Norwegian Movies & Films Resources

Norwegian Movie history is the record of many generations of filmmakers, actors and behind-the-scenes workers who have cultivated their art through successive and distinct cultural eras. The conditions in each of these eras have varied greatly. This has resulted in a long list of directors who are now known only for a single film. Though there have been times when financial support has been unpredictable, there have been periods of artistic brilliance and strong personal leadership. Norway’s national film heritage in many ways reflects the development of Norwegian society.

In comparison to Sweden and Denmark, which had early success producing large-scale feature films for international audiences, Norway came late to the movie business. Not much is known about the very first Norwegian Movie produced. The film itself has been lost and whatever source material has remained is ambiguous. The second effort in the Norwegian Movies appeared only in 1911. This movie is literally considered by many experts to be Norway’s first movie.

Roede is the director who had directed this second Norwegian Movie. His works were largely inspired by the Danish erotic melodramas of the time, and had no basis in the Norwegian society.

It was only in 1920 that the Norwegians were able to enjoy a consistent output of professionally produced Norwegian Movies. The character of Norwegian Movies took on a new tone in 1920 also and Rasmus Breistein’s Fante-Anne (Gypsy Anne) sparked the national breakthrough in Norwegian filmmaking. The 1930s represented the Golden Age of Norwegian Movies.

When the Nazis had occupied Norway during the Second World War, film production as well as cinema programming was subject to German censorship. However, audiences were eager to rush to the cinema to enjoy any form of entertainment that had passed the strict censor board. It is quite a paradoxical occurrence that it was during this period that a national film directorate was established in Norway establishing its first nationwide policies on film.

The turning point for Norwegian Movies came at the end of the war, and it was then that a new generation of filmmakers emerged. Edith Carlmar was Norway’s first female director. She went on to make 10 Norwegian Movies between 1949 and 1959. Her work was critically acclaimed but it was often responsible for sparking off public debates. Her movies had unusual drawing power at the box office. In fact today her movies are considered classics.

There are two other names from the post-war period, which stand out in prominence: Ivo Caprino and Thor Heyerdahl. Documentaries held great popular appeal in the immediate post-war years particularly if the subject was war-related. The 1950s was a representation of Norwegian documentary filmmaking and viewing. By the 1960s these documentaries had been taken over by television, which by then had become the primary broadcaster of current events and nature shows. In the 1960s another new breed of young filmmakers also appeared having been influenced by modernistic currents in continental Europe.

By the early 1980s Norwegian Movies went into a decline. By then the audiences were already tired of grey social realism. At the same time some of the filmmakers made an effort at filming more exciting stories.

The rest of the 1980s and the early 1990s represent a low point for Norwegian moviegoers marked only by a few memorable exceptions.

Norwegian short movies compete successfully at festivals the world over. 2003 displayed a renewed health in the Norwegian Movie industry. More Norwegian Movies were released in 2003 than in any previous year. A new wave of filmmakers and acting talent is already on its way to making an impact in the Norwegian Movie Industry.

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