Nordisk Film Norway’s historical film starring Skam actor Carl Martin Eggesbøe was put on hold on March 13 after two weeks shooting due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Since then, producers Aage Aaberge, Live Bonnevie, Johan Einar Hagen and their team have spent huge efforts to get the NOK63.2 million (€5.7m) epic back on its filming schedule.

According to Nordisk Film, interior scenes should be completed before the summer. The winter war scenes to be filmed in and around Narvik, in the northern part of Norway, had already been postponed to March 2021 and are set to resume in April 2021. 

“We believe we have found a safe and sound way to implement the filming, but I will not conceal that it has been challenging,” said seasoned producer Aaberge (Kon-Tiki) who has worked more than four years on the project. “Without a joint effort from the Norwegian Film Institute, local backers in Northern Norway and Nordisk Film who together have gone above and beyond to get the project going again, we would never have been close to succeeding,” he said, adding: “we are also happy to have a fantastic cast & crew who are all ready to get started again.” Next to Eggesbøe who makes his feature film debut, is rising acting talent Kristine Cornelie Margrete Hartgen (The 12th Man).

Based on a script by Christopher Grøndahl who collaborated with Skjoldbjærg on his award-winning film Nokas, Narvik tells the true story of two dramatic months in the spring of 1940, when Norwegian and allied soldiers fought side by side against the Wehrmacht to prevent the Germans from taking control of the iron ore, vital for Hitler’s war machine. The fierce battle that followed is forever engraved in the national consciousness and in particular from northern Norway. 

The film is set to premiere domestically in the fall/winter 2021.