As a country that gained independence from Sweden in 1905, the Norway films industry began with production versions produced by Hugo Hermansen from 1906 to 1908. Its first film production was the film Dangers of a Fisherman’s Life. Until World War II, Norwegian movies based their productions on narratives based on outdoor scenarios of the 1930s, mostly referred to as the Golden Age of Norwegian films. With numerous reforms, censorship, and freedom, Norwegian movies experienced different trends, with a boom in the production of documentary films. By the mid-60s and 70s, it took a pivotal direction incorporating social realism and applying US aesthetics to gain international success. During these revolutions, Norway gained paramount film directors, actors, and artists that shaped the Norwegian film industry.
Bent Hamer ((1956) tops the list of the most famous Norwegian film directors. His background study of literature and film theory introduced him to the world of cinema, directing his first film, Eggs, in 1995. In addition, he directed short films and wrote scripts for documentaries during his early career life. Throughout his career, he won many awards that encouraged his style of production and handling. Later in 2003, Hamer directed the Kitchen Stories film that employed foreign aesthetics to capture the international festivals. A year later, Bent Hamer started producing and shooting the renowned film Factotum, basing his narrative on the novel of the same name. His main achievement in the film industry was the founding of BulBul Film Associated, which helped upcoming actors in Oslo. Some of his best work includes films such as Home for Christmas (2010), The Middle Man (2021), and Water Easy Reach (1998) (Skopal & Winkel 2021). He also directed short films such as Stone (1992) and Longitude Latitude (1989).
The second most famous film director is Hans Petter Moland, born in 1955. He gained fame for major awards in commercials before he directed his debut film in 1993, featuring The Last Lieutenant. He later followed up his quest by directing Zero Kelvin (1995), Aberdeen (2000), and the Beautiful Country, directed in 2004. Most of his film productions were selected for competitions in berlin. He also directed short films such as United We Stand, which received several awards in major festivals during his tenure. His known collaboration with fellow directors and actors made him famous, which helped him collect fresh ideas and insight into film production satisfactory to the changing audiences.
Born in 1960, Erik Poppe is considered the father of Scandinavian films. He is recognized as the most compelling and experienced film director for how he worked on multi-pronged narrations and actors. He displays unique cinematography in his films embedded with sharp writings, sharp camera shots and angles, rhythm in music, and perfect editing and cutting of scenes. Poppe is best known for directing critically acclaimed films such as Hawaii and Oslo of 2004, The Kings Choice (2016), A Thousand Times Good Night (2013), and Utoya (2016). In addition, he collaborated with Bent Hammer in producing Eggs films in 1995. He won the Kodak Award and the Cinematographer of the year award during his tenure. He later announced his retirement from the Norwegian film industry after winning the Kodak Award.
Ivo Caprino (1920-2001) tops the most famous Norwegian film directors. Caprino helped his mother in the 1940s to design puppets for theaters, something that inspired him to recreate the scenes to produce a film. With inspiration, he used surplus puppets to create his first animation film, Tim and Toffe (1948). Known for his good puppet films, Caprino later directed 15 minutes films Veslefrik med Fella and Karius og Baktus. Furthermore, he incorporated innovation in his puppet films that entailed real-time controlling puppet movements. His movies received positive reviews in Norway, and he became a celebrity with time. However, he later switched to stop-motion film production (Rysstad 2019). Adding to the short films, Caprino took a bold step in producing advertising films with puppets. He featured a live-action film Ugler I Mosen, and a feature film about Petr Christen Asbjornsen. He is regarded as the founder of cinema in Norway, with the ability to recreate puppets into comedy films.
Erick Skjoldbjaerg, born in 1964, is another famous director known for directing and co-writing the film Insomnia and the upcoming Narvik (2021). As a director, he oversaw several films, such as Prozac Nation (2001), Nokas (2010), and Pioner (2013) Skolen TV series (2014).
Norway has produced so much talented actors recognized internationally over the years. Kristofer Hivju tops the most famous list in Hollywood, best known for his cynical roles in Game of Thrones, acting as Tormund Giantbane, and featuring in The Witcher as Nivellen. Hivju has prospered in his career, becoming known in the 2001 television series Fox Gronland. He attests to a role that captivates and entertains his audiences, hence the fame and prosperity. He is mostly known for featuring in television series roles from medieval times. He is also known for his roles in the films Operational Arctic and The Last King.
Ingrid Boslo Berdal is another talented Norwegian actress playing the lead of a strong woman in the Westworld television series. She is also one of the most decorated actresses, having gained the Amanda Award for her role in the Cold Prey film (Werenskjold 2019). In addition, Ingrid is well known as the scary within the film Hansel and Gretel and the female warrior in the Hercules movie.
Liv Ullman, though born in Japan, is of Norwegian descent. She tops the list of one of the best European actresses, with a decades-long prosperous career in the acting industry. She won the Golden Globe award for the best actress in the film The Emigrants. She has been nominated for four awards to receive the Honorary Academic Award. Liv Ullman has starred in many movies, such as Cries and Whispers, The Passion of Hanna, and Scenes from Marriage. To add to her fame, Ullman is also the director of Sofie, Kristin, and Trolosa films.
