What happens to us when people stop acting like they’re supposed to? A nurse gets into a dispute at work because she switches to speaking English when she gets nervous. A translator compromises her integrity when persuaded to translate a book she doesn’t believe in. An elderly woman and her daughter are humiliated when offered a present of one million kroner from a relative. I Belong is a drama-comedy about how what seems like something of little importance to one person, can seem like a grand disaster to another.
Jury motivation: Nine people go to work, compromise themselves or are made offers they can neither accept nor refuse. An author records an audio book of the novel they belong to. This is the scope of Dag Johan Haugeruds I belong, an unembellished, transparent and recognisable depiction of man's confused state - and its dignity. The film is a beautiful mosaic of different life experiences, gently interpreted by the ensemble cast and filtered through Haguerud's unique powers of observation. The result is witty and tender, hurtful and quietly confrontational. The Norwegian candidate is then I belong, script Dag Johan Haugerud.
National jury: Silje Riise Næss, Britt Sørensen, Kalle Løchen