‘Louder Than Bombs,’ ‘The Wave’ Take Top Norwegian Film Prizes
Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s “Louder than Bombs,” which in 2015 was Norway’s first Cannes Competition entry in 36 years, won four Norwegian national film prizes, dubbed the Amandas, Aug. 26 on the closing night of the 44th Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norway.
Trier’s third feature, and first English-language pic, starred an international cast: Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, and Devin Druid. It won director, original screenplay (Eskil Vogt, Trier), cinematography (Jakob Ihre) and editing (Olivier Bugge Coutté) prizes. Next month the writer-dirctor will start principal photography for “Thelma,” a supernatural thriller, also co-scripted by Vogt and produced by Thomas Robsahm for Motlys.
The prize for best feature went to “The Wave” from Norwegian director Roar Uthaug. The film sold 832,649 admissions in Norway and became 2015’s the No. 1 film in the country, and repped Norway in the foreign-language Oscar race. It also won visual effects (Lars Erik Hansen) and sound design (Christian Schaanning) honors.
At the ceremony televised by Norwegian pubcaster NRK, Norwegian actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen earned his second Amanda for his role in Rune Denstad Langlo’s “Welcome to Norway!” — his first was for Morten Tyldum’s “Buddy” (2003). The Norwegian Audiences voted Norwegian-Kurdish director Halkawt Mustafa’s football and love drama “El Clásico” their favorite.
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