Joachim Trier’s Thelma and Iram Haq’s second film What Will People Say are among five feature length films that received production support from the Norwegian Film Institute. 

Trier’s supernatural drama Thelma produced by Motlys received the NFI’s largest grant of NOK11m (€2.1m). The story of a young woman unaware that she possesses frightening powers will be released by SF Norge in the spring 2017. 

What People Say (Hva vil folk si) is a coming of age film about growing up between two cultures directed by the award-winning Pakistani-Norwegian Iram Haq (I am Yours). The Mer Film project was granted NOK 9.89m. Co-producers are Rohfilm Factory (Germany), Cinéma Defacto (France) and SF Film Production (Denmark). 

Another Mer Film project - The Tree Feller (Hoggeren) by first time director Jorunn Mycklebust Syversen - was granted NOK 1.2m. Anders Baasmo Christiansen plays a man undergoing a life crisis, who spends his days chopping trees. 

The youth dance film Battle by Katarina Launing (Cool Kids Don’t Cry) produced by Friland Film was granted NOK 8.7m, and the supernatural thriller Valley of Shadows produced by Film Farms was granted NOK 2.5m. The promising debut of Jonas Matzow Guldbrandsen has already been picked up for world sales by Celluloid Dreams. 

The Norwegian Film Institute also supported six short films - including Bobbie Peers’ Apollo and Izer Aliu’s Crazy Love-and six documentaries, including Ulrich Imtiaz Rolfen and Adil Khan Farooq’s Islamisten produced by Flimmer Film, and Håvard Fossum’s Meet the Censors produced by Medieoperatørene.