Liv Ullmann, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Erik Poppe, Rolf Lassgård are some of the illustrious guests expected at Norway’s prime international film event.

To mark the Golden jubilee, festival director Tonje Hardersen has assembled a standout programme.

Following the preamble Amanda Awards ceremony August 20 and actors Anneke Von Der Lippe, Bjørn Floberg, Marie Blokhus and Pål Sverre Hagen set to add their names to the Haugesund Walk of Fame, the festival will open August 21 with the world premiere of Gunnar Vikene’s local event movie War Sailor.

Until August 26, a record 72 feature length films and more than 20 shorts will be showcased, including the world premiere of the Swedish thriller Love Proof by Richard Hobert, starring Rolf Lassgård, Livia Millhagen and Hedda Rehnberg, all expected in Haugesund.

“We’ve had more films to choose from than ever before,“ said Hardersen, referring to the havoc in film releases in Norway due to Covid, and slightly older films - from 2020 up to 2022, picked for this year’s edition, which is “unusual” she noted.

Within the 12 sections of the festival’s non-competitive line-up, the Main Programme includes 22 of the best films soon to open theatrically in Norway, from the Golden Bear winner Alcarràs, Cannes 2022 winners Holy Spider, Close, Broker, the Sundance selected Danish chiller Speak no Evil, Swedish doc hit Nelly & Nadine, to Jean-Jacques Annaud’s hybrid Notre Dame on Fire.

Besides War Sailor, Norwegian features in the main programme include 12 Dare by Izer Aliu, and the documentary Moskus-Fortelling om et bilde by Kristian Landmark, Dan Korneli and Andre Løyning about local artist Sverre Malling.

Ten other features from the Nordic region will be showcased at the Nordic Focus, several with female-empowering topics (The Year I started Masturbating, 70 is Just a Number, Diorama, Rose, So Damn Easy Going, Band) and two featuring WW2 (Anders’ Refn’s Into the Darkness and sequel Out of the Darkness).

Ten promising Nordic voices selected by Nordic film schools, will be presented at the ‘Next Nordic Generation’ sidebar, such as Icelandic born Óskar Kristinn Vignisson (Free Men), who attended last year’s Nordic Talents and Cannes’ Cinéfondation.

And for the 6th year, the Norwegian Film Festival has teamed up with Nordisk Film & TV Fond to announce the 2022 Nordic Council Film Prize nominees, on the opening day of the industry sidebar New Nordic Films, August 23.

The core attraction of the festival’s 50th anniversary will be the symposium on August 22 with star actor-director Liv Ullmann, the festival’s Honorary President, whose inspiring life and career will be highlighted with extracts from Viaplay’s docu series The Road Less Travelled, and the screenings of the films Faithless by Ullmann, and Liv produced by Stein Roger Bull. “Liv Ullmann has played a crucial role over the years in lifting our festival internationally. It is a great honour for us to have her at our side,” said Hardersen.

Looking at the present and future of the film industry, the annual Film Policy Conference (August 22), will be focusing on sustainability-more precisely ‘how the film industry can contribute to the UN's sustainability goals’. The second industry focal point will be how to reach kids & youth through education and the wealth of distribution outlets, topics to be developed at the very first Haugesund Children's Film Convention on August 23-24.

The must-attend industry event New Nordic Films will kickstart August 23 with the screening of the Palme d’or winning film Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund.

The full programme of New Nordic Films will be announced next week.