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RELEASES Norway

King of Devil’s Island lands on local screens

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King of Devil’s Island [+see also:
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by Marius Holst (Mirush [+see also:
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), Norway’s most expensive film of the year, is being released on local screens today by Euforia. Much is at stake for the NOK50m (€6.8m) film co-produced with France (Mact Productions), Sweden (St Paul Film) and Poland (Opus Film).

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Based on true events, the film is set in 1915 on the island of Bastøy, in an Oslo fjord, at an institution for troubled young boys. A new inmate arrives and, following a tragic event, leads the boys to a violent uprising. After they overtake the island, a company of soldiers is brought ashore to restore order.

Devil’s Island stars Benjamin Helstad, Stellan Skarsgård and Kristoffer Joner. Producer Karin Julsrud (4 ½ Production) says it is a story about “how repression, injustice and abuse can result in anger and revolt”.

The film was welcomed this week to four- and five-star reviews (out of six) from leading Norwegian newspapers such as Dagbladet, Aftenposten and VG. Devil’s Island will try to get a large slice of the market of 15+ audiences still flocking to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [+see also:
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(number two at the box office last weekend) and the Norwegian thriller The Troll Hunter (number four). Only one other film is opening today as well: Walt Disney’s 3D film Tron Legacy

King of Devil’s Island was the first Norwegian production to be made under the European Co-production Convention.

Sales agent Les Films du Losange is waiting for the film’s selection at major festivals (including Berlin) to launch it internationally. Two of Holst’ s previous films were shown in Berlin: Cross My Heart and Hope to Die won a Blue Angel Award in 1995 in the competition programme and Dragonflies screened in the Panorama sidebar in 2001.

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