Famous Norwegian directors
List activity
2.8K views
• 14 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
25 people
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Joachim Trier is a Norwegian writer and director. He is known for Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st (2011), Louder Than Bombs (2015) and Thelma (2017).
Trier also directed three short films, Pietà (2000), Still (2001) and Procter (2002).
His father, Jacob Trier, was the sound technician of The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, a notable film produced in Norway in 1975.
Louder Than Bombs was his first English-language film.
Thelma was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Roar Uthaug is a Norwegian film director. He is best known for Tomb Raider (2018), The Wave (2015), Cold Prey (2006) and Escape (2012).
Uthaug was born in August 25, 1973. In 2002 he graduated from the Norwegian Film School. His directorial debut was Cold Prey/Fritt Vilt in 2006.
In 2018 he directed the Tomb Raider reboot starring Alicia Vikander.- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Erik Poppe (born 24 June 1960) is a Norwegian film director, screenwriter and former cinematographer.
Poppe is regarded as one of Europe's most experienced and compelling directors recognized for his work with actors and impeccably well crafted multi-pronged narratives. His movies are often built around strong ensemble casts, sharp writing, impressive camera work and an uncanny knack for rhythm and music in the editing. During the last decade Poppe has become one of the most frequently awarded film directors from Scandinavia.
Erik Poppe grew up in Portugal and Norway. He started his career as a photographer for the newspaper Verdens Gang and Reuters, covering domestic news as well as international conflicts. He was awarded by the Norwegian press association and World Press Photo during 1980's. Being hospitalized after an assignment in Colombia he decided to prepare leaving journalism and study filmmaking.
He graduated as a cinematographer at DI - University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991. He have conducted several artistic and directorial research programs between 2001 and 2010. In 2015 Poppe concluded a PhD as a research fellow at the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme and as an Associated Professor at HIL, Lillehammer University College/The Norwegian Film School. "The Subjective Objective" is an exploration on how to achieve increased emotionally outcome by the use of a highly personalized and strictly subjectively point of view in conscious narrative film. Is it possible to achieve a stronger identification, empathy and a greater involvement for the spectator by applying a strict enforcement of the subjective point of view? -A point of view who never allows the filmmaker to show for the spectator more than the film's protagonist are seeing or experiencing at any time. The project developed various measures for an increased empathy with the narrative's protagonist and discuss further elements to be considered for a stronger subjectivity. The key artistic work made as part of the research was the feature movie A Thousand Times Good Night, a dramatization of his experiences as a conflict photographer in DRC Congo and Afghanistan.
Erik Poppe worked as Director of Photography on several features, as well as EGGS (1995) by Bent Hamer. He was awarded with the Kodak Award at the Moscow International Film Festival and won the Cinematographer of the year award in Norway. At the same time he announced his end of work as Director of Photography.
TROUBLED WATER (2008, aka: deUSYNLIGE) is the third part of his multi-awarded Oslo Trilogy, after his directorial debut with SCHPAAA (1998, aka Bunch Of Five) and HAWAII-OSLO (2004). Working on the research for Schpaaa; a terrifying look at multi-racial youth gangs in Norway and shot in the style of a documentary, he discovered realities he wanted to adapt into two more movies. Hawaii-Oslo tells a story about a number of people whose fates intertwine, sometimes by accident, during the hottest day of the year in downtown Oslo. Troubled Water is a story about a young man released from prison after serving a sentence for an alleged murder of a child. All of the movies are shoot in the area of Groenland and Grunerloekka in downtown Oslo. "The place where we live so close to each other, and know so little about each other."
1000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT (2013, aka: A Thousand Times Good Night, Tusen Ganger God Natt) was Poppe's first English-language movie. The film is partly an autobiographical story based on Poppe experiences as a conflict photographer. Poppe switched the lead roles around making the french actress Juliette Binoche as his his proxy, and King of Throne's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau playing the character based on Poppe's wife. A standing ovation greeted Montreal's world premiere of the film, which went on to earn the jury's Special Grand Prix.
