News

Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired Martin Lund’s Norwegian coming-of-age drama “Psychobitch” which is headlined by Elli Rhiannon Müller Osbourne (“Utoya: July 22”).

“Psychobitch” marks the third feature film of Martin Lund, who made his debut with “Twigson Ties the Knot,” a local box office hit, and followed up with “The Almost Man,” which won best Film and best actor at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Lund also directed the successful TV series “The Game,” which sold in over 40 countries.

Set in the small city of Gjøvik in Norway, “Psychobitch” follows the turbulent relationship between Frida, a 15 years-old self-chosen class outsider, and Marius, the most perfect boy in class, who are paired up as study buddies.

The film also stars Jonas Tidemann (“The Game”) and Henrik Rafaelsen.

“‘Psychobitch’ is a very sensitive and topical Nordic coming of age, in the vein of ‘Skam,’ which resonated strongly locally and internationally, and shows...

Becoming Astrid (Unga Astrid) Music Box Films Reviewed for Shockya.com by: Harvey Karten Director: Pernille Fischer Christensen, Screenwriterd: Kim Fupz Aakeson, Pernille Fischer Christensen Cast: Alba August, Maria Bonnevie, Trine Dyrholm, Henrik Rafaelsen, Magnus Krepper, Björn Gustafsson Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 11/14/18 Opens: November 23, 2018 Pippi Långstrump, Pippi Longstocking as we know her […]

The post Becoming Astrid Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

"What happens next in the story?" Music Box Films has debuted the official Us trailer for a Swedish-Danish drama titled Becoming Astrid, which first premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. The film tells the story of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren (author of the world famous Pippi Longstocking series), who grew up in a small town, started working for the local newspaper there, fell in love with the much older editor of that newspaper, gets pregnant with him, and decides to leave him to raise the child on her own. This actually is the true story of Astrid, the film tells it with a great amount of elegance and sensitivity. Alba August stars as Astrid and she's easily the best part of this. The cast includes Björn Gustafsson, Trine Dyrholm, Maria Bonnevie, Magnus Krepper, and Henrik Rafaelsen. I first saw this at Berlinale and it's quite a good...

Vidar The Vampire (originally titled VampyrVidar) has lived a long and impressive life on the major film festivals throughout the world for the past year and now hits VOD, courtesy of Dread Central Presents in collaboration with Epic Pictures – and here’s the brand-new trailer for the film!

Written and directed by Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland, the film stars Thomas Aske Berg, Brigt Skrettingland, Kim Sønderholm, Marit Sanden, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Espen Hana.

Vidar Haarr is a 33 year old, sexually frustrated bachelor farmer who leads a Christian, monotonous and strenuous working life on his mother’s farmstead in the Western outskirts of Norway. In a desperate attempt to break free from routine, Vidar prays to a higher power to grant him a life without boundaries. Unfortunately, his prayers are heard and Vidar wakes up one evening as the Prince of Darkness in sin city, Stavanger.

"Vidar The Vampire" (Original title: "VampyrVidar") have lived a long and impressive life on the major film festivals throughout the world for the past year and now hits VOD, courtesy of Dread Central Presents in collaboration with Epic Pictures.   Cast and crew: Starring: Thomas Aske Berg, Brigt Skrettingland, Kim Sønderholm, Marit Sanden, Henrik Rafaelsen Written and directed by: Thomas Aske Berg & Fredrik Waldeland Director of photography: John Iver Berg Editor: Tommy Enervold Jørpeland Sound: Jan Erik Hagevold Music: General Forsamling, Kriminell Kunst & Thomas Aske Berg Producer: Thomas Aske Berg Production company: UFOh! (www.UFOh.no) Synopsis: Vidar Haarr is a 33 year old, sexually frustrated bachelor farmer who leads a Christian, monotonous and strenuous working life on his mother's farmstead in the Western outskirts...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Music Box Films acquires Astrid Lindgren biopic.

TrustNordisk has announced that Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Berlinale title Becoming Astrid has been sold to Music Box Films for Us distribution.

Other new sales include Spain (Caramel Films), Poland (Aurora Films) and Israel (Shoval Film Production).

Becoming Astrid stars Alba August as a young Astrid Lindgren (who would later write the Pippi Longstocking books), and examines a little-known chapter in the author’s life when she gave birth to her son and had to give him up.

The cast also includes Trine Dyrholm, Magnus Krepper, Maria Bonnevie and Henrik Rafaelsen.

