Norway - Top documentary Films / Norske dokumentarfilmer
My favourites among Norwegian documentaries from the 21st century. / Mine favoritter blant norske dokumentarer fra år 2000 og frem til i dag. In random order.
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- DirectorVibeke LøkkebergIn a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
- DirectorKnut Erik JensenStarsOdd Marino FrantzenEinar F.L. StrandArne WenselMuch as Buena Vista Social Club revealed a rich and unexplored world of music and culture, Cool and Crazy introduces us to a group of men who find purpose, companionship and even fame, as members of a male choir in Berlevåg.
- DirectorFilip ChristensenEven SigstadStarsAnders BackeTiril Sjåstad ChristiansenTim DurtschiA ski documentary showcasing modern freeskiing, free riding and snowboarding.
- DirectorNishtha JainTorstein GrudeStarsSampat Pal DeviRam DulariDevratiIn Bundelkhand, India, a revolution is in the making among the poorest of the poor, as the fiery women of the Gulabi Gang empower themselves and take up the fight against gender violence, caste oppression and widespread corruption.
- DirectorEven BenestadStarsEspen BenestadElsa AlmåsElisabeth BenestadYoung film director Even Benestad tells the story of his own mother Espen Benestad who is a transgender woman and seeks her son's acceptance.
- DirectorJon HaukelandTore VollanThe story about the poor Polish Moritz Rabinowitz who fell in love with the town of Haugesund, Norway, and became a wealthy clothes salesman, and was deported by the Nazi regime when they took control over Norway.
- DirectorAnders ØstergaardStarsGeorge W. BushJoshua Min HtutKo MuangUsing smuggled footage, this documentary tells the story of the 2007 protests in Burma by thousands of monks.
- DirectorPetr LomStarsHoji AbdullahAblizAijamalA documentary on the Uighur people, the Muslim minority population that live in northwestern China, under strict control by the Chinese government.
- DirectorLine HalvorsenStarsAbdullah Al-ArianLaila Al-ArianLama Al-ArianUSA vs AL-ARIAN is a close portrait of an Arab-American family facing terrorism charges leveled by the U.S. Government. The film shows a personal story of a family living in a society where fear of terrorism has resulted in increasing stigmatization and discrimination against Muslims.
- DirectorTonje Hessen ScheiStarsBrandon BryantZubair RehmanJohn Bellinger IIIThe documentary is about the covert CIA drone war. Through voices on both sides of this new technology, the film reveals crucial information about the drone war in Pakistan and offers unique insights into the nature of drone warfare.
- DirectorKnut Erik JensenThe acute man is a film about hope and despair. It is the story of idealism and arrogance of power, a story of friendship across borders and religions. But above all it is the story of a person who refuses to give in, a doctor who has a goal to work for. The film takes us on a journey that ranges from scenic trout fishing in North Norway, through a hectic schedule at the University Hospital of Tromso to the bomb rain in Gaza in 2009. For nearly 40 years, Mads Gilbert has been fighting to save lives and create a better world. He is known worldwide as The Gaza Doctor and has been holding more than 100 lectures at universities in North America.
- DirectorFrode FimlandStarsMagnar KleivaOddny KleivaThe siblings Magnar and Oddny, are in their 70'ies still living together on a remote mountain generation farm. Here time has stood still.
- DirectorJon HaukelandStarsJon HaukelandIn 1999, Serbian military forces and Albanian guerrillas were fighting in Kosovo. Serbs and Albanians lived separate lives. As their country verged on war, a group of brave students decided to meet their opponents for the first time.
- DirectorDheeraj AkolkarStarsLiv UllmannIngmar BergmanSamuel FrölerThe 42 year long relationship between legendary actress Liv Ullmann and master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
- DirectorBeathe HofsethSusann ØstigaardAs a young Indian girl born outside caste, Thulasi is trying to box her way out of poverty, but the struggle for an independent life is hardest outside the ring.
- DirectorSigve EndresenStarsJørn ChristensenØivind EkebergSigve EndresenDirector Sigve Endresen follow the singer Kari Iveland, daughter of two missionaries, on her way to release her first solo album. Through her lyrics we understand the discomfort she has felt all her life, which almost lead to suicide.
- DirectorJan DalchowTrond WinterkjærStarsMichael JustinianoPatrick MarkholmMonica Voilås MyklebustWhen Monica was born the parent thought she was a boy., and called her Morten. Now she has have had a cosmetically and gender changing operations . This is all shown on camera in this documentary.
