Following last year’s Best Actor award to Herbert Nordrum for his role in Ernst De Geer’s Swedish/Norwegian The Hypnosis, Norwegian debut feature Loveable by Lilja Ingolfsdottir is selected for the Crystal Globe Competition at Karlovy Vary.

Loveable (Elskling) is one of 12 features selected for the main competition at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, competing for the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe and other prestigious awards at the 58th edition of the A-list festival. The film is Norwegian writer/director Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s long awaited first feature after several award-winning shorts, and will be world premiering in Karlovy Vary.

This relationship drama tells the story of 42-year-old Maria, who must come to terms with herself when her husband says he wants a divorce. The film depicts a woman’s possible path to self-knowledge, growth and reconciliation with subconscious and dysfunctional patterns within herself.

The cast includes Helga Guren, Oddgeir Thune, Heidi Gjermundsen Broch, Marte Magnusdotter Solem and Elisabeth Sand.

Loveable is produced by Thomas Robsahm (The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske)) for Nordisk Film Production and Amarcord, with production support from the Norwegian Film Institute as part of the talent scheme Neo (through which Norwegian Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s Camera d’Or winner in Cannes, Armand, also was supported). International sales are handled by TrustNordisk, with local distributor Nordic Film Distribution releasing the film in Norwegian cinemas on October 11.

“I am incredibly proud and honoured that Loveable will have its world premiere at one of the world's largest and oldest A-festivals. It's especially fun because I studied film at the national film school, FAMU, in Prague, almost twenty-five years ago. I’m extremely happy about this wonderful start for our film. It means a lot to both the film and to me as a filmmaker, director and screenwriter,” Ingolfsdottir states in a press release.

While the film was in post-production, Loveable was presented at the Finnish Film Affair at last year’s Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy, where it won the Best Nordic Project Award.

Furthermore, Trans Memoria by Swedish writer/director and conceptual artist Victoria Verseau is selected for Karlovy Vary’s Proxima Competition. In her feature debut, Verseau tells the personal story of her return to Thailand and the year 2012 when she underwent her transition, and critically examines what defines women as women, according to the festival’s presentation. The Swedish/French film is produced by Malin Hüber for HER Film, in co-production with Les Films du Bilboquet, Gotlands Filmfond, Pictanovo and Les Fresnoy.

The official side section also includes the American/Chinese/Dutch/Norwegian/French film Stranger (Ju way ren) written and directed by Zhengfan Yang, co-produced by Norwegian company Norsk Filmproduksjon.

Last year, Ernst De Geer’s Swedish/Norwegian debut feature The Hypnosis (Hypnosen), supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond, was selected for the Crystal Globe Competition at Karlovy Vary, with Norwegian actor Herbert Nordrumwinning the festival’s Best Actor Award. In addition, the film received the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in the main competition, and the Europa Cinema Label Award.

This year’s Crystal Globe jury members are American producer Christine Vachon, Australian actor Geoffrey Rush, Hungarian director Gábor Reisz, Icelandic poet and writer Sjón, and Czech actress Eliška Křenková.

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will take place from June 28 to July 6.