Anna Anthony...

Stars: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervag, Oskar Pask, Steiner Klouman Hallert | Written by Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt | Directed by Joachim Trier

Co-written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (Louder Than Bombs), this compelling psychological thriller is part coming-of-age drama and part supernatural chiller, layered with complex emotion and anchored by a superb central performance. Imagine an arthouse take on Carrie and you won’t be far wrong.

Thelma opens with a supremely unsettling prologue sequence, in which a father silently aims his rifle at his young daughter’s head while they’re out hunting deer. The story then jumps forward to find a now teenage Thelma (Eili Harboe) studying at Oslo university and having difficulty making friends, until she meets beautiful fellow student Anja (Kaya Wilkins) after suffering a severe seizure in the university library.

The pair quickly become close, with Anja introducing...

Film based on Astrid Lindgren, who would later write Pippi Longstocking books.

TrustNordisk has closed a number of deals on Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Becoming Astrid, ahead of the drama’s world premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala on Wednesday.

Deals have been done for China (Dd Dream), Benelux (September), Baltics (Estin), Russia/Ukraine/Kazakhstan (International Movie Distribution/Capella); and Czech Republic/Slovakia (Cinemart).

Becoming Astrid stars Alba August – also an Efp Shooting Star here – as a young Astrid Lindgren (who would later write the Pippi Longstocking books), and examines a little-known chapter in the author’s life when she gave birth to her son and had to give him up.

The cast also includes Trine Dyrholm, Magnus Krepper, Maria Bonnevie and Henrik Rafaelsen.

Anna Anthony and Maria Dahlin produced for Avanti Film, along with Lars G Lindström for Nordisk Film Production Sweden, with funding from the Swedish Film Institute.

Becoming Astrid marks Fischer...

Film based on Astrid Lindgren, who would later write Pippi Longstocking books.

TrustNordisk has closed a number of deals on Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Becoming Astrid, ahead of the drama’s world premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala on Wednesday.

Deals have been done for China (Dd Dream), Benelux (September), Baltics (Estin), Russia/Ukraine/Kazakhstan (International Movie Distribution/Capella); and Czech Republic/Slovakia (Cinemart).

Becoming Astrid stars Alba August – also an Efp Shooting Star here – as a young Astrid Lindgren (who would later write the Pippi Longstocking books), and examines a little-known chapter in the author’s life when she gave birth to her son and had to give him up.

The cast also includes Trine Dyrholm, Magnus Krepper, Maria Bonnevie and Henrik Rafaelsen.

Anna Anthony and Maria Dahlin produced for Avanti Film, along with Lars G Lindström for Nordisk Film Production Sweden, with funding from the Swedish Film Institute.

Becoming Astrid marks Fischer...

We've been excited for Daily Dead readers to see the Norwegian movie Thelma since Daily Dead Managing Editor Heather Wixson gave it four stars in her Fantastic Fest review, and with the supernatural coming-of-age movie out now on digital and VOD platforms in the Us from The Orchard, we've been provided with an exclusive clip to share with Daily Dead readers.

Directed by Joachim Trier, Thelma stars Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, and Henrik Rafaelsen. To learn more about the VOD and digital release of Thelma, visit the film's iTunes page and its official website.

Synopsis: Thelma, a shy young student, has just left her religious family in a small town on the west coast of Norway to study at a university in Oslo. While at the library one day, she experiences a violent, unexpected seizure. Soon after, she finds herself intensely drawn toward Anja, a beautiful young student who reciprocates Thelma's powerful attraction.

UK DVD and Blu-ray release 26th February 2018 Dir: Joachim Trier Starring: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen and Ellen Dorrit Petersen From acclaimed director Joachim Trier (Reprise, Oslo, August 31st, Louder Than Bombs), Thelma is a supernatural thriller about a young woman who, upon falling in love for the first time, discovers that she …

The post Thelma – On DVD and Blu-ray 26th February first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net 2018 - Official Horror News Site...

Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince and Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Unga Astrid picked for Berlinale Special.

Source: Wiki Commons

Steven Soderbergh, José Padilha

Five more films have joined the main lieups of the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 15 - 25). A further six films have been selected for the programme of the Berlinale Special.

Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane will get an out of competition world premiere. It stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah and Juno Temple and was reportedly shot on iPhone.