- DirectorØyvind SandbergStarsBøkenes ArneRegine BuggeSara Regine BuggeWe meet several people who live and work along the coast of Norway. Regine, who buys her own fishing boat and hires her boyfriend as crew. Øystein, who wants to build a restaurant on an uninhabited island off the Nordland coast. Nils Olav, one of the last remaining builders of Oselvers. And Magnus, who has run an oyster farm for 70 years and couldn't imagine any other life.
- DirectorTrond KvistA warm, charming and entertaining documentary about several first or second generation immigrants living in Oslo and Bergen. You will among others meet an immigrant on skis, an African woman living in Bergen who refuses to be buried any other place than her native Tanzania, a Norwegian army recruit from Sri Lanka, an Afghan business woman and a drug-addict of Norwegian-African heritage. Welcome Home flips your assumptions of immigrants upside-down whilst being a different take on the term 'home'.
- DirectorSteffan StrandbergStarsDavid BoydTatjana Lars Kristian GuldbrandsenLars Kristian Gulbrandsen has made himself, his life and everything he is surrounded by into a living artwork. His abstract paintings are bought by some of the world's biggest galleries, but the local house wives and the bold fishermen see Lars Kristian as a nutcase, and view his paintings as meaningless dabs of colour and his house a chaotic garbage dump.
- DirectorGunnar Hall JensenStarsGunnar Hall JensenEgil E. TynæsCharles BukowskiPlagued by depression, diabetes and alcoholism, and always searching for greater meaning-any meaning, Gunnar Hall Jensen travels to the spiritual promised land of many soul searches-India. It is there that he hits rock bottom, yet he soon emerges from the darkness with a new outlook on life.
- DirectorGunnar Hall JensenStarsZulfikar FahmyGunnar Hall JensenØyvind RydlandThe normal father Gunnar has everything, but still feels something's wrong, and starts to investigate why he feels empty when he really has got it all.
- DirectorKaroline FrognerStarsElias AkselsenLasse JohansenBjørn PettersonOne Saturday night in 1996, Bjørn Granum's doorbell rings. Outside he finds a group of travelers who have been searching for him for 45 years.
- DirectorØyvind SandbergTwo good friends with Downs Syndrome live together and have many common interests. They are a well know couple in the city of Bergen.
- DirectorEven BenestadStarsAgostina BelliFred RobsahmThis is the story of your greatest dream and worst nightmare. It's a story about visions and dreams, about sailing and wreckage. Natural Born Star is the story of Fred Robsahm.
- DirectorThomas LienStarsØyvind AamotThe true story of Øyvind Aamot, who suddenly lost 27 years of his memory.
- DirectorAndrzej FidykStarsKim HyokKim Joung-SoonLee Min-bokToday, more than 200.000 men, women and children are locked up in North Korea's concentration camps. Systematic torture, starvation and murder is what faces the inmates. Few survive many years in the camps, but the population is kept stable by a steady influx of new persons considered to be 'class enemies'. A small group of people have managed to flee from the camps to a new life in the prosperous South Korea. Some of them gather and decide to make an extraordinary and controversial musical about their experiences in the Yodok concentration camp. Despite death treats and many obstacles the musical becomes a tour de force for this ensemble of refugees and for them a possibility opens to talk about their experiences and inspire others to protest the existence of the camps.
- DirectorEven BenestadAugust Baugstø HanssenStarsHariton PushwagnerA personal portrait of a small man with a great personality. The directors followed the artist Pushwagner for three years. He is an artist who is in danger of losing everything.
- DirectorØyvind SandbergA warm documentary about the value of traditional ways of life.
- DirectorElsa KvammeStarsSamuel SteinmannSamuel Steinmann is the last living survivor of the Norwegian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz in the Fall of 1942. In The Tram To Auschwitz, Sammy makes that journey again, and the film follows him, merging the present with the past, and his account with the latest historical research.
- DirectorGunhild MagnorStarsGerd BergersenLillemor BerthelsenMary Holst BremstadA documentary about an unusual volleyball team in Hamar, Norway, with ladies aged from 66 to 98. Now they are up for their first match, after 30 years of training.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorHåvard BustnesTwo Raging Grannies is a touching and thought-provoking documentary that challenges the idea that we must continue to shop, consume, amass, and keep the economy growing.
- DirectorSolveig MelkeraaenStarsIne Marie WilmannJon Arne ArnsethEven BenestadA feel good film about depressions. About being able to do it all, but losing it in a severe anxiety attack. About controlling angst together with the family, and be able to laugh of it all, even the electro shocks.
- DirectorAslak AarhusStarsHenning KraggerudAndrea Bræin HovigSven NordinA portrait of Norway's first superstar, the violin player Ole Bull (1810-1880).
- DirectorHåvard BustnesStarsJohn KlemetsenOle KlemetsenA documentary on a father-and-son boxers, John and Ole Klemetsen.
