing ovation greeted Montreal's world premiere of the film, which went on to earn the jury's Special Grand Prix.
THE KING'S CHOICE (2016) is based on the true the story about the three dramatic days in April of 1940, when the King of Norway is presented with the monstrous ultimatum from the Germans: surrender or die. With German Air Force and soldiers hunting them down, the royal family is forced to flee from the capital. After three days of desperately trying to evade the Germans, King Haakon makes his final decision, one that may cost him, his family and many Norwegians their lives. The film made records when it opened in Norway by late September 2016 and became the #1 box office hit of the year. The film was Norway's official entry in the best foreign language film category for the 2017 Oscars and received being short listed.
Per Fugelli (1943-2017) was a Norwegian doctor, a professor of social medicine and a forceful voice in the public sphere. Fugelli spent his life addressing questions of freedom and respect, campaigning for rights of the less fortunate.
Fugelli was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. In 2015 he said no to further treatment and allowed his close friend, director Erik Poppe to follow him as far as possible on this journey. The result is I DIE (Siste resept) a film about life and how to live it to the very end.
In June 2017 it was announced that Erik Poppe had worked for a year on developing a feature film about the 2011 terrorist attack on Utøya outside Oslo, Norway. The film, entitled U, begins 12 minutes before the first shot on Utøya as we meet Kaja (18), her little sister, and their friends at summer camp. When the shooting begins panic spreads, and over the next 72 minutes we follow Kaja in her escape - minute by minute. She becomes separated from her little sister, and in the search for her she finds other youngsters with different strategies for survival. Some make it, others do not. U July 22 (Utøya 22.juli) is a fictional account of events which will tell the story from the young people's perspective, based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with survivors from Utøya. Some of them was on set behind the camera while filming took place in September 2017 to help give the narrative credibility. The film was Berlin's most confrontational and controversial offering during the International Film Festival in Berlin. Filmed in a single continuous take, the narrative is filtered through the real-time experience of one young woman, played vividly by newcomer Andrea Berntzen. It follows her over two hours, as she tries to survive amid the chaos and terror. The film was a runner up for the Golden Bear in the categories for best film, best female actress and best direction.
Poppe is probably the only director in Norway who have showed the ability to hit both the critics as well as the audience, taking high admissions in domestic release. His Oslo Trilogy as well as A Thousand Times Good Night and The Kings Choice has been sold to territories worldwide.
Erik Poppe was also the key director for "Brigaden" (The Brigade) in 2002. A 26 episodes TV-drama for NRK (The Norwegian Broadcating Corp.). Brigaden received the Norwegian "Amanda" Price for the Best TV-drama in 2003.
Erik Poppe is the only director to have received the Norwegian National Film Critics' Award three times. Hawaii, Oslo in 2005, Troubled Water in 2009 and for A Thousand Times Good Nigh in 2014 - all movies were also voted as last year's Best Feature. When he received the price for best film in 2014 at The Amanda, he became historical by being the only director to have been nominated for all his movies (five movies) in the categories best film or/ and best director at the Norwegian national award The Amanda (the Norwegian Oscar).
Poppe has participated in key festivals, and received prizes such as the Berlinale -Panorama (Schpaaa), The Vesuvio Prize at Napoli International Film Festival, Norwegian entries for best foreign language movie at Oscars, Festroia in Portugal for Best Directing, Silver Dolphin in Festroia, Nordic Ministerie Councils Award for The Best Nordic Feature, ecumenical awards and several other prizes. Troubled Water made history at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2008 by being the first feature ever to win both the festival's Golden Starfish for Best Narrative Feature and the Audience Award. In October 2016 Poppe received the Special Golden Angel, a life time achievement award for his work as Outstanding European Film Artist at the international Film Festival TOFIFEST in Poland.
Erik Poppe is co-owner of Paradox Film and the Paradox Group. A series of companies producing features.
On his career as a photojournalist: "All the actions I undertook back then were driven by the urge to draw attention to the horrors of war. I wanted for my pictures to grab you by the throat, when eating breakfast on a Saturday morning."
