Screen
Osman Kibar
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Local box office hits starve Norway of film funds
30-May-2003
The local success of two children's films has caused unforeseen problems for the Norwegian Film Fund, which administers the annual $28m in state subsidy for film in Norway. -
Norway puts cinema sell off plans on hold
25-Apr-2003
Plans by Norway's three largest cities - Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim - to sell large stakes in their municipally-owned local exhibitors have stalled. -
Zwart quits MGM's Cody Banks sequel
23-Apr-2003
Norwegian director Harald Zwart says he has left MGM's sequel to Agent Cody Banks, according to local paper Dagbladet. -
Norway greenlights Olsen Gang Jr sequel
18-Mar-2003
With the first film still on theatrical release, The Norwegian Film Fund has already greenlighted the Nordisk sequel to family film The Olsen Gang Jr, which has attracted over 300,000 admissions since it opened on February 7th. -
Norway funds two new features from Maipo
31-Jan-2003
The Norwegian Film Fund has greenlighted two new projects from Maipo Film, the outfit behind the local box office phenomenon Elling. -
Columbia TriStar ends nine-year old Nordisk deal
28-Jan-2003
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has ended its nine-year pact with Scandinavian media giant Egmont's subsidiary Nordisk Film. -
Market leader prepares to sell Norwegian cinema circuit
28-Jan-2003
Oslo City Council has started negotiations with both foreign and local bidders interested in acquiring 66% of its stake in the municipally-owned Oslo Cinemas. -
Zentropa to cut staff by 25%
23-Jan-2003
Danish production company Zentropa is to cut a quarter of its staff; while local authorities investigate a number of its subsidiary companies. -
Norwegian animated feature gets blockbuster treatment
27-Sep-2002
Distributor Svensk Filmindustri is giving Vibeke Idsoe's $7.7m feature animation Karlsson On The Roof a blockbuster opening this weekend. It will be released on 173 screens across Norway and Sweden.It marks the biggest ever simultaneous opening in the two countries for a local production. Even most studio titles are released on fewer than 50 screens - notable exceptions being top US animation films such as Shrek and Toy Story 2. Ingmar Bergman-favorites ... -
Norwegian film fund banks on Elling prequel
26-Sep-2002
The Norwegian Film Fund is to back Maipo Film's follow-up to last year's local box office phenomenon Elling. -
Norway to allow cinema privatisation for the first time since 1913
15-Sep-2002
Norway's largest exhibitor, the municipally-owned Oslo Cinemas, will be privatised before the end of this year, with the Oslo City Council which owns the company, planning to sell between 66 % and 100 % of its shares. -
Chaos strikes twice at Haugesund
28-Aug-2002
French director Coline Serreau's (pictured) melodrama Chaos starring Vincent Lindon and Catherine Frot received both the main award and the audience award the 30th edition of the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund which closed on Sunday. -
Norway goes crazy for documentaries
28-Aug-2002
Following the runaway success of Knut Erik Jensen's 2001 musical documentary Cool And Crazy, a slate of new Norwegian documentaries are enjoying both critical and commercial success at home. -
Finnish cinema operator to build 14-screen site in Latvia
21-Jun-2002
The Finnish multiplex operator Finnkino OY and local department store group Stockmann will invest $39m in a cinema and retail complex in the Latvian capital of Riga. Stockmann is providing $23m, while Finnkino will contribute $16.2m to the project. -
Norwegian Film Fund banks on The Beautiful Country
14-Jun-2002
The Norwegian Film Fund, which is shortly to celebrate its first birthday, is spreading its money widely in its latest funding round, backing two international projects as well as four local productions. -
Norwegian hit Elling to get prequel and sequel
12-Jun-2002
Following its latest triumph at Spain's Peniscola international comedy film festival, Norway's Maipo Film is preparing two further films based on the Elling franchise, now that the comedy has become one of the most successful Norwegian films ever. -
Ullmann withdraws as director from $9.5m Nordisk biopic
6-May-2002
Actress-turned-director Liv Ullmann has withdrawn from the $9.5m historical biopic on Ole Bull, a Norwegian violinist and composer who died in 1880, which is currently in pre-production at Nordisk Film. -
Norway's Film Fund supports first-time directors
26-Apr-2002
The Norwegian Film Fund has greenlit seven new films, all of which are set to roll this year, with newcomers and children's films grabbing most of the $4.1m support from the fund. -
Scandinavia's costliest film proves its worth
13-Mar-2002
The most expensive film ever produced in Scandinavia had its world premiere in Norway on national release last week, after having been critically slated by the press. -
Cool And Crazy tops Amanda awards at Haugesund
7-Feb-2002
Knut Erik Jensen's documentary Cool and Crazy about a male choir from a remote arctic town took home two Amanda Awards, for best Norwegian film and best documentary at this year's Haugesund Film Festival. -
