Following the lack of government funding in 1999 and 2000, only a few Norwegian films have been released so far this year. But the August 25 opening of Pal Jackman's Detector has been received enthusiastically by local audiences pulling in a three-day opening weekend gross of $208,939 (NKr1,842,841) from 31 screens (29,680 admissions).

The drama-comedy about 30-something men and how they cope with reality is penned by Norway's best-selling author Erlend Loe and was given generous press coverage throughout the summer. Detector is the first domestic release in years by Sandrews Metronome (formerly Norsk Filmdistribusjon), which almost had a monopoly on domestic films throughout the 1980's until 1995.

The only other domestic releases in Norway this year have been the rather luckless Eye Ball (Ballen I Oeyet) from Europafilm, which grossed $14,518 (NKr128,045) from seven screens during its first week on release in February, and the short film collection The Seven Deadly Sins, released on August 11 by Arthaus, which grossed $16,138 (NKr142,335) during the first seven days.

Later this autumn, several domestic productions will take up the chase, beginning with ECT's Little Odd Man (Da Jeg Traff Jesus') on September 1, and SF's two offerings: Liv Ullmann's Cannes competitor Faithless (Trolosa) on September 15, and Hans Petter Moland's English-language drama Aberdeen, starring Lena Headey, Stellan Skarsgard, Ian Hart and Charlotte Rampling.