THE KING'S CHOICE (2016) is based on the true the story about the three dramatic days in April of 1940, when the King of Norway is presented with the monstrous ultimatum from the Germans: surrender or die. With German Air Force and soldiers hunting them down, the royal family is forced to flee from the capital. After three days of desperately trying to evade the Germans, King Haakon makes his final decision, one that may cost him, his family and many Norwegians their lives. The film made records when it opened in Norway by late September 2016 and became the #1 box office hit of the year. The film was Norway's official entry in the best foreign language film category for the 2017 Oscars and received being short listed.
Per Fugelli (1943-2017) was a Norwegian doctor, a professor of social medicine and a forceful voice in the public sphere. Fugelli spent his life addressing questions of freedom and respect, campaigning for rights of the less fortunate.
Fugelli was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. In 2015 he said no to further treatment and allowed his close friend, director Erik Poppe to follow him as far as possible on this journey. The result is I DIE (Siste resept) a film about life and how to live it to the very end.
In June 2017 it was announced that Erik Poppe had worked for a year on developing a feature film about the 2011 terrorist attack on Utøya outside Oslo, Norway. The film, entitled U, begins 12 minutes before the first shot on Utøya as we meet Kaja (18), her little sister, and their friends at summer camp. When the shooting begins panic spreads, and over the next 72 minutes we follow Kaja in her escape - minute by minute. She becomes separated from her little sister, and in the search for her she finds other youngsters with different strategies for survival. Some make it, others do not. U July 22 (Utøya 22.juli) is a fictional account of events which will tell the story from the young people's perspective, based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with survivors from Utøya. Some of them was on set behind the camera while filming took place in September 2017 to help give the narrative credibility. The film was Berlin's most confrontational and controversial offering during the International Film Festival in Berlin. Filmed in a single continuous take, the narrative is filtered through the real-time experience of one young woman, played vividly by newcomer Andrea Berntzen. It follows her over two hours, as she tries to survive amid the chaos and terror. The film was a runner up for the Golden Bear in the categories for best film, best female actress and best direction.
Poppe is probably the only director in Norway who have showed the ability to hit both the critics as well as the audience, taking high admissions in domestic release. His Oslo Trilogy as well as A Thousand Times Good Night and The Kings Choice has been sold to territories worldwide.
Erik Poppe was also the key director for "Brigaden" (The Brigade) in 2002. A 26 episodes TV-drama for NRK (The Norwegian Broadcating Corp.). Brigaden received the Norwegian "Amanda" Price for the Best TV-drama in 2003.
Erik Poppe is the only director to have received the Norwegian National Film Critics' Award three times. Hawaii, Oslo in 2005, Troubled Water in 2009 and for A Thousand Times Good Nigh in 2014 - all movies were also voted as last year's Best Feature. When he received the price for best film in 2014 at The Amanda, he became historical by being the only director to have been nominated for all his movies (five movies) in the categories best film or/ and best director at the Norwegian national award The Amanda (the Norwegian Oscar).
Poppe has participated in key festivals, and received prizes such as the Berlinale -Panorama (Schpaaa), The Vesuvio Prize at Napoli International Film Festival, Norwegian entries for best foreign language movie at Oscars, Festroia in Portugal for Best Directing, Silver Dolphin in Festroia, Nordic Ministerie Councils Award for The Best Nordic Feature, ecumenical awards and several other prizes. Troubled Water made history at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2008 by being the first feature ever to win both the festival's Golden Starfish for Best Narrative Feature and the Audience Award. In October 2016 Poppe received the Special Golden Angel, a life time achievement award for his work as Outstanding European Film Artist at the international Film Festival TOFIFEST in Poland.
Erik Poppe is co-owner of Paradox Film and the Paradox Group. A series of companies producing features.
On his career as a photojournalist: "All the actions I undertook back then were driven by the urge to draw attention to the horrors of war. I wanted for my pictures to grab you by the throat, when eating breakfast on a Saturday morning."
