Berlin

Norwegian directors Ole Giæver and Erik Poppe return to the Berlin International Film Festivals Panorama sidebar.  
 
Norwegian writer-director-actor Ole Giæver has become a Berlinale favourite: for the third time will he participate in the Panorama sidebar of the Berlin International Film Festival (between 9-19 February), now with his latest work, From the Balcony (Fra balkongen). Both his feature debut, The Mountain (Fjellet/2011) and Out of Nature (Mot naturen/2015) were screened in the section – the latter received the Europa Cinemas distribution award and was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize.
 
A time and space odyssey
Scripted by Giæver and described as “a time and space odyssey”, From the Balcony unfolds during 12 months on his own balcony. During this year, the film follows Ole and his family through everyday life and festivities. It is an exploration through how we live our lives today and what it means to be a human being. The film mixes fiction, archive and documentary scenes from his life, extending the theme of Out of Nature and Giæver’s project as a director: to get as close as possible to the description of what it is to be a human being.
 
Looking forward to share it with the audience
-I have lived with this film for 2½ years, and I am really looking forward to finally share it with an audience, said Giæver. With a cast of Giæver and Marte Magnusdotter Solem, From the Balcony is produced by Maria Ekerhovd on a €704,000 budget for Mer Film. Her Mer Filmdistribusjon has scheduled the Norwegian release for July 2017.
 
The King`s Choice brings Poppe back to Berlin
Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s The King’s Choice (Kongens nei) missed the Oscar nomination as Best Foreign-Language Feature after having been shortlisted for the nomination, but is used to red carpets: on its foreign gala premiere in Toronto, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit presented the film. Now it will enter Berlin’s Panorama, after more than 720,000 have watched it in Norway, making it the chart topper in Norwegian cinemas in 2016.
Erik Poppe was last represented in Berlin 1999 with his debut feature Schpaaa, which was also screened in the Panorama sidebar.
 
Set during nazi invasion of Norway 
Scripted by Norwegian writers Jan Trygve Røyneland and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, inspired by Alf R Jacobsen’s novel, the film is based on real events and set during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Norway in 1940. King Haakon VII was faced with the Germans’ demand for capitulation, a passive government and a Crown Prince ready for action – when “the real events turned a brave man into the people’s King.” Starring Danish actor Jesper Christensen as King Haakon VII and Norwegian actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen as Crown Prince Olav, with Tuva Novotny, Karl Markovics and Katharina Schuttler, it was produced by Finn Gjerdrum and Stein B Kvae, for Paradox. Nordisk Film Distribusjon handles Nordic distribution and Beta Cinema is the International sales agent.