Haugesund’s Next Nordic Generation Slate Packed with Strong Emotions: ‘There is No Shortage of Nordic Talent’

The Next Nordic Generation competition strand of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund is where some of the most gifted talents from the Nordics such as Gustav Møller (“The Guilty”) or Katrine Brocks (“The Great Silence”) pitched their graduation films in recent years, before making their international breakthroughs.

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This year’s curated program of 10 graduation films from Nordic film schools will be showcased Aug. 21 in Haugesund, Norway.

The 10 short films were selected by a jury consisting of producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir of Stær Film, filmmakers Gunnbjörg Gunnarsdóttir (“Victoria Must Go”) and Fredrik S. Hana (“Code Name: Nagasaki”), in association with program coordinator Christian Høkaas.

“Fear, confusion, dark humor, power, anxiety and love. Anger, love, power. This year’s slate offers a lot of strong emotions, in-keeping with the Scandinavian tradition of dark humour and relationship drama,” said Pirir who’s enjoyed the “playful and daring selection.”

Norway is out in force with five fiction films, including three graduation works from the prestigious Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer.

“The Norwegian Film School which gets more funding than other film schools in Norway, is able to attract some of the biggest actors, and production values are often quite high,” said Høkaas, referring to Sara Selmer Moland’s family drama “I Felt I Had To Be Here” starring “Quisling-The Final Days” lead Gard B. Eidsvold, based on a script by “Skam” actor-turned scribe Tarjei Sandvik Moe, and Miljam S. Thorkelsdottir’s “Now Clap” starring Agnes Kittelsen (“Exit, “Happy, Happy”).

“Some students start their film education at other schools then come to the Norwegian Film School to build up their career, as it offers a direct link to the industry,” Høkaas explained. Indeed, Thorkelsdottir and Tobias Klemeyer Smith, director of “Whatever City”, first attended the Westerdals-Kristiana University College in Oslo before joining the Norwegian Film School. Their two shorts vying in Haugesund turn an inquisitive eye on artistic creation.

For Høkaas, the Westerdals-Kristiana University College has “also upped its quality levels in recent years, notably in story structure and acting,” and Haugesund participants will discover two fine samples in the refugee-focused “Mountains” by Iranian-born filmmaker Marzie and life-affirming “It’s Hard to Be Iben” by Jakob Ramberg.

Finland’s long-standing Aalto ELO Film School, former film training ground to Juho Kuosmanen, Marja Pyykkö and Zaida Bergroth, will be showcasing three very different works: the animated doc about motherhood “Confessions of Undecided Women” by Milja Härkönen, the current affairs documentary “Once Upon a Recession” by Elias Kahla, and animated short “Tape” by Hui Wing Ki Candace, inspired by the director’s own experience of growing up in a Hong Kong house filled with plastic tape-repaired furniture.

“”Tape” is the shortest work in our Next Nordic Generation slate, a unique poetic and emotional journey,” said Høkaas.

Meanwhile Ruben Östlund’s film school HDK Valand in Göteborg, Sweden, which encourages alumni to pursue their own cinematic ideas and methods, is bringing the father-son drama “Ana Wa Yak” by Hani Al-Abras and the hybrid “Sit, Play, Stay” in which Cecilie Flyger Hansen, a production assistant on the acclaimed “Apolonia, Apolonia,” explores the complex love relationship between humans and dogs.

“We have a great variety of films, poetic, humorous and dramatic works, exploring various themes, such as grief, social differences, immigration or complex human dynamics seen through the eyes of children. There is no shortage of talents in the Nordics,” summarised Høkaas.

Commenting on the noticeable absence of films from Denmark and Iceland, he said: “Each year is different. We work hand in hand with the Nordic network of film schools Nordicil and it’s up to the schools, part of the network, to submit a film – or not. This year we’re sorry not to have projects from the National Film School of Denmark, but in the past, the school has collected numerous Next Nordic Generation awards, such as last year’s winner. “Norwegian Offspring” by Marlene Emilie Lyngstad who earned earlier a Cinef award in Cannes.

“Then Gustav Møller won the award in 2015 for his short film “In Darkness” before exploding on the world stage with his Danish Oscar submission “The Guilty.  His latest film “Sons” will screen at Haugesund’s Nordic Focus,” Høkaas underscored.

The winner of the best Next Nordic Generation Award and its NOK 20,000 ($1,900) cash prize sponsored by the cinema advertising outfit Capa, will be announced Aug. 22. A breakdown of the 2024 Next Nordic Generation lineup:

“Ana Wa Yak” (15’, HDK-Valand, Sweden)
Written and directed by Hani Al-Abras

A tender portrayal of a strained father-and-son relationship. shaped by external circumstances. “My storytelling usually touches on themes such as alienation, exclusion, family and the suburbs, where circumstances and conditions are not usually represented in a nuanced way,” said Al-Abras.