On working with feature movies: "You need to be honest, because this way your audience will be able to identify with the topic and the hero. My role, as an artist, is to prepare a text with open questions and hide the fact that I have an answer key. Questions will provoke audience to discuss the film and seek new perspectives. The film is supposed to make a difference, and maybe offer a therapeutic effect."- Director
- Producer
- Editor
Morten Tyldum was born on 19 May 1967 in Bergen, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Headhunters (2011), The Imitation Game (2014) and Passengers (2016).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Harald Zwart was born in Leiden, Netherlands, and his family moved to Norway where he grew up. He made his first film when he was 8 years and was active with Super8 and stop motion animation for years. He was accepted into the highly acclaimed Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam, NL, where he spent 4 years, specializing in Directing, Script and Editing. Harald's exam film "Garbriel's Surprise" (about a young man who was given a second chance by Gabriel to correct the wrong), was screened on all Scandinavian TV stations and Harald was quickly headhunted into doing commercials in Norway. He met his wife and partner Veslemoey Ruud Zwart and they've worked together since. She started managing his deals and started the company Zwart Arbeid A/S
After a few years of producing and directing award winning commercials all over Europe, they did their first feature, "Commander Hamilton" [tt0119249/], and then they got "the call" from Hollywood where were invited to have lunch with Steven Spielberg. He had seen the commercials and was impressed by the concise story telling and humor. Shortly after the couple moved permanently to Los Angeles where Veslemoey started Motion Blur. A commercial film production company where they continued to make ads for the world wide market.
Their first feature was "One Night At McCool's" with Michael Douglas producing, starring Liv Tyler, John Goodman, Matt Dillon, Paul Reiser, Reba McIntyre and more.
Since then they have continued producing under the Zwart Arbeid banner, and opened Motion Blur films and commercials in Norway where they have steadfast produced films, TV shows and commercials. Harald travels all over the world to direct commercials for all the markets, and in the US he's most known for the Capital One Commercials with the Vikings. He's most known for the movies The Karate Kid with Will Smith and Overbrook/SONY producing, and "The 12th Man" which they produced under their own company Zwart Arbeid with Nordisk Film distributing.
Their latest Norwegian Movie "Lange Flate Ballær" went straight to #1 and is the highest grossing Norwegian movie so far in 2022.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Tommy Wirkola was born on 6 December 1979 in Alta, Norway. He is a writer and director, known for Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014), What Happened to Monday (2017) and Dead Snow (2009).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Joachim Rønning is a film director and writer from Sandefjord, Norway - a small coastal town south of Oslo. He spent his teenage years making short films and shooting commercials for local businesses. In 1995 Rønning began directing professionally with his childhood friend, Espen Sandberg. Working under the name of Roenberg, their extensive and award-winning commercial work in Scandinavia led to major international commissions.
Roenberg established themselves in the American commercial film market with spots for Capital One, Labatt's and especially with the USA Today Superbowl 2001 Viewer's Poll-winning spot "Rex" for Budweiser.
In 2006, Rønning and Sandberg directed their feature film debut, BANDIDAS, starring Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek, and written and produced by legendary French filmmaker Luc Besson. When asked how it was to be debuting with such big stars and budget, Rønning explained: "It was my first movie and I remember feeling so lucky to be working with these amazing actors. Looking back now I realize I had no clue what I was doing. It was truly the best film school I could ever dream of. Probably the most expensive too."
In December 2008, Rønning's second feature, MAX MANUS, premiered. The critically acclaimed WWII drama tells the true story of infamous Norwegian saboteur and war hero; Max Manus, and his battle to overcome his inner demons. MAX MANUS soared to become the highest grossing Norwegian movie of all time.
KON-TIKI became the director's next epos. The true story about legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft, KON-TIKI became historical when it in 2013, as the first Norwegian film ever, was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award in the best foreign language category.
The success of KON-TIKI led to Rønning directing the latest installment in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise starring Johnny Depp. Filmed on location in Australia, POTC: Dead Men Tell No Tales went on to earn 800 million dollars at the box office - making it one of the top 10 grossing movies of 2017.
Rønning's next movie MALEFICENT: Mistress of Evil starring Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer for Disney, premiered in the fall of 2019 to become the third highest October release of all time, and eventually grossing half a billion dollars worldwide.
In 2022, Rønning began filming YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA, starring Daisy Ridley. The film tells the true story about New York native, Trudy Ederle, who in 1926 became the first woman to swim the English Channel - changing the world of women's sports forever.
Rønning is currently in pre-production on TRON: ARES for Disney starring Jared Leto, planning a fall 2023 start date.
