norwegian films – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK August 29, 2025: A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS

August 24, 2025August 27, 2025 Jennifer Merin A New Kind of Wilderness, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentary, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Maria Vatne, nell minow, Nik Payne, norwegian films, POV, sandie angulo chen, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

An unconventional family navigates the impact of a devastating loss and lingering grief in Norwegian filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s touching, beautifully filmed documentary A New Kind of Wilderness. In the process, they learn that, as long as you move forward together with intention and love, there’s no wrong way to “do” life — and that it’s OK to pivot in unexpected ways when life throws you unexpected change. In a world that’s all too quick to judge others for their choices, A New Kind of Wilderness is a valuable reminder that, in parenting and in life, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, but there’s always another tunnel.

Reviews

A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS – Review by Loren King

August 19, 2025August 23, 2025 Loren King A New Kind of Wilderness, documentary, Maria Vatne, Nik Payne, norwegian films, POV, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

At just one hour in length, A New Kind of Wilderness is one of the most searing and honest meditations on grief and resiliency that I’ve ever seen. What starts, seemingly, as a cinema verite look at a Norwegian couple, Maria Gros Vatne and Nikolaus Payne, living off the land and homeschooling their four young children in an idyllic commune with nature, soon changes as we learn that Maria, a professional photographer, has cancer.

Reviews

A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS – Review by Liz Whittemore

August 19, 2025August 23, 2025 Liz Whittemore A New Kind of Wilderness, documentary, Maria Vatne, Nik Payne, norwegian films, POV, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

A life chronicled most intimately and authentically, the Payne family experiences physical and emotional upheaval following a family tragedy. Choosing to raise their family on a secluded Norwegian farm, Maria and Nik wanted nothing more than to instill a love of nature in their children. Potentially forced to sell the beloved farm that holds all their memories, Nik, Freja, Falk, Ulv, and eldest daughter Ronja, navigate unfathomable loss and fight to remain connected.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 6, 2025: THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME

June 1, 2025June 3, 2025 Jennifer Merin Anders Hoft, Berit Ánne Oskal Kemi, betsy bozdech, Indiepix, jennifer merin, joiking, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Nils Ailu Kemi, norwegian films, Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup, sami, sandie angulo chen, Sápmi, Sara Margrethe Oskal, sherin nicole, The Tundra Within Me

Tradition goes head to head with progress — or at least inevitable change — in Norwegian writer/director Sara Margrethe Oskal’s intimate debut feature The Tundra Within Me. As it follows a feminist artist (Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup) who returns to her remote far-north Sami homeland with her young son after many years in the city, the film examines the ways in which dearly held cultural traditions can be both empowering and stifling.

Reviews

THE TUNDRA WITHIN ME – Review by Jennifer Merin

May 27, 2025May 31, 2025 Jennifer Merin Anders Hoft, Berit Ánne Oskal Kemi, Indiepix, joiking, Nils Ailu Kemi, norwegian films, Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup, sami, Sápmi, Sara Margrethe Oskal, The Tundra Within Me

Norwegian writer/director Sara Margrethe Oskal’s debut feature, The Tundra Within Me, is a tender love story set in Sápmi, the Northern Scandinavia region occupied by the Sámi (aka Lapps), an indigenous people who’ve struggled for centuries to sustain their cultural independence and traditional way of life as reindeer herders. The narrative and characters of The Tundra Within Me are richly steeped in Sámi culture and tradition. All of the performances are beautifully authentic and create great empathy. The cinematography of the icy winter tundra is gorgeous. This cinematic adventure into the feminism of another culture is richly rewarding.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 11, 2025: THE UGLY STEPSISTER

April 5, 2025April 6, 2025 Jennifer Merin Ane Dahl Torp, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Cinderella, Emilie Blichfeldt, jennifer merin, Lea Myren, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, norwegian films, sandie angulo chen, The Ugly Stepsister, Thea Sofie Loch Næss

Writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt’s feature debut The Ugly Stepsister is a dark but thought-provoking retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Taking the point of view of one of Cinderella’s stepsisters, the movie examines society’s fixation on superficial beauty — and the lengths that some people will go to try to achieve it, no matter the consequences. Blichfeldt infuses the script with moments of dark humor that can feel like sly commentary on today’s influencer culture, as well as nods to elements of the classic Cinderella tale with which so many of us are familiar.

Reviews

ARMAND – Review by Jennifer Green

February 7, 2025February 8, 2025 Jennifer Green Armand, ellen dorrit petersen, Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, International Oscar category, norwegian films, Renate Reinsve, Thea Lambrechts

Featuring a sizzling central performance by The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve, this twisty Scandinavian character study marks the feature debut of writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. It won the Camera d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival for best first feature, and it represented Norway for this year’s International Oscar category, where it made the shortlist of 10 but not the final five.

Reviews

THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN – Review by Diane Carson

November 17, 2024November 17, 2024 Diane Carson animation, benjamin ree, documentary, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Mats Steen, netflix, norwegian films, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, World of Warcraft

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin pleases as much as it surprises. Some people lead disreputable secret lives which they hide for obvious reasons. That is decidedly not the case for Mats Steen, the subject of Norwegian director Benjamin Ree’s wonderful documentary, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. That Ibelin is an appealing gamer’s persona is merely the first surprise, especially given the internet’s world of toxic, exploitive frauds. Instead, Ibelin offers a warm, supportive, powerful character within the World of Warcraft. That gamers’ environment of friendship and love, action and beauty contrasts shockingly with the young man who created that internet presence.

Reviews

SONGS OF THE EARTH – Review by Liz Braun

May 16, 2024May 18, 2024 Liz Braun documentary, Lars Erlend Tubaas Oymo, Margareth Olin, Norway, norwegian films, Oldedalen valley, Songs of Earth

In sight and sound, Songs of Earth is remarkable. Filmmaker Mrgreth Olin makes it clear in a prologue that her film is a love letter to her parents and ancestors and to the land they love so much. But the film is also a gentle reminder that all things must pass. Given that her parents are no longer young, her father’s comments on time, grief and the inevitability of generations following one another set the tone for what follows. The film is not bittersweet, exactly, but it is unusually affecting, and perhaps more so for any viewer who is likewise no longer young.

Reviews

THE INNOCENTS – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Alva Brynsmo Ramstad, Eskil Vogt, horror, ifc midnight, norwegian films, Rakel Lenora Fløttum, Sam Ashraf, the innocents

The film’s very title is less a statement of fact, then, than an active provocation. The widespread, often automatic fetishization of children as these pure vessels of innocence and purity is placed under Vogt’s cinematic microscope with extraordinary effect. Disturbing, intelligent and held together by a young cast of jaw-droppingly talented actors, The Innocents is a hard film to shake, but at its core one drenched in a spirit of respect for children and their autonomy that is far too rare.

← Previous