On working with feature movies: "You need to be honest, because this way your audience will be able to identify with the topic and the hero. My role, as an artist, is to prepare a text with open questions and hide the fact that I have an answer key. Questions will provoke audience to discuss the film and seek new perspectives. The film is supposed to make a difference, and maybe offer a therapeutic effect."- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Nils Gaup was born on 12 April 1955 in Kautokeino, Norway. He is a director and actor, known for Pathfinder (1987), Head Above Water (1993) and Pathfinder (2007).- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mikael Håfström was born on 1 July 1960 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a writer and director, known for Evil (2003), 1408 (2007) and The Rite (2011).- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos and worked with the cult band "ABBA", for whom he directed the 1977 film "ABBA: The Movie". He moved from television to film and directed Swedish productions such as "A Lover And His Lass" (1974), "Der Gockel" and "Happy We". By the mid-1980s he had long since established himself in his homeland and made his international breakthrough as an author and director in 1985 with "My Life as a Dog" (1985). In his warm-hearted film, Hallström tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy in the 1950s. Audiences and critics worldwide were thrilled and Hallström received Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
The members of the "New York Film Critics Circle" named the production "Best Foreign Film." Hallström then brought the successful Astrid Lindgren stories "We Children from Bullerbü" (1986) and "News from Us Children from Bullerbü" (1986) to the screen. In 1991 he worked with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss on his first American film, "A Charming Disgust." This was followed in 1993 by the hit film "Gilbert Grape - Somewhere in Iowa", for which Hallström was director and producer. The film starred Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and the young Leonardo DiCaprio, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a disabled boy. Hallström himself was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for Gilbert Grape: Somewhere in Iowa. In 1994 he married the actress Lena Olin; together they became parents of two children.
After the failure of "The Power of Love" (1995) with Julia Roberts, Lasse Hallström returned to his strengths and delivered the drama "God's Work and the Devil's Contribution" in 1999. The critics were once again full of praise and Hallström was pleased to receive another Oscar nomination. The subtle comedy "Chocolat" (2000) with Juliette Binoche, Judy Dench and Johnny Depp was his next work, which was nominated for five "Oscars" in 2001. In 2002, Hallström's tragicomedy "Ship Reports" was released in German cinemas. With "An Untamed Life" from 2005, he brought a drama to cinemas that not only shined with its plot, but also with excellent actors such as Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez. Hallström settled privately in the USA and Sweden. In 2018 he directed the American fantasy film "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms".- Director
- Additional Crew
- Music Department
Tomas Alfredson was born on 1 April 1965 in Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a director, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Let the Right One In (2008) and The Snowman (2017). He is married to Charlotte Alfredson. They have one child. He was previously married to Cissi Elwin.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Kjell Sundvall was born on 31 March 1953 in Älvsbyn, Norrbottens län, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for The Hunters (1996), The Last Contract (1998) and Grabben i graven bredvid (2002). He was previously married to Ann Sundvall.- Director
- Writer
Kjell Grede was born on 12 August 1936 in Bromma, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Hip hip hurra! (1987), God afton, herr Wallenberg (1990) and Hugo and Josephine (1967). He was married to Anita Grede and Bibi Andersson. He died on 15 December 2017 in Sweden.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Baltasar Kormákur is an actor, producer and director whose work spans theater, movies and television. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, he graduated as an actor from Iceland's National Academy of Fine Arts in 1990. He was immediately signed on by the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During the last two years of his assignment, he also directed several ambitious works, after having produced and directed highly popular, independent stage productions alongside his projects with the National Theatre. In 2000, he wrote, directed, acted in and produced the feature film "101 Reykjavik," which became an international hit and earned the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Subsequently, Variety selected him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch," along with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lukas Moodysson, Christopher Nolan and other newcomers at the time.
Soon after, Kormákur started Blueeyes Productions and since then has maintained his focus on feature film writing, producing, and directing. His films "The Sea," "A Little Trip To Heaven," "Jar City" and "White Night Wedding" have all been very successful in Iceland, and won numerous international awards. Kormákur's "The Deep," which eerily captures the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized fishing boat off the frigid Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become Iceland's Oscar nominee and was shortlisted for the foreign language Academy Award. It opened in Iceland on September 21, 2012 and took in over 50% of the country's box office receipts that weekend and earned a record number of Edda Awards, 11 in all, including Best Film of the Year, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kormákur has also directed features in the United States, including "Inhale," an independent film produced by the LA based 26 Films, starring Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger and Sam Shepard and "Contraband," starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Kate Beckinsale, which took first place at the US box office during its opening weekend, early January 2012. Universal Pictures released "Contraband," which was a remake of Oskar Johansson's "Reykjavik Rotterdam," that starred Kormákur and he produced with Agnes Johansen through his Blueeyes Productions, along with Working Title Films.
Kormákur's next film was the thriller "2 Guns," starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, which Universal Pictures will release in August 2013. Other projects include the HBO pilot "The Missionary," a spy thriller he will direct and Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell will produce; "Everest," the cautionary tale and real life adventure on the mountain in 1996 when eight climbers died in the span of two days, due to a series of horrific mishaps and bad decisions. Working Title Films and Emmett/Furla Productions will produce "Everest" with Kormákur. Also, "Viking," a big budget action adventure set in the world of the famed Norse warriors, which will film in Iceland. Kormákur optioned Iceland's beloved, Nobel Prize-winning book Independent People to develop as a feature film and will produce the American remake of "Jar City" along with CEO of Lava Bear Films, David Linde. He is also producing the Icelandic drama "Rocketman," which acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari is directing.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Joachim Trier is a Norwegian writer and director. He is known for Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011), Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017).