Also premiering out of competition is José Padilha’s true story thriller 7 Days In Entebbe, starring Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl and Eddie Marsan.

New films from Lav Diaz and Alonso Ruizpalacios will play in competition.

Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde biopic The Happy Prince and Becoming Astrid by Pernille Fischer Christensen have been added to the Berlinale Special Gala section.

Read more: Robert Pattinson, Christian Petzold movies join Berlin Film Festival Competition

23 of the 24 titles...

To promote their new thriller Thelma, which is currently playing in limited release, The Orchard has released a new video featuring the thrilling opening scene to the movie, in hopes of drawing in a bigger audience. The film is currently playing in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago and it seems likely that an expansion may be happening, although that hasn't been confirmed. This clip reveals why this celebrated indie, which is receiving stellar reviews, should be seen by all genre fans.

In a snowy wood, a little girl stands transfixed by a fawn, while her father takes aim with his rifle. Except, the gun is turned toward the child. It is only a moment, and it passes as the man reconsiders his target. Years later, Thelma (Eili Harboe) embarks on her freshman year at college in Oslo. On the surface, Thelma is not unlike her fellow students: Sensitive, vulnerable, feeling...

Thelma The Orchard Director: Joachim Trier Written by: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier Cast: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervag, Oskar Pask, Steiner Klouman Hallert Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 11/10/17 Opens: November 10, 2017 in NY. November 24, 2017 in L.A. Norway’s candidate for best foreign language picture, competing for […]

The post Thelma Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

In terms of opening scenes, Thelma – Norwegian director's Joachim Trier's toe-dip into horror, albeit one burdened with footnotes – kicks things off with a doozy. A girl and her dad (Henrik Rafaelsen) are walking across a frozen lake. She keeps peering under the ice at the fishes swimming below, a slightly distressed look on her face; he doesn't seem so carefree either, for that matter. A hunting rifle is slung across his back. Into the woods they go, deeper and deeper, until the two of them spot a deer. He steps back,...

Review by Matthew Turner

Stars: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervag, Oskar Pask, Steiner Klouman Hallert | Written by Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt | Directed by Joachim Trier

Co-written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (Louder Than Bombs), this compelling psychological thriller is part coming-of-age drama and part supernatural chiller, layered with complex emotion and anchored by a superb central performance. Imagine an arthouse take on Carrie and you won’t be far wrong.

Thelma opens with a supremely unsettling prologue sequence, in which a father silently aims his rifle at his young daughter’s head while they’re out hunting deer. The story then jumps forward to find a now teenage Thelma (Eili Harboe) studying at Oslo university and having difficulty making friends, until she meets beautiful fellow student Anja (Kaya Wilkins) after suffering a severe seizure in the university library.

The pair quickly become close,...

Joachim Trier’s beguiling Norwegian thriller Thelma couldn’t be more up-front about its message, but cinematically, this folkish Carrie-esque hymn dazzles despite simplicity. Brooding religious undertones make for a tale about one girl’s caged heart and the desires she fights; imagery in flocks of birds and slithering serpents. Trier makes no mistake about these symbols, but likewise, supernatural influences suggest telekinetic powers for a very genrefied take on emotional demons. Thoughts repressed, anxiety increased by personal belittling. Expect something more on the heavier side, worth a slower burn that simmers until either acceptance or asylum are reached.

Eili Harboe stars as the titular Thelma, an innocent Christian girl who’s just started university away from her family’s small town. Mother Unni (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) calls her daughter daily, checking to make sure things are going well. For a while, they are – then Thelma experiences a seizure in her school’s library.

When it comes to genre-related, female-centric coming-of-age stories, there are always certain movies that will undoubtedly be brought up in the conversation: Carrie, Ginger Snaps, The Company of Wolves, and The Craft being older examples, and more recent offerings like Jennifer’s Body, It Follows, and Raw have also brought new perspectives into the fold as well. And with so many thought-provoking takes on this well-worn cinematic trope already in existence, it may seem like there’s no real new territory to traverse here.

But then along comes Joachim Trier’s Thelma, which recently premiered at Tiff and is currently screening as part of the 2017 Fantastic Fest, to show us that this well-worn terrain is still fertile enough to cull for some new ideas. Anchored by a beautifully nuanced performance from Eili Harboe, Thelma is a masterful exploration of religious suppression and sexual awakening, melding together into a superhero origin...