Sweden considers film censorship reform
3-Feb-2002
Sweden's culture minister Marita Ulvskog is close to achieving her aim of revising the country's film classification system by adding "abusive sexual humiliation" as one of the criteria for banning a film from public screening or video distribution. -
Oslo Cinemas reverse film rental decision
28-Jan-2002
Norway's largest cinema operator has been forced into a U-turn over its refusal to accept recently-implemented national film rental rates. -
Court supports Telenor in Canal Plus case
28-Jan-2002
Norwegian legal authorities have ruled that telecommunications giant Telenor is not obliged to complete its takeover of Nordic pay-TV operator Canal Digital from Canal Plus before a distribution agreement is cleared by the EU Commission. However, Canal Plus has announced that will now take the dispute to arbitrators. -
Mexican film picks up Trosmo's Aurora
21-Jan-2002
Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mama Tambien from Mexico picked up top honours, the Aurora award, at this year's Tromso International Film Festival (January 15 - 20). -
Gothenburg secures premieres, Berlin previews
18-Jan-2002
A host of international premieres, along with at least two titles destined to go on to Berlin, will get an airing this month at Scandinavia's largest film event, the Gothenburg International Film Festival. -
Cool & Crazy launch for new Norwegian distributor
11-Jan-2002
Aage Hoffart, until recently head of marketing at Scandinavia's most established independent film distributor, has launched his own company in competition with his former employer. -
Norway's state production co becomes media fund
11-Jan-2002
Norwegian private investment company Diopter has acquired a majority stake in the state-owned production entity Norsk Film as part of its creation of a new media investment fund. -
Oslo Cinemas reject new film rental agreement
9-Jan-2002
Norway's largest exhibitor, Oslo Cinemas, cancelled the opening of Spy Game this week because of a disagreement with distributor Egmont Columbia TriStar on the film's rental terms. More Hollywood titles could follow. -
Telenor, Canal Plus dispute payments in court
4-Jan-2002
Norwegian telecommunications giant Telenor and Vivendi Universal's TV and film division Canal Plus are battling in court over the payment for an agreement the two companies reached last summer. -
Maipo opens new chapter on literary adaptations
11-Dec-2001
The Norwegian production outfit Maipo Film hit gold with its first feature film production Elling with more than 740,000 local admissions - the highest figure in 25 years - and is now planning a run of literary adaptations. -
Norway's distributors re-negotiate rental rates
29-Nov-2001
Norwegian film distributors are attempting to increase local rental rates for their future releases. The current level of film rental charges is regulated by a Film Rental Agreement between local distributors and exhibitors. The current agreement, however, expires on January 1, and is now undergoing active re-negotiation. Early talks have already been disrupted, however, when a proposal from the exhibitors was thrown out by the distributors, who considered the rental charges too low. -
Telenor buys Canal Plus nordic pay-TV interests
11-Jul-2001
Norwegian telecommunications giant Telenor has taken outright control of loss-making Nordic pay-TV operator Canal Digital. -
Domestic favourites tipped for Norwegian Oscars
2-Jul-2001
Local box office hits predominate the nominations for the 2001 Norwegian Amanda Awards, Norway's equivalent of the Academy Awards. -
Norway appoints outsider to head up new Film Fund
22-Jun-2001
The Norwegian Ministry of Culture has taken the local film community by surprise with its decision to appoint Stein Slyngstad, an economist with next to no experience of working in the industry, as director of the new Norwegian Film Fund, which comes into being on July 1. -
Local boy Jensen picks up Norway's Aamot honours
15-Jun-2001
Norwegian director Knut Erik Jensen has received the Norwegian Aamot Award in Oslo, Norway. The annual award given by Norway's theatre managers and distributors was bestowed on Jensen for "his ability to capture the life and history of Norway's northernmost regions in a poetical way". -
Norwegian festival snubs its own Cannes entry
13-Jun-2001
The Norwegian short film festival in Grimstad (June 14-19) is coming under fire locally for having snubbed Norway's only official Cannes competition entry this year, Jens Lien's one minute short Natural Glasses. -
Norway shuts door on Swedish exhibitor SF
11-Jun-2001
Sweden's largest exhibitor, Svensk Filmindustri (SF), the exhibition arm of the media giant Bonnier Group, has been refused a licence to establish a multiplex in Norway's third largest city, Trondheim, by local authorities. -
Norsk's last film gets blockbuster roll-out
7-Jun-2001
The last feature to roll out from the now disbanded Norwegian state production outfit Norsk Film will benefit from the highest p&a budget ever for a local film. -
Norway backs Most People...