Joachim Rønning lives in Los Angeles and London with his wife, Amanda Hearst. He has three children.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Hans Petter Moland was born on 17 October 1955 in Oslo, Norway. He is a director and writer, known for In Order of Disappearance (2014), Aberdeen (2000) and Out Stealing Horses (2019). He is married to Maria Sødahl. They have three children. He was previously married to Elizabeth Pacini.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
André Øvredal was born on 6 May 1973. He is a director and writer, known for Troll Hunter (2010), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) and Tunnelen (2016).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Øystein Karlsen is the writer/director behind the Norwegian hit series DAG, the movie Fuck Up and the Netflix Original Lilyhammer 3. Dag Season 1, 2 ,3 and 4 has all been an instant hit with the TV-audiences and received rave reviews from an eclectic critics choir who was fascinated by Karlsens dark written, warm, absurd comedy and the innovative style of the filmmaker. Karlsen started his career as a carpenter, lied his way into becoming a radio host at the age of 21, moved on to head the marketing department at NRK (Norways public broadcaster), quit his day job because he could't stand long meetings, and started writing scripts and direct instead. DAG has so far received a staggering 26 Norwegian Emmy nominations, and 11 wins, a record. Karlsen feature film debut " Fuck Up" premiered in February 5th 2012 to great reviews. The low budget movie immediately was tipped as "pick of the year" by two leading Norwegian Newspapers. After US festival screenings, the American film magazine Twitch films picked the movie to head it's top ten list for 2012 and voted Karlsen among the top five new directors to look out for in 2013. The movie was picked to main selections in the international film festivals in Seattle, Emden, Mexico City, Budapest, Prague, Austin and Transylvania. In between season 3 and 4 of DAG, Karlsen directed 4 episodes of the Netflix Original, Lilyhammer, end edited the episodes while writing the Final season of DAG. The TV-series Dag has so far been sold to 19 countries, and opened in August 2016 in the UK to great reviews. The fourth season of DAG, premiered in September 2015 in it's native Norway and was labeled "A giant leap for Norwegian drama" by the country's leading newspaper. In the UK both The Indipendent and the Guardian picked the series on their top 5 shows to air in Britain in 2015 of all series on all channels.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Kristoffer Borgli was born in 1985 in Oslo, Norway. He is a director and writer, known for Sick of Myself (2022), Dream Scenario (2023) and Former Cult Member Hears Music for the First Time (2020).- Director
- Producer
- Executive
Espen Sandberg was born on 17 June 1971 in Sandefjord, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Kon-Tiki (2012), Max Manus: Man of War (2008) and Troll (2022).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Pål Sletaune was born on 4 March 1960 in Norway. He is a writer and director, known for Junk Mail (1997), The Monitor (2011) and Next Door (2005).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Erik Skjoldbjærg was born on 14 December 1964 in Tromsø, Norway. He is a writer and director, known for Okkupert (2015), Insomnia (1997) and Nokas (2010).- Director
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Anja Breien was born on 12 July 1940 in Oslo, Norway. She is a director and writer, known for Next of Kin (1979), Hustruer (1975) and Papirfuglen (1984).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Øystein Karlsen is the writer/director behind the Norwegian hit series DAG, the movie Fuck Up and the Netflix Original Lilyhammer 3. Dag Season 1, 2 ,3 and 4 has all been an instant hit with the TV-audiences and received rave reviews from an eclectic critics choir who was fascinated by Karlsens dark written, warm, absurd comedy and the innovative style of the filmmaker. Karlsen started his career as a carpenter, lied his way into becoming a radio host at the age of 21, moved on to head the marketing department at NRK (Norways public broadcaster), quit his day job because he could't stand long meetings, and started writing scripts and direct instead. DAG has so far received a staggering 26 Norwegian Emmy nominations, and 11 wins, a record. Karlsen feature film debut " Fuck Up" premiered in February 5th 2012 to great reviews. The low budget movie immediately was tipped as "pick of the year" by two leading Norwegian Newspapers. After US festival screenings, the American film magazine Twitch films picked the movie to head it's top ten list for 2012 and voted Karlsen among the top five new directors to look out for in 2013. The movie was picked to main selections in the international film festivals in Seattle, Emden, Mexico City, Budapest, Prague, Austin and Transylvania. In between season 3 and 4 of DAG, Karlsen directed 4 episodes of the Netflix Original, Lilyhammer, end edited the episodes while writing the Final season of DAG. The TV-series Dag has so far been sold to 19 countries, and opened in August 2016 in the UK to great reviews. The fourth season of DAG, premiered in September 2015 in it's native Norway and was labeled "A giant leap for Norwegian drama" by the country's leading newspaper. In the UK both The Indipendent and the Guardian picked the series on their top 5 shows to air in Britain in 2015 of all series on all channels.