“Confessions of Undecided Women” (20’, Aalto ELO Film School, Finland)
Written and directed by Milja Härkönen

The animated short documentary turns on the emotional struggle women in their thirties go through when they don’t know the answer to perhaps the biggest question in their life: do I want to become a mother? says the logline. “I want to tell how complex the issue of reproduction is for many of us women in our 30s,” said Härkönen whose core interest is “to understand other people’s realities and exploring human relationships and social issues through the fates of individuals.”

“I Felt I Had to Be Here” (29’, The Norwegian Film School, Norway)
Directed by Sara Selmer Moland, written by Tarjei Sandvik Moe

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In the warm and humorous film, we follow a group of people at the wake of a young woman Vera (24) who has committed suicide. The family members, friends and lovers gather to celebrate her life. The question is can they mourn collectively, when everyone sees Vera from a different point of view? “The fact that we can perceive a situation, or even life so differently fascinates me,” said Moland who studied philosophy before turning to filmmaking. “One of my intentions with the film was to invite a chaos of conflicting narratives, while still offering some kind of conciliation.”

Actor Sandvik Moe of “Skam” fame, who just graduated as scriptwriter from the Norwegian Film School, said he was attracted to Moland’s project “because I saw the potential of using her premise as an allegory of today’s individualisation, polarisation, and devaluation of rituals. I also enjoy creating multiple characters with incompatible values and seeing what happens when they are forced to be together.”

“It’s Hard to Be Iben” (21’, Westerdals-Kristiania University College, Norway)

Written and directed by Jakob Ramberg. Is life worth living if you no longer have anything to live for? This nine-year-old has the answer!” runs the logline. Ramberg said his intention with the film was to explore and accept all parts of ourselves, not just the morally good.”

“Mountains” (22’, Westerdals-Kristiania University College, Norway)

Directed and written by Marzie, the story centres on two Middle Eastern refugees who meet by chance in an abandoned building in the middle of the forest in Croatia. Just as they begin feeling hopeful, they are met with a deadly challenge along the way.

Iranian-born Marzie who arrived in Norway in 2013, said her intention with her film was to spotlight the fate of refugees, especially those fleeing unstable political countries, and to challenge her own struggle with hope.

“ Now Clap” (21’, The Norwegian Film School, Norway)
Directed by Mirjam S. Thorkelsdottir, written by Kornelia Eline Skogseth

The story follows Renate, a theatre instructor who crosses the line and fights to keep her career alive. When she starts getting resistance, she goes to extreme measures to fight her case. “My aim is to spark a broader debate about how far one can go for the sake of art, where should these boundaries be drawn, and who defines them?”, said the Oslo-based Icelandic-Albanian filmmaker, interested in depicting “people who act outside the norm and those who exist in the grey areas.”

“ Once Upon a Recession” (24’, Aalto ELO Film School, Finland)
Directed by Elias Kahla

Seen from a child’s point of view, the documentary centres on Finland’s most dramatic financial crisis in its history, in the early 1990s. “With this film, my intention was to show how deep the scars of economic crisis or other catastrophes can be, when experienced by a child. By doing this film, I wanted also to show that those who are still struggling with their childhood wounds, are not alone and that there is hope,” Kahla said.

“ Sit. Play. Stay” (19’, HDK-Valand, Sweden)
Written and directed by Cecilie Flyger Hansen

A former production assistant to Lea Glob on her multi-awarded documentary “Apolonia Apolonia”, Flyger Hansen works in the grey area between fiction and reality, focusing on the power dynamics between humans and non-humans, in particular animals.

In her playful hybrid doc, dogs have the lead roles in a theatre adaptation of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Snow White is played by a Collie, and the evil queen by an Australian Shepherd. “The rehearsals are a beautiful and absurd interplay that highlights the power dynamics between human and animal. Through a dog’s point-of-view, we are encouraged to look back at ourselves,” says the logline.

“TAPE” (6’,Aalto ELO Film School, Finland)
Directed by Hui Wing Ki Candace

The poetic animated short was inspired by the director’s own upbringing in a house in Hong Kong filled with plastic tape-repaired furniture, embodying unpleasant memories. “My animation often tackles memories and cultural identity, to lead the viewers into an emotional journey,” said the Helsinki-based animation specialist.

“Whatever City” (28’, The Norwegian Film School, Norway)
Directed by Tobias Klemeyer Smith, written by Camilla Pavlikova Sandland

The main character Ida bumps into her old music teacher from elementary school, an encounter which sets off a journey through the city, introducing us to a couple of peculiar characters along the way. The day’s curious events inspire her to make a film.

Winner of a best film award for his debut short “Stikk” at the 2021 Bergen Film Festival, Klemeyer Smith plays with the traditional narrative structures. ”I often prefer films that reveal the personality of their creators over more traditionally well-told films. This film tells a story of great doubt, slight hubris and the fragility of artistic creation,” he said.

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