Den Norske Filmfestivalen i Haugesund

 A treatise of the human animal no. 38: HEARTACHE is a comical and life-affirming depiction of the human being and its eternal tendency to have its heart broken. In eight standalone chapters, we meet the patients, at the Sanatorium for Heartache, in their assiduous attempt to cure themselves of this terrible disease. Meanwhile, on Antarctica, we join the penguin Edgar on an epic journey, as he traverses snowy plains and stormy mountains, in an attempt to once again be reunited with the love of his life. 

In a remote Icelandic town, an off-duty police chief begins to suspect a local man for having had an affair with his wife, who recently died in a car accident. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones. A story of grief, revenge and unconditional love.

By marrying supernatural legend with tinges of bleak humour, director Hlynur Pálmason again succeeds in conjuring a story which touches on deep human impulses; a tale of growing madness amidst the stunning, almost otherworldly Icelandic nature.

Hvítur, hvítur dagur premiered at La Semaine de la Critique at the 2019 Cannes festival.

A French rap composer sparks up a friendship with his smart fridge in this Artificial Intelligence fantasy.Jerem moved to his grandmother’s house to compose a rap record. He meets So, a mysterious investigator on behalf of the start-up Digital Cool, who persuades him to take the test Yves, a smart refrigerator, supposed to simplify his life. Gradually, the fridge will win the friendship of Jerem, to make him a star by becoming his ghost writer.

All about Yves closed out the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.

The amazing cinematography is parallell with a phenomenal cast in this newest film from director Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the lead as William “the bard” Shakespeare. Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and several other wonderful actors join him in creating this nontypical portrayal of the man whose life and work has always been enveloped by mystery – much like his enchanting plays.

Over two days in January of 1972, Aretha Franklin got up to sing out her gospel at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, backed by the Southern California Community Choir. A film crew was there to catch the Queen of Soul blow the roof off the place. The live recording of the concert became Franklin’s biggest bestseller. Eight months after Franklin’s passing at the age of 76, it still is.

Joachim is 28 years old. His charming smile veils the daily battle he fights within himself as he struggles to manage a heroin addiction. He smokes everyday and tries to quit almost every other. He hates the drug and the control it has over him, but it removes his pain. His loneliness. After years locked in a cycle of abuse, Joachim is on the verge of a breakdown. He gets an unexpected call from his ex-girlfriend, Maria. She’s been arrested and is worried about their 5-year-old son, Lukas. Joachim hasn’t seen Lukas since he was born, and she begs Joachim to take care of Lukas until she’s released. Without much of a choice and thinking it will only be for a few hours, Joachim agrees. To his own surprise Joachim wants to keep Lukas. He wants a reason to be the person he thinks he is – a responsible man. A sober man. A father.

A gripping drama and a impressive production from the Norway’s leading film school, As I Fall had the honour of closing the 2018 festival.

Jane, a small-town girl, has moved to Helsinki and the world is finally open for her. Passionate and excited, she seeks adventure, all the things she has yearned for so long. Jane gravitates to a gay bar at night, staggers in her nervous state of mind, and suddenly there, right next to her, Jane finds her savior: Piki, the most dashing butch in town. Piki is perfect. Jane is hypnotized by Piki’s dark-toned voice. Piki offers her an entire new universe, and even more – dreams.

Ballon is a German thriller that deals with the crossing of the inner German border of the families Strelzyk and Wetzel from the GDR to West Germany with a homemade hot-air balloon.

The two best friends, Helene and Theo, travel to Crete to reunite Helene with a past holiday romance. Life is great and the sky is the limit. But when the plan capsizes the girls are faced with unknown inner demons that they have to overcome together. 

«Below the Waves, Above the Clouds» portrays what it means to be close to someone who is losing grip on herself and her connection to reality. The film argues that whether there is magic in the world is not important – what matters is if you choose to believe there is. 

A child expresses his feelings, after the loss of his father through beautiful and innocent imagination.

Several billion tons of earth are moved annually by humans – with shovels, excavators or dynamite. Nikolaus Geyrhalter observes people in mines, quarries, large construction sites in a constant struggle to appropriate the planet.

83 year old Edie believes that it is never too late – packing an old camping bag, leaving her life behind and embarking on an adventure she never got to have – climbing the imposing Mount Suilven in Scotland.

Maria falls in love at first sight with a corpse she finds in the woods. Will they be together forever?