Thelma Nyff Review Hero Thelma Review Thelma (2017) Film Review from the 2017 New York Film Festival, a movie directed by Joachim Trier, starring Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelson, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen. I walked into this movie blind – which is sometimes the smartest thing you can do. In this case, my theorem was proven correct, and I knew that as soon as [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Thelma: Time & Space Meet Love & Repression [Nyff 2017]...

The Orchard has debuted the trailer for the upcoming Norwegian horror film "Thelma". The film is set to have its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a Us premiere at Fantastic Fest and screening at the New York Film Festival. Directed by Joachim Trier and co-written by Trier and Eskil Vogt, the movie stars Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen ("Babycall"), Ellen Dorrit Petersen ("Villmark 2", Ludvig Algeback, Isabel Christine Andreasen ("Flukt") and Camilla Belsvik. "Thelma" debuts November 10.Thelma, a shy young student, has just left her religious family in a small town on the west coast of Norway to study at a university in Oslo. While at the library one day, she experiences a violent, unexpected seizure. Soon after, she finds herself...

It’s perhaps difficult to parse writer/director Joachim Trier’s exact intent in making Thelma, a film which is one part supernatural thriller, another superhero origin story, and yes, a third part coming-of-age repressed lesbian romance/family drama. Thought it can be guessed that maybe the unholy and inherently messy mix of genres would appeal to a noted Arnaud Desplechin fan like Trier, yet at the end of the day, you ask why isn’t the actual film that came out of this wild ambition anywhere near as compelling as that suggests?

Rather Thelma plays like a Wachowski sisters or M. Night Shyamalan movie minus any of the earnestness or fun. Too stepped into the portentous withholding art film sphere, the experience of watching it just begins to feel like gradually waiting for some kind of reveal involving murder or abuse, the tenet of too many modern European and American films.

There’s something very wrong with Thelma, though we’re not quite sure what it is. We first meet her when she’s just a child, living with her devoutly religious family in a remote town on the coast of Norway. The girl’s father, Trond (Henrik Rafaelsen), takes her hunting on the shores of the frozen lake next to their house. Thelma walks ahead of her dad, entranced by the sight of a deer. Standing behind his daughter, Trond silently points his rifle at her head. He doesn’t pull the trigger, but the temptation is there.

“Thelma” — an ominous, unnerving, and strangely powerful thriller about the most devious of human desires — might appear to be a change of pace for “Oslo, August 31st” writer-director Joachim Trier, but the story tenses and frets with the same melancholy glimmer that courses through his dramas. Here, the Norwegian’s filmmaker’s...

After a nearly year-long wait from its Cannes premiere to U.S. debut for Joachim Trier’s last film, Louder Than Bombs, the delay won’t be nearly as long for his follow-up. The highly-anticipated Thelma, which finds the Reprise and Oslo, August 31st director heading to supernatural territory, will bow at Tiff and then head to Nyff and will be released in early November. Ahead of the premiere, a new trailer has now landed.

Norway’s official Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film, the story follows a young woman unaware of the fact that she has been blessed with terrifying powers. Along this journey, she also falls in love with another woman, and judging from the trailer, nightmarish scenarios start to play out. This new trailer showcases Trier’s immaculate visual style as he’s clearly in an entirely new playground.

Starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Henrik Rafaelsen,...

A trailer has been released for a Norwegian horror thriller called Thelma. This certainly looks like a very interesting movie as a young woman begins to go through some serious changes. As her sexuality begins to reveal itself, she begins to display some strange psychic-like powers. The movie also looks like it was beautifully shot. Here's a full detailed synopsis:

In a snowy wood, a little girl stands transfixed by a fawn, while her father takes aim with his rifle. Except, the gun is turned toward the child. It is only a moment, and it passes as the man reconsiders his target. Years later, Thelma (Eili Harboe) embarks on her freshman year at college in Oslo. On the surface, Thelma is not unlike her fellow students: Sensitive, vulnerable, feeling her way through new experiences and sensations of the adult world. Raised in the country by strict and religious parents, she...

A college student encounters unexpected emotions that force her to face her troubled past and strengthening supernatural abilities in the stunning new trailer for Thelma, coming to theaters November 10th from The Orchard.

Directed by Joachim Trier from a screenplay co-written with Eskil Vogt, Thelma stars Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen.

"The Orchard will open the film in theaters on November 10, and it has just been announced that Thelma is Norway's official Oscar® entry for Best Foreign Language Film. Following its Tiff premiere, the film will be shown at Fantastic Fest and New York Film Festival.