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Nils Gaup was born on 12 April 1955 in Kautokeino, Norway. He is a director and actor, known for Pathfinder (1987), Head Above Water (1993) and Pathfinder (2007).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Marius Holst was born on 15 January 1965 in Oslo, Norway. He is a producer and director, known for Ti kniver i hjertet (1994), King of Devil's Island (2010) and Øyenstikker (2001).- Director
- Actor
- Production Manager
Petter Næss was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1960. Originally he worked as a writer, director and actor for the theatre, staging close to 30 productions. In 1997 he was appointed director of Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo New Theatre) and he quickly made a mark for himself promoting contemporary Norwegian plays and focusing on works for young audiences. At the theatre he realized the first staging of "Elling", based upon Ingvar Ambjørnsen's popular book "Brødre i blodet" (Brothers in Blood). The show was a huge success and gained rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
In 1999 Næss made his debut as a film director, with his dark comedy "Absolutt Blåmandag" (Absolute Hangover). Both leads of the movie ended up winning the Amanda Award (at the International Norwegian Film Festival) for best actor and actress in 1999. After the huge success of "Elling" it was just a question of time before it was turned into a feature film, and when "Elling" the movie saw the light of day in 2001 the result was the one of the biggest blockbusters in Norwegian cinema history (roughly 800,000 Norwegians saw the movie - for comparison: there are only 4,2 million people in Norway). "Elling" became an instant favorite and somewhat a modern classic with Norwegian movie-goers and it became the fourth Norwegian film in history to be nominated for the best foreign film Oscar (Academy Award).
Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey soon after bought the rights to re-make "Elling" for American theatres, and the Norwegian original became somewhat a cult hit with audiences around the globe. With "Elling" the "feel-good film" had finally come to Norway, and it struck a nerve with international audiences as well.
In 2003 the success of "Elling" led to Næss signing a deal with 20th Century Fox to direct 3 movies for the traditional production company. Before he began production on the first of these ("Mozart & the Whale" with Josh Hartnett) he proved he also had a rare talent for youth-films, with his Norwegian youth-drama "Bare Bea" (opening in January of 2004). Again the critics were impressed, and with three critical and commercial successes in a row, Petter Næss proved without a shadow of a doubt he was one of the greatest Norwegian filmmakers of his generation.- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
- Writer
Erik Gustavson was born on 24 November 1955 in Oslo, Norway. He is a director and writer, known for Herman (1990), Blackout (1986) and Telegrafisten (1993).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Pål Øie was born on 15 November 1961 in Norway. He is a director and writer, known for Villmark (2003), Hidden (2009) and Dark Woods II (2015).- Director
- Writer
- Casting Director
Maria Sødahl was born on 31 December 1965 in Norway. She is a director and writer, known for Limbo (2010), Hope (2019) and Love & Hate - European Stories 1: Sara (1995). She is married to Hans Petter Moland. They have three children.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Eskil Vogt was born on 31 October 1974 in Oslo, Norway. He is a writer and director, known for The Worst Person in the World (2021), The Innocents (2021) and Thelma (2017).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Gunnar Vikene directed his first feature film, FALLING SKY (HIMMELFALL) in 2002 which received both critical acclaim and was a box-office success. In 2005 he directed all episodes of the TV-series «RAN» - (Gullruten - «Best TV-drama 2005») His following feature films - TRIGGER(2007), VEGAS (2009), and HERE IS HAROLD (2014) - has all received both critical acclaim and a number of international prizes, screening at festivals such as Berlin IFF, Karlovy Vary IFF, Rome IFF, Montreal IFF, Sarajevo Film Festival, Tallinn Black Night Film Festival a.o. He directed 12 episodes of the award winning TV-series «The third eye»(2013-2015), and has directed the first three episodes of «Borderline" Gunnar lives in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway.