The uptrend in Norwegian cinema-going - overall admissions up 16% in the first 6 months - should be sustained as 15 new Norwegian films - including the mainstream The Lion Woman, The King’s Choice, Børning 2 - are scheduled for release over the next five months. 

The Norwegian autumn film collection was introduced on Tuesday at Oslo Film house by the Norwegian Film Institute’s managing director Sindre Guldvog who first praised the Norwegian audience’s increased interest in documentary features.

“We think it is very gratifying that in recent years Norwegian documentary films have been able to reach large audiences [Doing Good is the third biggest Norwegian film of 2016] and that there are now documentaries for kids,” said Guldvog. 

The head of the NFI also stressed the high quality films across a wide spectrum of genres, and the ability of Norwegian filmmakers to recoup financing from other sources than state money. According to him the 15 new Norwegian films set to open this year were produced with only 37% of state subsidies. “The rest of the funding comes from international pre-sales, private investors who have faith in the films and the filmmakers. It also shows that filmmakers have a strong desire to get their films made and great abilities to get their films financed both nationally and internationally,” he stated.

Promoted heavily by Nordisk Film Distribution ahead of its national release on August 26, The Lion Woman is one of the most anticipated Norwegian titles, together with Børning 2, sequel to the 2014 car chase movie, to be released by SF Studios on October 12. The two films are produced by film mogul John M. Jacobsen with support form Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Other mainstream titles include the historical drama The King’s Choice directed by Erik Poppe, the family film Gilbert’s Revenge produced by Maipo Film, Snekker Andersen og Julenissen (‘The Carpenter and Santa Claus’), first children’s film by The Wave producer Fantefilm, and the animated film In the Forest of Huckybucky by the established Rasmus A. Sivertsen.

Other titles that should reach their target audience include the documentaries Magnus featuring world chess champion Magnus Carlsen (Nordisk Film Distribution), ski adrenaline 4K film Supervention 2 (SF Studios), the thriller Cave by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken (Another World Distribution), and arthouse film Framing Mom by talented director/author Sara Johnsen (Norsk Filmdistribusjon). 

For the full listing of films, check:  http://www.nfi.no/

Watch out for an interview with Sindre Guldvog, MD, Norwegian Film Institute on Friday August 26.