6-Jun-2001
Production outfit Motlys has been granted $760,000 from the Norwegian Film Institute for portmanteau project Most People Live In China - a single feature film with eight directors and six screenwriters attached. The directors and writers involved are a combination of well-known names and newcomers. -
Norway backs Music For Weddings And Funerals
23-Mar-2001
Four new productions: two feature films and two documentaries, have been greenlighted by Norway's Audiovisual Production Fund. -
Norway lifts ban on Oshima classic
7-Feb-2001
Norway's recently established Board of Film Classification Appeals, Filmklagenemnda, has lifted the ban on local commercial exhibition of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima's erotic classic In The Realm Of The Senses. -
Verhoeven shorts to heat up Tampere fest
5-Feb-2001
The leading Nordic short film event, Finland's Tampere International Short Film Festival (March 7-11), has unveiled the programme of its 31st edition which includes cult favourites chosen by Aki Kaurismaki as well as early shorts from Paul Verhoeven. -
BV International acquires Vietnamese Stork
2-Feb-2001
Norwegian sales company BV International Pictures has picked up international rights to Jonathan Foo and Nguyen Phan Quang Bing's Song Of The Stork, described as the first Vietnam war film to be shot on location in Vietnam by an international crew. -
Sweden set to revise ratings system
28-Jan-2001
Sweden's culture minister Marita Ulvskog has announced that a new film ratings system could be introduced in Sweden, based on a report which she recently commissioned from the Swedish Council on Media Violence. -
Hald becomes chair of Nordic Film & TV Fund
25-Jan-2001
The Swedish Film Institute's Peter Hald has been appointed chairman of the board of the Nordic Film & TV Fund by the Nordic Council of Ministers. -
Lounguine's Wedding wins top prize at Tromso
24-Jan-2001
Pavel Lounguine's The Wedding (La Noce) picked up top honours, the Aurora award, at this year's Tromso International Film Festival (January 16-21). -
Skarsgard joins von Trier's Dogville
22-Jan-2001
Sweden's Stellan Skarsgard has joined the cast of Lars von Trier's new feature film Dogville which will be shot in English with mostly US and UK actors. -
Norwegian Film Workers bid for Norsk library
22-Jan-2001
In a surprise move, The Norwegian Film Workers' Association has expressed interest in acquiring Norsk Film's back catalogue of around 170 films, that are to be sold together with the government's 77.5% stake in the state-owned company. -
Swedish Oscars return Lukas Moodysson's insult
8-Jan-2001
Lukas Moodysson, the director who showed his appreciation when he won the Swedish Oscars for Show Me Love by giving the audience the finger, has controversially missed getting a best film nomination this year for Together. -
Cool And Crazy opens Tromso arctic festival
5-Jan-2001
The world premiere of Norsk Film's musical documentary Cool And Crazy opens this month's Tromso International Film Festival. -
Dogme, Jan Troell bookend Gothenburg festival
2-Jan-2001
Dogme film When The Nights Get Longer will open Scandinavia's largest film event, the Gothenburg International Film Festival, while Jan Troell's As White As Snow closes proceedings as a world premiere. -
Depardieu adds heft to Bornedal's gothic romance
23-Dec-2000
Gerard Depardieu has joined the cast of Ole Bornedal's I Am Dina, an English-language gothic romance that is one of the most expensive Scandinavian film productions ever. -
Norway's Cinema Commission proposes levy increase
18-Dec-2000
Norway's Cinema Policy Commission has recommended an increase in the country's film and video levy, by 1% to 3.5%, in order to help smaller theatres make the conversion to digital projection. -
Oslo Cinemas unveils multiplex plans
11-Dec-2000
Norway's largest exhibitor Oslo Cinemas, which is soon to be opened up to private investors, is planning to build a 10 to 20 screen multiplex in the centre of Oslo, to be ready in 2005. -
Norsk Film library sale opposed by public bodies
7-Dec-2000
Two Norwegian state-owned institutions, broadcaster NRK and the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI), are opposing the government's plans to sell the back catalogue of state-owned production outfit Norsk Film to the commercial sector. -
Nordisk Film & TV launches feature production unit
28-Nov-2000
Norway's Nordisk Film & TV, owned by Copenhagen-based Nordisk Film, is establishing a feature film production division that aims to have an output of two titles a year that will travel across Scandinavian borders. -
Norwegian mockumentary to get blockbuster roll-out
28-Nov-2000
Norwegian distributor Egmont Columbia TriStar (ECT) plans to give low-budget local mockumentary Get Ready To Be Boyzvoiced a blockbuster opening by releasing it on 52 screens across Norway this weekend. -
Angelopoulos to shoot historical trilogy
14-Nov-2000
Despite announcing that 1998 Palme d'Or winner An Eternity And A Day would be his last feature, Greek director Theo Angelopoulos has revealed that he is developing a trilogy of films exploring the subject of Greek exiles throughout the 20th Century. -
Oslo Film Festival to open with Almost Famous
10-Nov-2000
Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous opens the 10th anniversary edition of the Oslo International Film Festival, which runs November 16-26. -
Danish features bookend Norway's BUFF fest
10-Nov-2000
The third edition of the BUFF festival for children's and youth films in Sandnes, Norway (November 13-18) will open with the international premiere of Danish production Diver, the latest film from Swedish director Ake Sandgren. The festival will end with another Danish entry, Miracle, directed by Natasha Arty. -
Staff set to take over Norway's KF
10-Nov-2000
Oslo City Council agreed this week to sell its 50.7% stake in Norway's oldest distribution outfit, Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF), to the company's staff for $51,300.
