Norway’s leading arthouse distribution company celebrates  its 25th anniversary.

Launched 25 years ago under Svend Jensen’s aegis with the idea to bring challenging arthouse films to Norwegian film lovers, Arthaus has gradually expanded from 2-3 annual film pick-ups to 10-12 today, including 2-3 Nordic films, and is preparing for the opening in 2018 of the cultural venue Vega Scene in Oslo. 

The core of the company's business remains the theatrical market and auteur films. “Since we started, we’ve offered a curated programme that our audience recognises and trusts. We are also very proud of established relationships with major European auteur filmmakers, such as Michael Haneke, Aki Kaurismäki and Ruben Östlund,” explained Svend Jensen. Arthaus actually prides itself in being the only distributor in the world to have released all Östlund’s films, from The Guitar Mongoloid in 2006 to The Square, currently on domestic release.

Securing rights to those top directors’ features is harder today but Jensen moves as early as possible on the projects and tries to rely on the relationships he has built over the years with the directors’ production outfits, such as Östlund’s Plattform Production in Sweden. Arthaus also acquires a number of films from the south, through a special collaboration with three Norwegian festivals (Bergen, Tromsö and Film fra Sør in Oslo). The films are first platformed at the festivals before their theatrical release via Arthaus and subsequent TV premiere on NRK.

But today market conditions for arthouse films in Norway are tougher, as explained by Jensen: “Cinemas are turning private and arthouse cinemas are disappearing, so it’s harder to programme our films,’ says the distributor. “There are also too many films filling the market without proper marketing and positioning. On top of that, the audience for arthouse films is shrinking and we’re often getting 5,000 admissions on films that 10 years ago would attract 10,000 people.”

Arthaus’ strategy to keep afloat and continue to build on its brand is threefold:

  • On the acquisition standpoint, the company is increasingly selective. “Today you need to rely on 1-2 bigger crowd-pullers to drive the rest of your line-up, which means strategising and being aware of what’s out there. But you still have to go for films that you love and do your best to market them and help find them reach the audience, rather than trying to find a film that you hope will work,’ said Jensen. Some of Arthaus’ most successful films in recent years include 45 Years (50,000 admissions) and Toni Erdmann (30,000 admissions). 
  • On a marketing standpoint, Arthaus tries to be as creative as possible in putting together tailor-made campaigns, and has used Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s slate support, which includes the possibility to hire a young marketing assistant, Alexandra O´Neal, who focuses on young audiences and social media activities. So far O’Neal has worked on the release of Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope, which is nearing 9,000 admissions in its 9th week on screens, and on The Square. Released last Friday, the film has sold more than 5,000 tickets from 45 screens, with nearly sold out screenings last weekend in Oslo.
  • On an exhibition side, Arthaus will create its own screen space with the launch of the ‘Vega Scene’ in Oslo, which will host a theatre stage and three small cinemas (Vega kino) with around 400 seats in total.

    The Vega Scene is a joint venture Between Arthaus, Film fra Sør, Oslo Dokumentarkino and the theatre company Kompani Camping. “Our idea with the Vega kino is to offer a different cinema experience to our audience that doesn’t enjoy watching a film in a multiplex,” said Jensen, who cites the Grand teatret in Copenhagen as an example. “We will also create happenings (Q&As, debates) around each release, using if possible the theatre stage as well.” The Vega Scene is set to open in the fall 2018. 

Arthaus’ upcoming releases include several Oscar 2018 contenders on top of Sweden’s The Square, such as Austria’s Happy End by Michael Haneke, Hungary’s On Body & Soul by Ildikó Enyedi, France’s 120 Beats per Minute by Robin Campillo and Germany’s In the Fade by Fatih Akin.

Nordic films set to open later in 2018 include Dag Johan Haugerud’s Barn (Beware of Children) produced by Motlys (Norway) and an untitled Gabriela Pichler movie produced by Garage Film International (Sweden).