Synopsis: Thelma, a shy young student, has just left her religious family in a small town on the west coast of Norway to study at a university in Oslo. While at the library one day, she experiences a violent, unexpected seizure. Soon after, she finds herself intensely drawn toward Anja,...

"This is something much greater than us." The Orchard has unveiled an official Us trailer for Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier's new film Thelma, about a young woman who moves to Oslo and begins to fall in love with another woman, discovering that she also has fantastic, terrifying "super" powers. Starring Eili Harboe as Thelma, as well as Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, and Henrik Rafaelsen. You may remember we posted a teaser trailer for this during the summer, but this new trailer shows us even more and this looks like it could be something very exciting. The film premieres at the Toronto Film Festival this month, and will also play at Fantastic Fest, before hitting select theaters in November. Word is that it could be a breakout hit the likes of Raw, Let The Right One In, or The Babadook. This is definitely worth a watch. Here's the first...

Joachim Trier’s movies “Oslo, August 31st,” “Reprise,” and “Louder Than Bombs” are well respected for their shattering sense of human drama and realism, but he’s about to get a whole lot more ambitious in “Thelma.” The Norwegian director is keeping the human drama in tact, but he’s abandoning his trademark realism for something far more supernatural.

“Thelma” centers around a shy young woman who leaves her religious family to attend university in Oslo. After experiencing a violent seizure, Thelma finds herself drawn to a beautiful young student named Anja. The stronger their attraction grows, the more supernatural powers Thelma finds herself being able to tap into. Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen star.

Norway has announced that “Thelma” will be the country’s official entry for this year’s Best Foreign-Language Oscar, making the second time Trier will represent his country in the race.

In advance of its international premiere at this month’s upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, Norway has picked director Joachim Trier’s new feature “Thelma” as its official foreign-language Oscar submission. The ambitious thriller just opened last month’s Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, where it received the Norwegian Film Critics Prize.

The film is Trier’s fourth feature, and his second to make the cut — his 2006 debut “Reprise” was picked to represent his home country, but did not make the final nominations cut. It was picked from a shortlist of candidates, which included Norwegian directors Izer Aliu’s “Hunting Flies” (Fluefangeren) and Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “The Tree Feller” (Hoggeren).

In the film, a young Norwegian student moves to Oslo and falls in love with a beautiful classmate. At the same time, she begins to notice her own mystifying and inexplicable connection to the supernatural. It’s a...

It goes without saying that we’ve been huge fans of Joachim Trier, and his intimate dramas. “Reprise,” “Oslo, August 31” and “Louder Than Bombs” all impressed us with their small scale and big impact, but we’re very excited to see the filmmaker shift gears. For his next project, Trier is going supernatural, and the Toronto International Film Festival will be the place to see the International Premiere of “Thelma.”

Starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Henrik Rafaelsen, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen, the story follows a young woman who simultaneously starts experiencing seizures, being drawn to another woman, and discovering supernatural abilities.

Continue reading ‘Thelma’ Exclusive: New Poster For Joachim Trier’s Supernatural Drama at The Playlist.

Meet Thelma. An international teaser trailer has debuted online for the new film from Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (of Oslo August 31st, and Louder Than Bombs). Titled Thelma, the film tells the story of a young woman who moves to Oslo and begins to fall in love with another woman, discovering that she also has fantastic, terrifying "super" powers. Starring Eili Harboe as Thelma, as well as Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, and Henrik Rafaelsen. This will premiere first at the Norwegian International Film Festival in August, and will also play at the Toronto Film Festival this fall. I'm very intrigued, it looks like Trier (and co-writer Eskil Vogt) are trying to mix up the typical "super powers" story and give us something more frightening than exciting. The footage in the second half of this trailer is wild, they have my attention. Here's the first international trailer for Joachim Trier's Thelma,...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– The Orchard has acquired the North American rights to Joachim Trier’s supernatural thriller “Thelma.” Written by Trier and Eskil Vogt and starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Henrik Rafaelsen, the film follows a young woman who falls in love and discovers that she has terrifying and inexplicable powers.

“Working with Joachim on ‘Louder Than Bombs’ was a wonderful experience and gave us the opportunity to witness, up close, his unmatched visionary talent and passion for the stories he tells,” Paul Davidson, the Orchard’s executive vice president of Film and Television, said in a statement. “Thelma represents the next evolution of his growth as a filmmaker and we couldn’t be more excited...