- DirectorAugust Baugstø HanssenStarsIda StormIda's Diary is a film about hope and courage, about finding your own identity and daring to live. It's a personal film based on Ida's own video diary from the last eight years.
- DirectorKaroline GrindakerHilde K. KjøsStarsGuri LykkenMarit LykkenNils LykkenHarvesting the Wasteland follows the complicated relationship between two women. One of them finds happiness in tradition, while the other finds hers in breaking with it. Choosing one's own freedom rather than catering to the expectations of family and the outside world is a familiar problem for many. Harvesting the Wasteland focuses on the role of women from small villages and the problems that can arise when generations live too closely together. Several regional medical officers have reported that a main source of illness in the villages is precisely the result of the living arrangements between the generations on the farms. Differences, especially between women who have traditionally had much of the indoor work, have created relationships that have not been easy to live with. The saying, "speech is silver, but silence is golden," has deep roots. The film can also be read as an Ibsenian drama with its strong female figures and universal theme. The different members of the Lykken family have very different stories, which are told in dramatically hushed tones. This is the debut film for both directors. They give us insight into a story that is difficult to tell, and as a film they have invested nearly four years in its making. Self-actualization is not a theme that is entirely accepted outside the bigger cities, and the directors hope that the film can contribute to discussion and an extended acknowledgement of these situations. The film is beautifully photographed and poetic in its imagery.
- DirectorDeeyah KhanDarin PrindleStarsNazir AfzalBobbie CheemaAndy CraigThis is a documentary film chronicling the brutal Honour Killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman in London, killed by her own family for choosing a life for herself.
- DirectorMona Friis BertheussenStarsAlexandra HauglumMia HansenWenche HauglumThe true story of twin sisters from China, adopted by two separate sets of parents.
- DirectorMonica CsangoA grandmother's everlasting love of her husband who disappeared in Russia during WWII hides a well-kept family secret. Her granddaughter discovers a photo from India suggesting that something more is going on. It so happened that shortly after the war, someone opened a store in Bombay that was almost a carbon copy of the deluxe store that her grandfather used to run in Budapest.
- DirectorDheeraj AkolkarStarsEdvard MunchKetil BjørnstadMarina AbramovicThis film is an artistic investigation to discover the secret behind iconic Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's greatness.
- DirectorAnne Berit VestbyThe Men! The Money! The Murders!
- DirectorStephan A. HergelStarsAnne WindslandRikke Lydersen SimonsenHelge JordalA docudrama about the sisters Anne & Alet who killed several women with poison in the late 18th century. They were finally caught and judged to death by beheading.
- DirectorKenneth ElvebakkStarsAxel AxgilVigdis BunkholdtArne HeliIn 1948, a secret club was established in Norway when homosexuality was a criminal offence. Although curtains were always drawn and new members were put through a screening process, this rare sanctuary provided a safe space for meeting and dancing at a time when being outed meant social ruin. With humour and a touch of sadness, some of the survivors of those days share their joyous stories of love, lust and politics.
- DirectorHans Petter MolandStarsAnders BrekkeOlav Arnar BøPetros ChristodoulouIt is becoming increasingly difficult to protect ourselves from extreme financial volatility. This feature documentary will examine the mechanics behind bubbles and crashes, and discuss trends and visions for the future.
- DirectorNina GrünfeldStarsMilla OlinThe unknown story about the Jewish orphanage, run by Nina Hasvold in Oslo during WW2, which saved a lot of lives, and about the flight from holocaust to neutral Sweden in 1942.
- DirectorBenjamin ReeStarsMagnus CarlsenGarry KasparovViswanathan AnandMagnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess prodigy, becomes a grandmaster at age 13 and world champion in 2013.
- DirectorAdel Khan FarooqUlrik Imtiaz RolfsenStarsAnjem ChoudaryAdel Khan FarooqUbaydullah HussainFor three years a well-known Norwegian extremist gives unique access to his everyday life encouraging jihadists in Europe until he is arrested for supporting terrorism by recruiting for ISIS. This extremely timely film highlights the tension between free societies and those who take advantage of their values while seeking to undermine them. Recruiting for Jihad is especially resonant and newsworthy given the deadly incidents in Stockholm, London, Berlin, Nice, San Bernardino, Paris and elsewhere.
- DirectorErik PoppeStarsCharlotte FugelliPer FugelliA final meeting with the life affirming Per Fugelli, who wasn't afraid to speak out on behalf of the weak. A man called the wisest man in Norway died in September 2017, but here's his legacy.
- DirectorVictor KossakovskyStarsGundaDocumentary looks at the daily life of a pig and its farm animal companions: two cows and a one-legged chicken.