Natassia Malthe, a famous Norwegian actress, has featured in high-end action movies, television shows, and games. She featured in the marvel book role in Elektra film as mutant zero. She has also starred in the SCI-FI series Knights and Bloodsteel. Natassia fits well with action roles, playing the lead role in the electric BlodRyne movie.
Norway has boosted fame in the number of artists over the years. Astrid Smeplass won her first award on the Norwegian screens in the programme Idol. She holds a record of most tours across Europe and the United States, with part of her music included in the SKAM television series. Her recent collaboration with Katy Perry boosted her fame.
Dagny, a Norwegian artist from Tromso, also tops the most famous artists. He has enjoyed pop success in Norway, with his music incorporated in most films. From his early days of rising in the music industry, the artist produced an acoustic version of the Backbeat song featured in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy television series.
John Erik Kaada is a renowned artist who runs a lasting collaboration with Norwegian director Bent Hamer. He completed his third film score in 2103 for Hamer in the film 1001 Grams. His extensive movie soundtracks are prolific, considering his ties with the film industry. In addition, his soundtrack featured in the 2014 blockbuster La Liste de Mes Envies.
Among other prominent artists is Jose Gonzalez, whose sound tracks featured in the 213 films The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Olafur Arnalds is another artist who has contributed much to the film industry. His songs featured in films like The Hunger Games and the 2013 Gimme Shelter.
The Norwegian film industry surpasses most Hollywood industries because of their renewed interest in producing the best films in the entertainment industry (Iversen 2020). Directors ranging from Bent Hamer form a collaboration with actors and artists that produces phenomenal cinematography. Making films requires the incorporation of soundtracks, rhythms, and music to enable the continuity and flow of mise-en-scenes. In addition, most film directors dedicate roles to actors that bring out the best of them in front of screens. The connection between the three is a vital production process, with all relying on each other for productivity. More so, actors and artists play a bigger role in providing a rhythmic flow in the production of films (Dancus 2020). All three are intertwined in some way, hence the formidable connection.
Norwegian film history has revolutionized over the decades. Prominent directors such as Bent Hamer have borrowed from other aesthetics, such as from Europe, in trying to modify their film history. The Norwegian film industry boosts great actors, artists, and directors internationally. Furthermore, over the years, Norway has produced the best films in Hollywood, taking their film light to global levels.
Art History Norway
The economic decline and growth, political upheavals, depopulation, war, and uncertain identities shaped the Scandinavian history of the Norwegians. The hardships experienced in the mid-1800 shaped the history of most Norway artists and art as it began to decline, with many low-income families causing a decline in art education and training. The difficulties forced the Norwegians to fall under the southern European students, which allowed them lower access to successful careers in the 18th century. However, from the early 19th century, the Norwegian artwork took a different shape castigated with emotional captures of its people, captured by the isolation and beauty, the cold environments not witnessed before, and the wilderness. Much of Norwegian art history owes so much to the early 18th and 19th century’s discoveries, as it explored the innermost attainments in the current art history.
Norway has produced one of the most talented directors in art history, with most of the cultivating directors competing with Western education. One of the most renowned directors of Norway, Herald Sohlberg (1869-1935), produced a mastery of its class. In collaboration with Dulwich Picture Gallery, herald presented his first exhibition of a landscape painting, ever considered one of the most exquisite arts in Norwegian history. Born in 1869 in Kristiana, the modern-day Oslo, the director trained as a decorative art painter before embarking on studies with famous artists such as Erik Werenskiold and Harriet Backer. He later went to art school in Copenhagen, encountering the great art of Paul Gaugin and other Synethetist artists and Symbolists.
Anja Breien was also a famous director in Norway in the 70s, directing Hustruer, influenced by the auteur concepts (Ford et al. 2021). The nature in which she incorporated modern artistic knowledge by embedding roles as creative artists gained her fame. Together with Lokkerbeg, they marked the 70’s ideas that art was meant to be socio-critical and political. Their ability to address social problems through art, such as abortion, attracted international attention, hence owning to their artistic fame. In addition, Norwegian history was going through issues of female oppression and incest, which director Anja addressed through her display of paintings. However, as time progressed, the director received criticism from international critics, questioning whether a Scandinavian or Bergman.
Another renowned director in Norwegian history was Stein Olav Munch Hencrishen, a director at Munch Museum. Born in 1954 in Elverum, Stein trained as a famous musician and later joined the arts management as a director in the Bergen National Opera. His appreciation for visual arts and music from an early age, playing instruments like saxophones and clarinets, picked up his career. His early musical background and discipline made him be most of the best Norwegian artist directors. Furthermore, with the management of the Much Museum, he holds a record of the largest collection of over 28000 collections of art. As a prolific artist, he donated almost 18000 prints, 1150 paintings, and 7700 drawings to the munch Museum. Among his most directed pictures is the Scream, the second most famous image after Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.