Trier also directed three short films, Pietà (2000), Still (2001) and Procter (2002).
His father, Jacob Trier, was the sound technician of The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, a notable film produced in Norway in 1975.
Louder Than Bombs was his first English-language film.
Thelma was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Bent Hamer was born on December 18, 1956 in Sandefjord, Norway. He is a well-regarded film auteur, director, producer, and writer, known for Eggs (1995), Kitchen Stories (2003), O' Horten (2007) and Factotum (2005).
Hamer studied film theory and literature at the University of Stockholm and the Stockholm Film School. In addition to his later feature films, he has written and directed a number of short films and documentaries. His first film, Eggs, premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it was shown in the Directors' Fortnight section and was rewarded best newcomer. That same year, it was shown in competition at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the award for Best First Film; it also received the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. Eggs are about a father and son suffering from autism living in a remote place, where the son is more than usually concerned about the shape of eggs. Eggs was shot by his friend Erim Poppe, which quite soon later also became a front figure in the New Norwegian Wave, which can be seen as quality reality-based movies with underplayed quirky humor based on good scripts and reasonable budgets, focusing on the good story well acted out.
Hamer followed up with another strong film in Water Easy Reach (1998) about a young sailor stranded at a remote island, trying to fix his beloved golden watch, which saw Hamer really to be a leader of this New Norwegian Wave of quality films, starting the best period in Norwegian films ever. the film was awarded best screenplay amongst four nominations at the Amanda Awards at The Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund. it was also nominated for the Crystal Star in Brussels, and Francisco Rabel won best main actor a Fotogramas de Plata.
His third film, the 2003 film Kitchen Stories (Salmer fra kjøkkenet) screened at many international festivals and was the Norwegian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It received much praise and recognition, and went on to get worldwide distribution, and awarded Best film at Amanda Awards. It also won main prizes in Copenhagen, Lübeck, Sao Paulo, Tromsø and Valladolid as well as in Ghent. The film is based on a true story about a scientific approach to make better kitchens by observing how a kitchen is used. We meet an observer as he agrees to follow an old bachelor's kitchen use.
In April 2004, Bent Hamer started shooting Factotum based on the novel of the same name by US poet and writer Charles Bukowski. The screenplay was written by Hamer and Jim Stark (Mystery Train, Cold Fever), who produced the film together with Christine Walker (American Splendor). The film premiered at the Kosmorama Film Festival in Trondheim, Norway, on April 12th 2005. It also received much praise, being nominated to C.I.C.A.E. in Cannes, winning the Golden swan in Copenhagen IFF, as well as winning prizes in San Diego and at Kosmorama in Trondheim.
In December 2007 Hamer returned back to comedy with O'Horten which premiered to great reviews, and the film about a train engineer being pensioned off his life work went on to be the most acclaimed of Hamers career yet, being nominated for seven Amandas, winning two, and winning four out of 10 nominations of the Kanon price in Trondheim IFF. It also won one of two nominations in Cannes, and won Hamer best director in Ghent IFF.
In 2010 Hamer directed a new drama-comedy, a Christmas movie, Home for Christmas. The film looks at those who are desperately trying to connect or reconnect with their families, friends, or anyone who will listen, based upon several shorts written by Levi Henriksen, from his "Bare mjuke pakker under treet". The film won three Amanda nominations and two Kanon nominations, and won the audience award at RiverRun IFF, though being felt like a minor step back in his film making.
The 2014-film 1001 Grams about a Norwegian scientist Marie attending a seminar in Paris on the actual weight of a kilo, only to find it is her own measurement of disappointment, grief and, not least, love, that ends up on the scale. Again Hamer won best screenplay at the Amandas and five more nominations. Here his steady companion photographer John Christian Rosenlund also won best cinematography at Chicago IFF.
September 2020 sees premiere of The Middle Man, based upon acclaimed writer Erlend Loe's second part of novel "Sluk" where Frank Farrelli takes on the job as a middle man in the God-forsaken town of Karmack, USA, a community in a depression so deep that they need a middle man to professionally communicate more of the bad news.
Hamer is the owner and founder of the BulBul Film Association, established in Oslo in 1994, and ha been called the Norwegian film auteur. due to his film language and how he tells his stories. Film historian Peter Cowie has compared Hamers characters with Jacques Tati. there's no doubt Hamer will be standing as one of the most important Filmmakers and a leader of the New Norwegian Wave occurring in the mid-nineties.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Hans Petter Moland was born on 17 October 1955 in Oslo, Norway. He is a director and writer, known for In Order of Disappearance (2014), Aberdeen (2000) and Out Stealing Horses (2019). He is married to Maria Sødahl. They have three children. He was previously married to Elizabeth Pacini.- Producer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel Alfredson was born on 23 May 1959 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a producer and director, known for The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) and Varg (2008). He is married to Stina. They have three children.