This film year in Norway had a promising kick off on the arthouse market with Hisham Zaman's debut feature Before Snowfall which opened domestically on Tuesday, carried by a good buzz from its exposure in Tromsö and now heading off to Gothenburg's main competition section. Rune Denstad Langlo who gathered festival praise in 2009 with North, is bringing to local screens on February 15 Chasing the Wind, again produced by Motlys and sold by France's Memento Films International. The same day, the children's film Karsten og Petra blir bestevenner (Cinenord) based on a popular book series will be targeting small kids and their parents.
The second film for younger audiences, Ploddy the Police Car on the Trail, part of a successful franchise, will open later in May. "Children's films have been rare in recent years so at the Institute we have now decided to support at least five children's film projects annually, said Nina Refseth head of the Norwegian Film Institute, during her presentation speech at Oslo House on January 10.
Other high profile films set to open soon include Victoria by Torun Lian, produced by Norway's major production house Filmkameratene, and Must Have Been Love, a Norwegian/Finnish love story, by first-timer Eirik Svensson produced by 4 ½.
A total of 30 features will open in 2013 - 24 Norwegian films and six co-productions. A larger slate of potentially big audience-pullers such as the epic Gåten Ragnarok, Bård Breien's Private Detective, Erik Skjoldberg's Pioneer, Tommy Wilkola and Vegard Hoel's Kill Buljo 2, Erik Poppe's A Thousand Times Goodnight are scheduled for the second half of 2013.
In Sweden, the crime wave continues with three mainstream titles, starting with Krister Henriksson's vehicle Wallander-The Troubled Man that opened last weekend at number seven. Two other Swedish noirs will open in March: Death of a Loved One, the first of six book adaptations from Maria Lang, starring Tuva Novotny and Ola Rapace, and the latest Johan Falk franchise Code Name Lisa.
Aimed at youth audiences, Ego by first timer Lisa James Larsson produced by Filmlance International will reach screens at the end of this month. It's a slick romantic-comedy drama about vanity love and sex. Another female director, Teresa Fabik should tempt a large audience with Love & Lemons (Små citroner gula) based on Kajsa Ingemarsson's best-selling novel, while actress turned director Helena Bergström will bring August Strindberg's classic Miss Julie to the screens in March. The same month, one of Sweden's most interesting auteurs, Fredrik Edfeldt will present Faro, his second collaboration with Karin Arrhenius, writer of his previous success The Girl.
Curiosities aimed at young adults include the first Swedish zombie movie Vittra, while younger fans of hockey will be offered Eskil & Trinidad (Sonet Film), set to open in March, right after its competition entry at Berlin's Generation KPlus sidebar.
Within the documentary genre, to follow up on 2012's high international exposure (including an Oscar nomination for Searching for Sugar Man), a handful of new titles will make it to local screens such as Stefan Jarl's The Goodness and Nima Sarvestani's No Burqas Behind Bars, both competing for Best Documentary in Gothenburg.
During her presentation of the Swedish spring collection last Monday, Anna Serner, head of the Swedish Film Institute gave the first official figures for last year's cinema attendance in Sweden: 18 million admissions in total, with Swedish films taking 23% of the market, an improvement on 2011's 20% market-share.
For the full listing of films, check: http://www.nfi.no/ and http://www.sfi.se/