North

Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2008, 78 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Robust Jomar was once a successful athlete, but he shut himself off from the rest of the world after suffering a mental breakdown. The film, which its creators characterize as "an anti-depressive off-road movie,” uses gentle humor to portray Jomar’s journey to see a son whom he has never met. Along the way, he meets other individuals who are just as confused and lonely as he: a girl who lives alone with her grandmother in the middle of nowhere, a young excavator driver who is terrified of gays (but has invented a wonderful recipe for a guaranteed cheap drunk using tampons), and an old man humbly waiting for a dignified departure. Each new encounter gives Jomar the strength to carry on, and to face, as he nears the end of his journey, the things in life he fled from. Director Rune Denstad Langlo, a rising star of Scandinavian cinema, bets on a string of original jokes in combination with a certain melancholy and the beauty of the snowy arctic landscape. Another prime asset is Anders Baasmo Christiansen’s excellent performance as the hapless Jomar.

About the director

Rune Denstad Langlo (b. 1972) gained attention with two documentaries successfully screened in Norwegian theaters: Too Much Norway (Alt for Norge, 2005) and 99% Honest (99% ærlig, 2008) featuring the hip-hop group Forente Minoriterer. The latter film, which went into domestic distribution last year and was shown in the Czech Republic at the One World festival, earned Langlo the prestigious Kanon Award (Norwegian national award) for Discovery of the Year. His feature directorial debut, the comedy North, is celebrating one festival success after another: at the Berlinale it took the Europa Cinemas Label Award and the FIPRESCI Prize in the Panorama section, as well as an award from the recent Tribeca festival in New York. Currently, Langlo is engaged as a director and producer at Motlys productions, and is working on his next film, the comedy Nater.