2023 Haugesund Fest unveils full programme

For its 51st edition running August 19-25, Norway’s top film festival will stick to its DNA, which is to act as launching pad for new features ahead of their Norwegian premiere, and serve as town hall meeting place for industry experts.

“With more than 70 films selected, we have approximately the same number as last year, even with our new section Ung Film (Youth Film), a programme put together and run by a Youth Committee,” said festival director Tonje Hardersen. “This is a more ‘normal year’, with no cancelled festivals, and we have been able to secure highlights from both Cannes and Berlin, including the Golden Bear winner On the Adamant and Palme d’or Anatomy of a Fall,” she said.

The two award-winning French films are among 20 high-profile titles in the main non-competitive programme. Those include the Danish hit Tove’s Room by Martin Zandvliet, Ken Loach’s Cannes competition entry The Old Oak, Aki Kaurismäki Cannes Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves, set to open Haugesund’s industry event New Nordic Films August 22, and the festival’s opening film Listen Up!.

Kaveh Tehrani’s debut Listen Up! will be introduced on August 20 by Masud Gharahkhani, the president of Norway’s ‘Storting’ or Parliament. “Both Tehrani and Masud Gharahkhani are Iranian-born, and the film Listen Up! is about a 15-year-old Norwegian-Pakistani boy, demonstrating the diversity in Norwegian society. This is the new Norway,” Hardersen underscored.

A total of 29 Norwegian films will be showcased in Haugesund including the world premieres of Listen Up!, Kristian Landmark’s black comedy K-Town, Laurens Pérol’s Practice, and the documentary Maternity Wards Guerillas co-directed by Mari Nilsen Neira with Helen Komini Knudsen and Aslaug Holm.

Other internationally-acclaimed local documentaries due to have their national premiere in the picturesque coastal city include the 2023 CPH:DOX entries Voice by Ane Hjort Guttu, Praying for Armageddon by Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley, and Songs of Earth by Margret Ohlin.

As always, Nordic films will be out in force, with 10 titles lined up for the Nordic Focus - such as the Danish satire Empire, Finnish coming-of-age Bubble, Icelandic award-winning road movie Driving Mum and Swedish doc winner at Sundance And the King said…what a Fantastic Machine.

For the 7^th consecutive year, the Norwegian Film Festival has teamed up with Nordisk Film & TV Fond to unveil the nominated films competing for the coveted Nordic Council Film Prize - watch out for the announcement August 22!

Meanwhile, ten graduation films by Nordic film students will vie for the Next Nordic Generation award, such as Marlene Emilie Lyngstad’s Norwegian Spring, top prize winner at Cannes’ La Cinef.

“We’re extremely proud to promote the next voices from the Nordic region,” said Hardersen, underlining that Danish rising talent Christian Arhoff who attended the Next Nordic Generation in 2019 will be back with his comedy Viktor vs. The World, selected as the festival’s closing film.

Nordic actors on hand to introduce their films take in Tove’s World’s Lars Brygmann and Paprika Steen, Fallen Leaves’ Jussi Vatanen and Victor vs the World’s Nicolai Jørgensen.

Town Hall Meetings
Haugesund will also stage two major industry seminars.

• The annual Film Politics Conference (August 21) will be held under the overarching theme of unity and solidarity.
  Topics to be discussed include film dissemination, creating a more inclusive cinema experience (with UK guest speaker Maddy Probst from Film Hub South West/Watershed), and how to build audience awareness on the so-called ‘narrow’ films.
  
  Top directors invited to discuss unity include Holy Spider’s Ali Abbasi, who will address ‘How Nordic film can shed light on global issues and promote international solidarity’, and Hisham Zaman, set to present his latest feature A Happy Day.
• The second Haugesund Children's Film Convention (August 22) on films and games for kids and youth, will open up to Nordic and European inspirational keynotes. Topics to be discussed include school cinema, children and youth media consumption in the Nordics, how to engage the Tiktok generation, and controversial art vs freedom of expression.

For the festival’s full programme, check: https://www.filmfestivalen.no/