A slice of world cinema

The slogan of, 'There are two kinds of people in the world: Norwegians… and those who wish they were' has rarely been more appropriate than over the next 10 days, as the Norwegian International Film Festival launches its 24th helping of new films, with 1300 participants adding considerably to the population of Haugesund, which is situated on the south-west coast of Norway.

Between 16-25 August, Haugesund is the focal point for the country's media industries. 'It is worse than you can imagine,' says Bjørn Hoenvoll, managing director of SF Norway Distribution, who is also chairman of the Norwegian Distributors Association. 'Everybody in Oslo is now making plans to see each other during the festival. As if you have to go out of town to meet…'

'Yet there is no reason to doubt the significance of the festival,' he adds. 'No-one in the business would dream of giving it a miss, and the press, radio and television coverage - which beats most sports events - is of invaluable importance to the marketing of the upcoming season. Although, with the number of potential blockbusters on the schedule, it is certainly hard to stay pessimistic.'

During the first five months of 1996, theatrical admissions in Norway have soared by 28%, due to such releases as Goldeneye, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Babe and Pocahontas. 'It is difficult to explain why,' comments Hoenvoll. 'In most countries - for instance, Sweden - they have had the same films to show, but the results have been somewhat different.'

However, upcoming major deliveries, including Mission: Impossible, Independence Day and Twister, are not included in the main selection of 21 features at Haugesund, where programme director Vigdis Lian has cut a slice of world cinema, introducing the new season to exhibitors - most of whom are municipally employed - producers, distributors, press, politicians and film bureaucrats.

'The supply of quality product has been excessive, so while trying to give a fair impression of the current Scandinavian and international scene, I have at the same time attempted to be slightly unpredictable,' she says. 'I am sure that such selections as David Cronenberg's Crash, Larry Clark's Kids and Niels Arden Oplev's Portland will fuel the breakfast discussions.'

Lian managed to bag this year's Cannes winner, Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies, as well as the opener on the Côte d'Azur, Patrice Leconte's Ridicule. The festival takes off with the world première of Danish director Bille August's Jerusalem, adapted from Selma Lagerlöf's novel about a preacher arriving at a little Swedish village, offering salvation, faith-healing and the prospect of paradise on Earth - Jerusalem.

Organised on a NOK4.5 million (US$700,000) budget with a major contribution from the National Association of Municipal Cinemas, the showcase includes several sidebars such as a Focus on France - 'mainly by young, exciting directors', comments Lian - an homage to French actress Stephane Audran, a Canadian Panorama, Special Screenings and the Children's Film Fest.

Norwegian Culture Minister Aase Kleveland will open the event on 19 August, but the actual festival programme is preceded both by New Nordic Films - a package of recent Scandinavian Cinema screened to foreign buyers (see special insert) - and the Amanda Ceremony, Norway's Oscars, which is televised from the Maritim Hall on Saturday, 17 August.

'With hotel capacity, technical facilities and film schedule more than fully exploited, neither we nor the participants have any wish to expand the showcase,' explains festival director Gunnar Johan Løvvik, who is also head of Haugesund's cultural administration. 'But we are pleased to see that some of the initiatives started by the festival have been developed with significant results.'

'Two years ago we instigated a collaboration with Canada to become the Scandinavian bridgehead of Canadian Cinema, and this has now been followed up by a co-production agreement between Norway and Canada. As a consequence of our Focus on Italy in 1995, Italian director Ettore Scola went on to choose a series of Norwegian films for a Norwegian Film Week in Rome.'

'This year we have established contact with Unifrance, which is currently staging an effort to make a strong return to the Scandinavian market. The outcome is a strong French representation, and there could easily be a couple of discoveries to be made, also in other parts of the programme, as 20% of the films shown in Haugesund have not yet found Norwegian distribution.'

As usual the Rica Maritim Hotel will dress to become the Carlton of the north, acting as festival headquarters, and for the second year sporting its own exclusive 126-seat cinema, catering for - among others - the New Nordic Films market. The schedule also comprises the traditional art exhibitions and concerts, not forgetting the longest herring table in the world!

'I am especially delighted with the increasing Scandinavian interest in the festival, both for the New Nordic Films market and the Nordic Amanda award,' says managing director production-international relations Jan Erik Holst, of the Norwegian Film Institute. 'Otherwise I suppose the best to be said about the Haugesund fest is that it will be business as usual.'

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