The programme for the inaugural Stavanger Film Festival has now been released. Audiences can look forward to a wide range of cinematic experiences when the curtain rises at ODEON Cinema Stavanger at Sølvberget. The festival opens with Agnes Against the World on Thursday, March 12th, and concludes with Maria Sødahl’s award-winning drama The Last Resort on Sunday, March 15th.
The festival marks a new milestone for the cultural city of Stavanger. The programme spans everything from local Rogaland gems and new Norwegian releases to international heavyweights from the festivals in Cannes and Berlin.
A personal dream of cinematic community
For Festival and Head of Programming Tonje Hardersen, the launch represents the culmination of a lifelong love of the magic of cinema.
– Being able to welcome audiences to a film festival in Stavanger feels like a dream come true, says Tonje Hardersen. – Ever since I was a child in the 1980s, sitting on gym benches in the bomb shelter at the temporary Mosvoll School 2 in Tjensvoll watching 16mm films, I have loved experiencing film as part of a shared community. This festival is about celebrating cinema and offering audiences powerful experiences from around the world. And I can guarantee far greater comfort at the wonderful ODEON Cinema Stavanger at Sølvberget than what we experienced back in Tjensvoll, she adds with a smile.
The Last Resort is the closing film
The festival will have a powerful finale on Sunday evening with a preview screening of Maria Sødahl’s new film The Last Resort. The film recently won the prestigious Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Göteborg Film Festival. It is a moving drama about human dignity and social responsibility, following a family on holiday whose moral boundaries are tested when their idyllic surroundings begin to crack. Stavanger-based Per Kjerstad appears in one of the roles.
– I am very pleased to include The Last Resort in our programme. Maria Sødahl has delivered an incredibly timely and important film that is both moving and truly deserves the big screen. Having such a strong closing film for the festival means a great deal to us, says Hardersen.
Local focus and red carpet
The opening film on Thursday is the dramedy Agnes Against the World. Director David Berget and members of the cast will walk the red carpet ahead of the premiere. As a tribute to the regional film community, the visually striking Jellyfish by Frida Feline Nilsen will be screened as a short before the feature.
Even before the official opening, cinema halls will be filled with several thousand schoolchildren from Stavanger and Sandnes through Den kulturelle skolesekken.
The full programme is available here.
About the Norwegian International Film Festival
Established in 1973, the Norwegian International Film Festival is the country’s oldest film festival and a central meeting place for Norwegian and Nordic film. The festival is internationally recognised and is responsible for the Amanda Awards and the industry platform New Nordic Films.
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