The Norwegian Film Institute, the national film agency operating under the authority of the Royal Ministry of Culture, has officially announced its financial support for three new domestic feature films directed by Charlotte Blom, Bent Hamer and Tuva Novotny.

The overall investment of 19.5 million Norwegian crowns (€2.036 million) is strategic for the development of the local industry. Indeed, institute consultants Ståle Stein Berg and Silje Riise Næss commented: “The first round of production support in 2018 reflects the broadness and professionalism of the Norwegian filmmakers’ environment, on both the creative and the financial side. The three projects combine high artistic ambitions with solid production work.”

The first project to receive a grant is Diana's Wedding, directed by Charlotte Blom and produced by Synnøve Hørsdal for Maipo Film. The plot explores the family life of Liv, Terje and her daughter, Diana. The couple married on 29 July 1981, the same day as Diana Spencer and Prince Charles got hitched in London. Their relationship then evolved into an unstable, turbulent bond that strongly affects the growth of their daughter. The script was penned by the director and Mette M Bølstad, the main writer of the award-winning Norwegian television series Nobel. Diana's Wedding received €1.1 million from the organisation and is Charlotte Blom's second feature, after her successful directorial debut with Staying Alive [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Charlotte Blom
scheda film] in 2015.

Based on part of a 2012 novel written by Lars Saabye Christensen, The Middle Man is an international co-production involving Canada, Germany and Denmark, and has received a €600,000 injection. The story is set in Karmack, a semi-abandoned village in the Midwestern USA, characterised by an economy in trouble, and an increasing number of accidents and deaths. Thus, the governing committee of Karmack chooses to hire a middle man to convey the painful messages to relatives. Frank Farelli, an unemployed railway worker, gets the job. Written, directed and produced by acclaimed Norwegian author Bent Hamer for Oslo-based firm BulBul Film Association, The Middle Man has been described as “a bizarre and absurd look upon Trump’s USA today”.

Finally, Blind Spot [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tuva Novotny
scheda film] (working title: Tea) is the third Norwegian production to be backed by the institute and has secured a €300,000 grant. Written and directed by Swedish actress-singer Tuva Novotny, the feature revolves around a mother's struggle to understand her daughter Tea's crisis when it hits the whole family. The cast includes famous Norwegian actors such as Pia Merete Tjelta and Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Produced by Elisabeth Kvithyll for Nordisk Film Production, Blind Spot will be one of the debut features by the Swedish artist, together with the film adaptation of Fredrik Backman's Britt-Marie Was Here (see the news).