Nearly a decade has spanned between Joachim Trier‘s three features to date, but the good news is he’s picking up the pace. The Norwegian filmmaker has his next film ready to go, “Thelma,” and it sounds like a fascinating new direction for the director who until now has focused on intimate character dramas.

Read More: Director Joachim Trier Goes Supernatural For His ‘Louder Than Bombs’ Follow-Up ‘Thelma’

Starring Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vanessa Borgli, Ingrid Giæver, Anders Mossling, Jonas Jörgensen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Grethe Eltervåg, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Oskar Pask, Ludvig Algeback, Vidar Fransson, and Ian Twedmark, the supernatural thriller follows a young woman who suddenly discovers she has terrifying, mysterious powers after she falls in love.

Continue reading First Trailer For Joachim Trier’s Supernatural Thriller ‘Thelma’ at The Playlist.

Love is a weird enough thing on its own, but things can get especially strange if you find out you have supernatural powers because of said emotion. That’t the plot of Joachim Trier’s upcoming thriller, “Thelma.”

In the film, a young Norwegian student moves to Oslo and falls in love with a beautiful classmate. At the same time, she begins to notice her own mystifying and inexplicable connection to the supernatural. It’s a decidedly different direction for the filmmaker behind such indie favorites as “Reprise” and “Oslo, August 31st,” one who is best known for his beautifully humanistic films.

And yet Trier has always valued emotion and personal experience, putting feeling at the forefront of all his features, so why not twist that into something new for his fourth feature? If our exclusive first look is to be believed, the final product promises to trade in emotion...

Exclusive: Trier kicks off Oslo shoot with Eili Harboe in lead role.

Louder Than Bombs director Joachim Trier started shoot on his new feature Thelma (working title) in Oslo yesterday (Sept 20) with Le Pacte’s Jean Labadie and Thomas Pibarot newly aboard the project as co-producers.

Eili Harboe, whose credits include The Wave and Kiss Me You Fucking Moron, will star in the title role. The cast also includes Kaya Wilkins (aka musician Okay Kaya) and two actors from co-writer Eskil Vogt’s Blind, Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Henrik Rafaelsen.

Thelma is a supernatural thriller about a young woman who falls in love and discovers that she has terrifying and inexplicable powers.

The film – set in Oslo and west Norway – is shooting for 44 days in Oslo, Norway and in Gothenburg, Trollhattan and Kiruna, Sweden. Budget is $5.7m (Nok 47.5m).

Thelma will be Trier’s most genre-influenced work yet; VFX work will be done by Copenhagen-based outfits Ghost and...

Pyromaniac

Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg

Writer: Bjorn Olaf Johannssen

Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg is still best known for his 1997 thriller Insomnia, which was later remade by Christopher Nolan in 2002. The title arrived well before the modern movement (or craze) for Nordic Noir, which explains why he never quite benefitted from the success (as say, Morten Tyldum did). Following a maligned English language debut with 2001’s Prozac Nation, Skjoldbjaerg has been regularly turning out dramatic features, including 2013’s Pioneer. He’s ready with his sixth feature, Pyromaniac, which deals with an arsonist terrorizing a small community and the policeman who discovers the culprit is one of the town’s firemen. Among the cast members is the excellent Agnes Kittelsen from Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (2010).

Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelson, Trond Nilssen

Production Co.: Pravda Film, Bleck Film & TV, Glor Film As

U.S. Distributor: Rights available Tbd (domestic/international)

Release...

Blind, the feature directorial debut of Joachim Trier’s co-writer Eskil Vogt, is an aesthetically spick-and-span Nordic nightmare, a meditation on loneliness, illness and responsibility. If its effects are a bit sneakier than the wrecking ball to the chest approach of Oslo, August 31, it’s due to the meticulousness of its script, and the complex interplay among its many principal characters. Ingrid (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) has recently lost her sight, and spends her days cooped up with her computer while her husband Morten (Henrik Rafaelsen) is at work. Unable to relate to the outside world, Ingrid retreats into her imagination, crafting an interwoven tale of […]...