To add to the list, director ShangArt of the Astrup Museum tops one of the most famous directors in Norwegian history. The director accompanies himself with the collection of Norwegian contemporary art, with notable exhibitions such as Leonard Rickhard’s Soft Whisper collection (Engqvist & Möntmann 2018). In addition, the director focused most of his work on contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, expanding the Norwegian artistic culture to include other international artists and arts.
Norway takes pride in producing the most influential and famous actors in art history. Frits Thaulow (1847-1906) was an impressionist painter renowned for his neutrality in depicting landscapes. Born and educated in Copenhagen arts, he rose into ranks as one of the most influential painters in Norwegian history. With the influence of Christian Krohg, he produced creative arts such as the Portrait of Fredrick Collet (1875), A River (1883), Norsk Vinterlanskap (1890), Ponte Pietra, Verona (1894), among many more.
Christian Krohg (1852-1925) also tops the list of Norwegian natural painters, authors, journalists, and illustrators. Inspired by the art of realism and movement, Christian focused most of his artwork on motifs. With his eloquent experience in noticing realism, he rose to be a director and artistic actor in history. Among his famous portraits include Portrait of the Pinter Gerhard Munthe, Oda Krohg (1888), Selvportertt med Staffie (1912), and the Haret Flettes (1882).
Thorolf Holmboe (1866-1935) was another artistic actor embarking on impressionism, naturalism, and neo-romanticism in most of his work. With the experience of experiencing contemporary art from France, he exhibited a re-emergence in artistic culture, applying many different points in his career. He represented thirteen works in the Norwegian Gallery of Norway that showed exemplary talent and performance.
Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928) was a modernist painter with distinct innovation and artistic principles. His use of color to depict lush landscapes within the Vestlandet in their traditional settings made him a recognizable actor. One of his greatest works includes St. Hansabel ved Jolstervatnet (1909), Portrait of Nikolai (1879-1933), and Henrik Lund (1879-1935).
Norwegian art history boosts for its famous artists produced since the early 18th century. Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) tops the list as a Norwegian theater director and playwright. He is mostly referred to as the father of realism based on his notions of modernism in art (Røssaak 2018). Having a history of the most influential playwrights of his time, his major works included Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Brand, The Master Builder, When We Dead Awaken, and Rosmersholm. Furthermore, his early cinematic play Peer Gynt containing formidable surreal elements earned him his poetic power in the history of the art.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) also sits at the top of the Norwegian artists. Being a natural pianist and composer, he focused on romantic composure, with his standards classical taking over the industry. Edvard is regarded as one of the most celebrated artists who brought Norwegian music and art to international consciousness. In Bergen, his statue is still celebrated, depicting his cultural identity and imagery named after him.
Moreover, Theodor Severin Kittelsen (1857-1914) was one of the most popular artists in Norwegian history. He became famous because his illustrations and paintings focused solely on legends and fairy tales targeting trolls. His style encompassing Neo-Romantic naïve paintings earned high respect in Norway but failed to gain international attention. More so, his ability to incorporate cultural references in his work, such as folk and black metal in his paintings, earned him fame. However, his name is not included in the international recognition of artists and painters for being native.
Marianne Heske stands out as one of Norway’s most prominent contemporary visual arts. Her ability to manipulate and install video landscapes capturing the real power of nature and its relations to it makes her exemplary. One of his most renowned video paintings, Mountains of the Mind, offers a unique technique where she takes still images printed on silk. The vibrant colors of Granite Mountain over the water evoke a magical nature in childhood. Standing tall in a career filled with men, Marianne proved his love for art to become one of the most famous artists in Norwegian history.
Reidar Aulie stands out also as a prominent artist for his ability to capture imagery and painting amid the political life of the 20th century in Norway (Philip 2018). How she captured the labor movements’ struggles, and numerous peace movements gave him his recognition. Reidar was regarded as the most productive artist in World War II during Norway’s occupation, something she fiercely opposed. His Lithograph imagery gained widespread recognition for its ability to capture the struggles during Norwegian political history. In addition, the deep meaning embedded in her imagery and painting depicted solace and the spirit of hope during World War II.
Norwegian art history features a mural by renowned artists, plays by actors, and management by directors that cover important parts of their histories, cultures, or social lives. The art industry focuses on capturing important moments in history while ensuring that future generations have something to remember of their past. All the Norwegian wide range of mediums depicted in museums, statues, and paintings contain compelling and vibrant tapestries containing values, history, and traditions. They all try to make sense of the human experience through their artistic expressions, whether carvings from the 18th century or the vibrant 21st-century mural in Oslo. Furthermore, the connection between the directors to artists comes out in representing and keeping the history, values, and morals of the Norwegians alive. Most paintings, imagery, and sculptures protect and preserve the remaining historical perspectives. Directors ensure that the proper preservation means are employed, while artists provide the produce arts that matter to the Norwegian way of life.
Norway is a nation blessed with rich historical, cultural, and neo-romance artists, directors, and actors (Sasser, 2022). With the art industry’s immense work, most artists and actors have risen to top heights locally and internationally. The unique way of depicting and protecting their art goes a long way in ensuring that the historical and cultural aspects are passed on to upcoming generations.
Phoenix Melville is a British-French director, writer and artist.