The film is based on a true story about Port Isaac´s Firsherman´s Friends, a group of Cornish firshermen from Port Isaac who were signed by Universal Records and achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties.

The film tells how Danny (Daniel Mays), who works on a record label, randomly hears them singing and decides that he will publish them on record. However, this turns out to be very different from what Danny expects, as he stays in the village and get introduced to the pleasant life of the sleepy fishing village.

What a feeling! This year’s 16-mm screening at Bedehuset is the 80’s classic Flashdance. It is time to step into your leotard and back-brush your hair. Take your passion … And make it happen!

Alex, a beautiful and talented young dancer, keeps her artistic ambitions alive despite her daily work as a welder. She has an extra job as a dancer in a bar, and every night she puts on her costume and lets the music set her movements and feelings in motion. Dancing is her life, and she pursues a fleeting dream of one day becoming a professional dancer. Her neighborhood and background work against her, and her confidence and courage fail. Then she meets Nick, a young wealthy man who himself has climbed from nothing to the top, and her dream gets the nurturing it needs to make it happen.

Digging up the memory of the Finnish Civil War in 1918, Grey Wolf tells a historical story with a modern twist. When Viktor Stark, a peaceful writer of the conservative Whites, finds a wounded enemy soldier hiding for his life, Stark’s values and loyalty are measured against each other. Will he choose a higher moral or otherness? The answer is revealed in the final scene that turns the whole world around. Grey Wolf is set in history, but truly, it tells about us.

The evening before Christmas Eve, Vilde is hanging out with her friends at the Oslo central station, when she learns that her mother has been in an accident. She is forced to contact her biological father, but attempts escaping it all by running away to Tokyo.

Harajuku is a deeply moving portrayal of a personal tragedy, and questions our society’s ability to take care of the young and vulnerable. The film has received 9 Amanda nominations, including Best Female Lead for Ines Høysæter Asserson’s impressive debut.

Two estranged brothers embark on a road trip through Southern Europe in order to bring the body of their late father back to Denmark. Even though Magnus was initially only included to get hold of his father’s Rolex watch, it becomes a journey that brings the two brothers closer together. Not least because they decide to transport their father’s body home on the roof box of a smart car, when Magnus refuses to pay 10,000 euros to have him sent home. This will put them in a lot of trouble with the police along the road.

A delightful example of zany Danish comedy, this wild road movie conjures hilarity and surprisingly moving moments out of an initially dark (and very annoying) situation. Magnus and Emil Millang are real-life brothers, and have undeniable chemistry in their first movie together.

 [Mansplaining: a man talks condescendingly to someone (usually a woman) about something he has incomplete knowledge of, with the mistaken assumption that he knows more about it than the person he’s talking to does.] 

 An intensely hysterical horror comedy about one woman’s desperate struggle to survive a horde of men with frail egos, who just want to explain everything to her. But the biggest horror may be closer to her than she thinks. 

Kareem, a foreigner who lives in Norway, strives to make clear to himself that he’s accepted into the society and is no less than any other individual. Ironically, his girlfriend, the closest person to him proves him wrong.

An elderly man must choose between paying his speeding ticket or going to jail for five days. He picks jail and falls in love with life behind bars.

This short film is screened before Out of Tune.

Homebound is a survival story set in one of the world´s biggest refugee camps. A bus is waiting to forcefully return refugees to their country of origin. Xidig, 8, is excited to go home, but his brother Saliim, 12, knows that a war- torn and dangerous place is no one´s home. 

Abandoned at birth, baby Theo’s uncertain future lies in the hands of the Child Welfare Services. Jean, who is no stranger to the foster system, is given the responsibility of temporarily looking after Theo, while the members of the Adoption Agency have the difficult task of finding him a home. Meanwhile Alice, unable to have children of her own, has never stopped fighting to be a mother. After facing many setbacks, Alice is finally ready to welcome a child, just when the Adoption Servicing is seeking a home for Theo. Thanks to the dedicated members of social services, the paths of Alice and Theo will cross, blending the journey of Jean and the rest of the team along the way.

When a young huntress decides to track a stranger in the wild, calamity ensues.

Young soccer star Charlie has the world at his feet. With a top club desperate to sign him, his future is seemingly mapped out. But the teenager sees only a nightmare. Trapped in the body of a boy, Charlie is torn between wanting to live up to her father’s expectations and shedding this ill-fitting skin. Charlie’s next move will tear the family apart and threaten everything they hold dear.

A grieving couple goes on a camping trip to find their way back to each other, when a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods. The three psychopaths begin terrorising the couple, luring them deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick. A dreamy tale of dark woods, an old man in a straw hat and a bunny family shattered to pieces.

Koko-di Koko-da was a sensation both at Sundance and Berlin, and was described as “…brutal and childlike” by Variety. Director Johannes Nyholm impresses with his masterful illustration of death as the cold, absurd, relentless nightmare it is for those left behind, who have to try to keep living despite their near insurmountable pain.

Sitting atop a melting permafrost, battered by coastal erosion and aggressive summer melt waters, Newtok, Alaska is set to be the first American town lost to climate change.

Lotte and her little sister Roosi decide to go find the fire-breathing dragons. After several adventures, Lotte and Roosi find their way to the dragons. Surprises await them there.

In what was supposed to be a traditional coxing match, one of the boxers is forced to use dirty tricks. It turns out that words can harm as much as a physical punch .

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is renowned filmmaker Nick Broomfield’s most personal and romantic film of his storied career.

The documentary starts on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960, where Leonard Cohen, then a struggling and unknown fiction writer, and Marianne Ihlen, a single mother with a young son, became part of community of expat artists, writers and musicians. Never-before-seen footage shot by Broomfield and legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker make for a unique portrait of an idyllic 1960’s bohemia. It was a time that left a lasting imprint on both Marianne and Leonard, whose friendship would last another fifty years before their deaths in 2016.

The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year.

Melanie is 16 years old and lives on the countryside.With her moped as her companion, she moves between her home in the forest and the social activities offered in the small village. Trying hard to gain respect from the grown up world around her, but hasn’t yet decided if that’s where she wants to be from now on

Major Luna jumps towards the moon. In a pool she explores her fantasy of floating weightlessly around in space.

Ben and his brother Barnabas (aka Simple) have been best buddies for as long as he can remember. Although “Simple”, who is now 22, has stayed at the mental age of a three-year-old. When their mother unexpectedly dies, Simple is to be sent to a home. The brothers escape on a crazy odyssey to find their father they last saw 15 years ago.

My Brother Simple is both an invitation to empathy and a homage to all those who are ready to sacrifice their personal life for the benefit of a challenged loved one.

Sam (10) and his family head off to the Dutch island of Terschelling on holiday, but his brother breaks his leg on their first day there. Bad luck for his brother, but the accident lets Sam meet Tess; a peculiar girl who has an ingenious plan for getting to know her birth father. She’s got just one week to make his acquaintance, and she decides that Sam should help her. Although Sam is forcing himself to practice being alone to protect himself from future grief, he discovers during his adventures with Tess how important family really is.

The five nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2019 will be announced during a reception in Haugesund on Wednesday 21 August, and subsequently screened at the festival.

Synopsis and information about the Danish nominee will be published here following the announcement. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this year’s best Nordic films!

The five nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2019 will be announced during a reception in Haugesund on Wednesday 21 August, and subsequently screened at the festival.

Synopsis and information about the Finnish nominee will be published here following the announcement. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this year’s best Nordic films!

The five nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2019 will be announced during a reception in Haugesund on Wednesday 21 August, and subsequently screened at the festival.

Synopsis and information about the Icelandic nominee will be published here following the announcement. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this year’s best Nordic films!

The five nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2019 will be announced during a reception in Haugesund on Wednesday 21 August, and subsequently screened at the festival.

Synopsis and information about the Norwegian nominee will be published here following the announcement. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this year’s best Nordic films!

The five nominees for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2019 will be announced during a reception in Haugesund on Wednesday 21 August, and subsequently screened at the festival.

Synopsis and information about the Swedish nominee will be published here following the announcement. Don’t miss out on the chance to see this year’s best Nordic films!

Sofia, 16, and Axel have sex at a party. The next day a film of them is sent around their school. She and her friends go on a pursuit in order to find out who filmed.

Ida, 14, meets a guy on Tinder. Later, she’s contacted by Jan, who tells her that a nude of her is posted on a closed forum.  He can help her, but he needs something in return.

Christmas night in Roubaix. Police chief Daoud roams the city. Burnt out cars, violent altercations… In the face of poverty, deception and distress, Daoud knows who is lying and who is telling the truth. Fresh out of the police academy, Louis has recently joined Daoud’s crew. Young, awkward and easily misled, he constantly misunderstands those he encounters. Daoud and Louis are confronted with the murder of an old woman. The old woman’s neighbours – two young women, Claude and Marie – are arrested. They are addicts, alcoholics, lovers… With words, rising beyond the horror of their crime, Daoud will find a way to give two murderers back their humanity.

After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave. She moves to the room 212 of the hotel opposite her marital home. From there, Maria can scrutinize her apartment, her husband, her wedding. She wonders if she has made the right decision.

Scandinavian schools are considered among the best in the world, with great focus on play and less focus on grades. Nevertheless, the proportion of Norwegian pupils who drop out of secondary school can be up to 50%. So, what is really the issue in the Norwegian school system?

Our hopeful, follows a school class for ten years at primary school. The class at Tana is small but has different personalities and challenges. For example, the beautiful Rebekka who wants both horse and dog for Christmas, or quiet Mads, who lies a little ahead of the others in the class.

And then it’s Morten, the one everyone knows or has known someone like him. He always disturbs the whole class, as he started the first grade with great enthusiasm and motivation but met the wall, as it did not meet his expectations. How does the school system relate to children like Morten, and what conditions do schools have to deal with such cases and assist when needed? How is Morten himself effected by what he meets through his upbringing at school?

Director Guro Saniola Bjerk has created an honest and uncompromising portrait of school time that has become both a documentary and a TV series. The project opens up for greater insight and discussion by seeing the school system from the children’s perspective – in how do they experience things under certain conditions?

Suspected of large-scale investment fraud, multimillionaire Markus Føns is remanded in custody. After being beaten up by a prison gang, he allows himself to be persuaded to go into voluntary solitary confinement in a special department that offers protection to the most despised prisoners: the father killers, abusers of women and rapists of children.

Solidarity in the prison wing is typified by the choir they sing in every week. It’s not long before the newcomer joins the rehearsals, but taking part isn’t enough for the Machiavellian Markus. As an experienced manipulator, he starts, step-by-step, undermining the position of choir leader Niels.

Trond is 67 years old, and recently has moved to a deserted place.  Winter is almost here, and he looks forward to New Year’s Eve, which he will celebrate all alone. He discovers a neighbour, a man he knew in the summer of 1948. That summer his father prepared for the big betrayed. But that summer Trond also grew up and felt the smell of a woman he wanted to be close to; the same woman his father wanted to share his life with her.

Out Stealing Horses is based on Per Petterson’s beloved novel by the same name, and won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for Rasmus Videbæk’s cinematography at the 2019 Berlinale. It is nominated for 10 Amanda Awards in 2019.

Pain and Glory tells of a series of reencounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.

Ki-taek´s family of four is close, but fully unemployed, with a bleak future ahead of them. The son Kiwoo is recommended by his friend, a student at a prestigious university, for a well-paid tutoring job. Arriving at the house of Mr-Park, the owner of a global IT firm, Kiqii meets Yeon-Kyo, the beautiful young lady of the house. But following this first meeting between the two families, an unstoppable string of mishaps leis in wait.

Six boys race on their scooters through the narrow streets of their Sanità neighbourhood in Naples. Nicola & Co. are fearless daredevils, desperate to make money like their role models. They use the city’s rooftops for assault rifle practice, deal drugs and do not hesitate to use their weapons to take control of the neighbourhood. Nicola, knows the rules: in order to get his gang into the game and quickly to the top, he challenges one of the old bosses. But whoever is in charge today may well be dead tomorrow. When his girlfriend causes Nicola to be caught between all fronts, he is forced to make a decision.

Camorra expert Roberto Saviano (‘Gomorrha’, 2006) wrote the screenplay for his adaptation with Maurizio Braucci and Claudio Giovannesi. The film provides a shocking portrait of a younger generation in a state of permanent war.

The artist Marianne arrives at an isolated island in Brittany in the late 18th century. She is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent.

Several have tried to paint Héloïse before, but as the only possible protest against an arranged marriage, she refuses. Marianne pretends to be a maid, who takes Héloïse on daily walks, where she can observe her quietly. With her memory as the only tool, the portrait is finished, but does it reflect who Héloïse really is?

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is an exceptionally beautiful film about memories, friendship, love and strong women. The film is also a tribute to the often forgotten female artists throughout history. An instant classic!

Céline Sciamma (b. 1978) is one of France’s most exciting directors. She has created a handful of iconic films, where sexuality, feminism and female characters are always central.

Frida is different. Self chosen different. Marius, on the other hand is the most perfect boy in class, and likes to show off. When they have to work together at school, it’s the start of a turbulent and challenging relationship. Generation Achievement meets impossible love.

A bride’s wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

Santa Claus whole existence is dependent on a little boy’s faith. Christmas is supposed to be a magical time, but instead it’s dire times for Santa Claus. His whole existence is fading, because the children have stopped believing in him. But there is one little boy called Vetle, that still believes, but for how long?

Summer, 1943. Tuur and Lambert are best friends. They love to explore the woods and caves surrounding their idyllic village; their environment holds no secrets for the teenage boys. But the war is closing in and is about to change their lives forever. Tuur’s dad has joined the resistance and even his big brother seems to be a part of it. Lambert’s family on the other hand choose to obey the Germans. Then a new girl from the city shows up, befriending the boys but telling her secret to only one of them. A choice that separates the boys and ultimately gets her in trouble. Tuur not only risks losing his friendship with Lambert, but even his whole family. He will have to stop at nothing to safeguard both.

Push, the self balancing robot has a simple hobby: Stacking cubes. His patience gets put to the test when he discovers that he’s not alone in this world. Can he find the balance between his hobby and a friendship?

A story about suburban teenagers who unexpectedly have to deal with grown up problems of pregnancy, while extreme right ideas begin to encroach on their multicultural neighbourhood. Stupid Young Heart is about the first love between the skinny and carefree Lenni and the popular Kiira. Not yet in a relationship, Lenni and Kiira discover that they are expecting a baby. Lenni has nine months to become a man. Having grown up without a father figure, Lenni finds longed-for adult attention and guidance from an unlikely friend Janne, a member of a right wing group that has recently moved into Lenni’s diverse neighbourhood. After taking part in a scrambled attack on a local Mosque, while Kiira is rushed to the hospital to give birth, Lenni realises that he must learn to be a man in his own way, even though he never had a chance to be a child himself.

John and Ninni – both heirs to their own individual amusement parks – fall in love amidst the whirling world they both inhabit. A forbidden love, and a war between two families, puts their love and loyalty to the test. This colourful and sensational story draws similarities to the grandeur of Moulin Rogue, and is based on the history of Gröna Lund, an actual amusement park in Stockholm. Don’t miss out on this epic and endlessly entertaining pop romance!

Benni is a delicate-looking girl with unbridled energy. She is a system crasher. A term used to describe children who break every single rule; children who refuse to accept any kind of structure, and who gradually fall through the masks of the child and welfare services safety net. No matter where the nine-year-old ends up, she is sent again after a short while. And that’s exactly what she is looking for. Benni´s wish is to be able to live with her mum again: a woman who is unable to cope with her daughter’s erratic behaviour.

Nora Fingscheidt has made a strong drama about a child’s overwhelming need for love and safety, and the potential for violence that this may entail. Helena Zengel impresses strongly with her wonderful portrayal of being a child, which also rises fear and a desire to help vulnerable and desperate children. At the same time, the film features the attempts by teachers and psychologists to create a safe future for children who can threat and destroy themselves and those around them as a result of their unpredictable behaviour.

When the King and Queen are poisoned, brothers Per and Pål get arrested, suspected of being behind it. Younger brother Espen “Ash Lad” and Princess Kristin set out on a quest to find the mythical Soria Moria castle, which is said to be built of pure gold. In Soria Moria, there sits a well containing the Water of Life; the only thing that can cure Kristin’s parents. But some wicked Danes are also on the hunt to find the castle. If Espen and Kristin fail, it will spell the end for the brothers, the kingdom – and perhaps the entire world.

This Faroese drama unfolds at the end of the 19th century and is built on a legend about the bird catcher Esmar (excellently portrayed by Danish actor Rudi Køhnke). Esmar and his wife Johanna lives a simple, but good life with their three daughters on a small patch of land, but is threatened by the faroese law dictating that their lease only can be inherited from father to son. To protect his livelihood and his family from the dubious landowner Såmal, Esmar is forced to accept an arrangement that may pose wide implications and affect many of his nearest and dearest – but perhaps not quite in the way he imagined. 

It all starts when two small-town police officers start to see strange things happening one day. With the help of their colleague, they begin to investigate, only to come to a conclusion they seemingly already knew. Zombies are rising from graves. As the police go around town, they interact with a slew of townsfolk played by well-known faces, including Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, RZA, and Iggy Pop. All of them are basically there to chew the scenery for a few minutes, without amounting to much.

Fierce gang boss Jang Dong-su is violently attacked after a fender bender on a rainy night. After fighting back, he barely escapes, however his reputation as a feared leader is damaged beyond repair. The only way to restore his image is to find his attacker and exact revenge. Jang teams up with Detective Jung Tae-seok  to find the assailant, but soon discovers the attacker is actually a serial killer. With no support from the police department, Detective Jung is forced to use gang boss Jang’s resources in order to track down the killer. The two men must work together to find a man simply known as “K”.

An ex-convict working undercover intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison.

This film tells the story about a small grey wolf cub and his friends. A little gem for children of all ages, with lots of laughs and surprising animal encounters in clear, bright colours. It is the wolf’s birthday and the rest of the animals in the forest are working together to make his birthday cake.

Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

Qodrat sleeps in a scrapped car wreck, and peddles key rings and scalps cinema tickets in Kabul. The year is 1989, during the pro-Soviet days of Afghanistan, something this 15-year-old stray dog seems fairly unaffected by. His main concerns are food for the day and Bollywood cinema, not necessarily in that order. In a bid to escape harsh reality, delving into a fantasy world full of sturdy heroes, fair damsels, romance, music and bright colours is a bare necessity – for Qodrat and many like him.

But soon, reality hits back. Qodrat is busted for his illegal activities and brought to a juvenile detention facility known as “the orphanage”. Run by the Soviet regime, here the young urchins are given living quarters, put in school and gently nudged towards being good little comrades. For Qodrat, it’s a clear upgrade. He gets regular meals, new friends and a bit of an education. Even the Russian teacher seems nice. Let’s face it: the key ring/ticket racket wasn’t exactly booming.

The Orphanage is the second part of a planned pentalogy, whereas the first Wolf and Sheep won the main award in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2016 and successfully conquered the arthouse circuit.

Henrik and Perle, brother and sister, both eight years old, try to buy a beautiful little puppy in their local pet store, but the shopkeeper says he can’t sell animals to children.

Heartbroken, the kids come up with a clever but crazy plan to make the puppy theirs. A plan that doesn’t involve any adults.

A successful “house tuner” in New York City calibrates the sound in people’s homes in order to adjust their moods. This unique form of therapy is one of his own making, and he is convinced that private homes and even whole cities can be finely tuned to the point of harmonic perfection. But his grand vision is challenged when he meets a client who do not respond to his methods, and soon his research is threatened by large commercial forces, his academic peers and a new, beautiful acquaintance.

This quirky, quiet romance draws associations to Spike Jonze’s Her, contemplating on a similar theme; emotional dissonance in the modern world. The story is developed from the award-winning short Palimpsest, and the excellent cast include Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones in the lead roles.

Sabina has traveled from Romania to the small Swedish town Holmsund with her brothers. The boys work in a garage and Sabina is looking for a job. Elin, born and raised in Holmsund, is in the church singing at the graduation ceremony. Another summer is about to start, one in which Sabina will get to know Elin. Together they will revolt against the old ways and find something new in each other. At the same time, the society around them collapses in fear and Elin’s dad is driven insane by sorrow. Because there is a madness growing in the Swedish idyll.

This is a highly contemporary story about the friendship between two teenage girls and soulmates in the shadow of the European debate on immigration and EU migrants. A story that portrays daily life in a small northern town where the locals share the EU migrants longing for a more hopeful future.

Cristic, A Romanian police officer who is a whistle blower for mafia, is going to La Gomera island to learn an ancestral whistling language. In Romania he is under police surveillance and by using this coded language he will continue to communicate with the mobsters to get out of prison.

Not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a police inspector in Bucharest who plays both sides of the law. Embarked by the  beautiful Gilda on a high-stakes heist, both will have to navigate the twists and turns of treachery and deception. A secret whistling language spoken on the Spanish island of La Gomera might just be what they need to pull it off.

By the director of THE TREASURE (Cannes 2015 Un Certain Regard Screenplay Prize), POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Cannes 2009 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize) and 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST (Cannes 2006 Golden Camera).

Deep in Appalachia, Pastor Lemuel Childs presides over an isolated community of serpent handlers, an obscure sect of Pentecostals who willingly take up venomous snakes to prove themselves before God. As his devoted daughter, Mara prepares for her wedding day, under the watchful eye of Hope Slaughter (played by the eternally amazing Olivia Colman), a dangerous secret is unearthed and she is forced to confront the deadly tradition of her father’s church.

This dark and thrilling story from the deep, forgotten corners of America is sure to have you on the edge of your seat!

A story about a father and his son and small town bullies and those who stand beside silently, approving all bad to happen. An ex-priest moves to small town of Harmaaketo together with his son, where they get instantly bullied and terrorized. Even when there’s zero tolerance for such things, no one can or want to stop it before it’s too late and things escalate to the point of no return.

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world, and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. So when Bonnie’s beloved new craft-project-turned-toy, Forky, declares himself as “trash” and not a toy, Woody takes it upon himself to show Forky why he should embrace being a toy. But when Bonnie takes the whole gang on her family’s road trip excursion, Woody ends up on an unexpected detour that includes a reunion with his long-lost friend Bo Peep. After years of being on her own, Bo’s adventurous spirit and life on the road belie her delicate porcelain exterior. As Woody and Bo realize they’re worlds apart when it comes to life as a toy, they soon come to find that’s the least of their worries.

In 2018, Frank “Tønes” Tønnesen celebrated 25 years as an artist. Since his first concert during a class party at Grubeheimen in Sokndal municipality, the former electrician from Hauge in Dalane has become one of our biggest and most important artists. Tønes has received the Prøysen Prize, the Dialect Prize, several Spellemann prizes and has also been nominated for the Nordic Music Prize.

Journalist and filmmaker André Løyning, followed Tønes through small and large events in his anniversary year, so he can be able to know him better. The cinema documentary Tønes is made together with screenwriter Kristian Landmark (When I fall).

The film is a portrait of a singer who lived in a hometown and writes songs that affect most of us. Who is the man, where does his unique songs come from, and what do they say about us all?

Landmark and Løyning have previously created the Cocks & Crosses – the music that would not die (2016) which premiered at The Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund.

Selma and her younger brother are on vacation in a cabin in the woods. There are wild animals in the woods. Selma is jealous of her little brother, and to scare him, she convinces him that the wild animals is coming to get him.

To spy on her lover Ludo, 50 year-old Claire Millaud creates a fake profile on social media and becomes Clara, a beautiful 24 year-old. Alex, Ludo’s friend is instantly enamored. Claire, trapped by her avatar, falls madly in love with him. Although everything is played out in the virtual world, the feelings that blossom are quite real. A beguiling story where lies are entangled with reality.

Deep in the earth beneath the Norwegian permafrost, seeds from all over the world are stored in the Global Seed Vault to provide a backup should disaster strike. For the first time ever, seeds held there from a major gene bank in Aleppo are now being replicated, after its holdings were left behind when the institution had to move to Lebanon due to the civil war. It is refugees from Syria who are carrying out this painstaking work in the fields of the Beqaa Valley. In the Levant, dry conditions and the power of global agricultural corporations are the biggest challenge, while in the Arctic Circle – where the seed vault was supposed to withstand anything – it is rising temperatures and melting glaciers.

This is the engaging and complicated story of Rose-Lynn, a woman on a quest to become a country music star, while also grappling with the responsibilities of being recently released from prison and a young mother of two children.

British actress Jessie Buckley lights up the screen as the talented, hard-as-nails Rose-Lynn. A powerful tale of strength and vulnerability, and remaining hopeful as big dreams crash with a harsh reality.

An isolated farm in a remote part of the Jura region: this is where Pauline and Alex are making their dream of living in complete self-sufficient harmony with nature come true. Their life project is sealed by their love, their ideals and their work. The couple is now ready to take the step towards total independence, and start producing their own electricity. The arrival of Samuel, who has come to install a wind turbine, deeply troubles Pauline, upsetting the couple and their values.

From his village in northern Senegal, Yao is a 13-year-old boy ready to do anything to meet his hero: Seydou Tall, a famous French actor. Invited to Dakar to promote his new book, the latter goes to his country of origin for the first time. To fulfill his dream, the young Yao organizes his fugue and brave 387 kilometers alone to the capital. Touched by this child, the actor decides to flee his obligations and to accompany him home. But on the dusty and uncertain roads of Senegal, Seydou understands that while rolling towards the village of the child, it also rolls towards its roots.