Blind, the feature directorial debut of Joachim Trier’s co-writer Eskil Vogt, is an aesthetically spick-and-span Nordic nightmare, a meditation on loneliness, illness and responsibility. If its effects are a bit sneakier than the wrecking ball to the chest approach of Oslo, August 31, it’s due to the meticulousness of its script, and the complex interplay among its many principal characters. Ingrid (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) has recently lost her sight, and spends her days cooped up with her computer while her husband Morten (Henrik Rafaelsen) is at work. Unable to relate to the outside world, Ingrid retreats into her imagination, crafting an interwoven tale of […]...

★★★★☆ Director Eskil Vogt'sBlind (2014) begins with a black screen. Then the voice of Ingrid (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) starts conjuring images. Nothing too big, but rather evocative fragments of the whole: the cracks in the bark of an oak, or the lolly-pink tongue of a German Shepherd. Ingrid, in her thirties, has lost her sight. Restricted to the austere apartment she shares with her husband, Morten (Henrik Rafaelsen), she wanders through her imagination, mining memories and spinning fictions. Her voiceover in the opening scene acts as a kind of rubric for our interpretation of what follows. As she says, "It's not important what's real if I can visualise it clearly."...

Henrik (Henrik Rafaelson) likes to play pretend. He likes to yell made-up stories in the grocery store (loudly and often of the shockingly impolite variety) and to engage people in conversations about things that never happened and to jump out from behind things to scare people. Fortunately for Henrik, his girlfriend Tone (Janne Heltberg) likes to play pretend with him. At least, until real life becomes a lot more interesting and full than all those pretend games. The couple is already in a state of upheaval when Martin Lund’s The Almost Man opens, though it seems to be a mostly cheery one (at least, it’s one that includes dancing to Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” in the middle of the day, which seems like a solid signal that things are peppy). Henrik and Tone have recently moved (they’re still unpacking boxes) and Henrik is about to start a new job, but...

The man-child is alive and immature in Norway, according to The Almost Man, a deadpan portrait of 35-year-old Henrik's (Henrik Rafaelsen) incessantly awkward reactions to forthcoming responsibility.

With his girlfriend, Tone (Janne Heltberg Haarseth), pregnant with their first child, Henrik behaves like a teenager, as when he and Tone hilariously pretend to have an argument in the grocery store about abortion and infidelity. Viewing his protagonist with wry detachment, director Martin Lund pitches this character study between awkward comedy and uncomfortable pathos.

To his credit, even as his material begins spiraling into less amusing territory, Lund alleviates the growing gloom with goofball levity, most winningly in a scene in which Henrik's ribald pals seren...

Blind, a visually and narratively experimental drama from first-time director Eskil Vogt, has won the Best European Film honor awarded by the European Cinemas Network. The Norwegian/Dutch co-production stars Ellen Dorrit Petersen as Ingrid, a blind woman who lives with her husband Morten (Henrik Rafaelsen). When he goes to work, she sits by the window by herself, listening to the radio and telling herself stories about her life that may or may not be true. Photos: THR's Berlin Directors Roundtable "Blind is a breath of fresh air – an original debut feature with a really interesting approach to

read more...

Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience and other special awards of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival at the feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, in Park City, Utah. Video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at Sundance.org/Live.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Tracy Chapman to:

Rich Hill / U.S.A. (Directors: Andrew Droz Palermo, Tracy Droz Tragos) - In a rural, American town, kids face heartbreaking choices, find comfort in the most fragile of family bonds, and dream of a future of possibility.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Leonard Maltin to: Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) - Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity. Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons.

The World Cinema...

Photo by Dvrosa

It was another great year at the Sundance Film Festival! There were so many fantastic movies shown, and I still have a couple more to go. I'm really happy to say that Miles Teller and J.K. Simmon's film Whiplash took home the top two prizes, winning the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. This was my number one favorite film from the festival, and it seems like everyone else at the festival loved it too, so it doesn't surprise me that it won.

Here's the full list of winners:

Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience and other special awards of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival at the feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, in Park City, Utah. Video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/live.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was...

Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash was Day 1 feel good buzz title of the fest that ultimately served as a measuring stick for the other competing 15 titles in the section and as predicted below had a good chance at doing what last year’s Fruitvale did: when both major awards of its category. Now that I’ve completed a 15 hour nap, I can watch the ceremony below – and you can spoil the suspense by simply going over the other award winners in the multiple categories below. Next week we’ll be publishing our interviews with several of the filmmakers mentioned below. Congrats to the winners and non-winners.

Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience and other special awards of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival at the feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, in Park City, Utah. Video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.

‘Whiplash’: Sundance Film Festival Awards’ rare double winner (photo: Miles Teller in ‘Whiplash’) Directed by Damien Chazelle — and acquired for domestic distribution by Sony Pictures Classics — Whiplash won the 2014 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. The story of a young, ambitious 19-year-old drummer (played by 26-year-old Miles Teller) under the tutelage of a ruthless teacher (J.K. Simmons), Whiplash also features Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, Chris Mulkey, and Damon Gupton. Whiplash‘s double Sundance Film Festival win is quite rare. Previous such instances in Sundance’s three-decade history include Tony Bui’s Three Seasons in 1999, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s Quinceañera in 2006, Lee Daniels’ Precious in 2009, and Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station last year. Of these, Precious is — somewhat surprisingly — the only Sundance double winner to have succeeded both at the domestic box office and during awards season,...

Movies about blind women seem to fall into a subgenre all their own, and the overwhelming majority of them (including Wait Until Dark, Julia’s Eyes, The Eye, Blink, South Korea’s Blind) are suspense thrillers. The women are seemingly helpless victims-to-be forced to survive some malevolent outside force threatening their lives. The new Norwegian film, Blind, has chosen a different route. Ingrid (Ellen Dorritt Petersen) has recently lost her sight to a degenerative disease, and she has made her apartment the entirety of her new world. Her husband Moreten (Henrik Rafaelsen) is supportive, but she ignores his suggestions that she venture outside again. Her alone time already allows her mind to wander, but it also comes with thoughts on her husband’s infidelity, the lives of strangers, and the distinct sound of breathing in the apartment when she should be alone. But are these things real or imagined? Ingrid’s daily routine is to sit in...

Title: Blind Director: Eskil Vogt Starring: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt Making a film about blindness is not an easy task. Some have tried, but conveying the fact that someone cannot see via a primarily visual medium is challenging. In order to be effective, a film must manage to illustrate the lack of sight and images with some creative combination of those elements and the absence of those elements. Blind, from Norwegian director Eskil Vogt, manages to do so very convincingly, presenting its main character’s life on screen in a powerful and deeply relatable fashion. Blind is actually the story of three protagonists. Ingrid (Ellin Dorrit [ Read More ]

The post Blind Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

I’m back in Park City for another week of premieres, interviews, and screenings of at least a few films that the community will be talking about all year. Last year’s Sundance produced “The Spectacular Now,” “Stories We Tell,” “Mud,” “Upstream Color,” “Before Midnight,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” and more. What will impact this year?

Nothing that I’ve seen yet although the buzz on “Whiplash” has been deafening. As the festival unfolds, I’ll pop in here once a day and just let you know what I’ve seen and what I thought. Of course, come back to the site for longer reviews throughout the year but consider a great 2014 movie preview.

As is often the case, Sundance starts slowly. Some of the films I’ve seen, I can’t write about yet, and I didn’t make anything Opening Night. So we’re just getting started.

A total of 24 world premieres are included in the Berlinale’s Panorama selection, which has added a number of Asian productions.

Some 36 films from 29 countries will feature in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16), of which 24 will be world premieres.

Most recently invited are works from Norway, Ethiopia, Mexico, India, Iran, Georgia, Greece, Hungary and Austria – with returning filmmakers Elfi Mikesch and Umut Dağ, who opened Panorama 2012 with Kuma, his directorial debut.

New titles include a number of Asian productions. In Ieji (Homeland) by Japan’s Nao Kubota, a farmer’s son, who first fled to the city, explores his home village in the Fukushima district, an area that is actually still a no-go zone following the disaster at the region’s nuclear power plant.

In the South Korean film Night Flight, LeeSong Hee-il presents a duel between two schoolmates. LeeSong previously showed the films No Regret and White Night in Panorama...

The 2014 Sundance Film Festival is right around the corner, and the Sundance Institute has released the full line-up for the competition films that will be premiering!

This year there were 12,218 total submissions, and 117 films were accepted from 37 countries around the world. It looks like there's a lot of good selection of films this year.

The Sundance Film Festival 2014 runs from January 16th to the 26th, and the GeekTyrant team will be there to cover as many movies as we possibly can.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The 16 films in this section are world premieres and, unless otherwise noted, are from the U.S.

“Camp X-Ray” — Directed and written by Peter Sattler. A young female guard at Guantanamo Bay forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch.

“Cold in July” — Directed by Jim Mickle, written by Nick Damici.