Kitchen Stories

Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2003, 95 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

After the end of the Second World War Swedish housing and furniture experts agreed that it was necessary to start manufacturing multipurpose kitchen counters, which would save households time, effort and money. When documenting housekeeping behaviour and habits the scientists from the Institute of Housing Culture crossed geographical and “tribal” borders. At the beginning of the fifties, eighteen observers went to Landstad, a small Norwegian village which boasted an unusually high number of bachelors. For 24 hours a day they observed the bachelors doing kitchen work. The institute equipped the observers with a chair high enough to get a bird’s eye view of the action and with the privilege of coming and going as they pleased, but forbid them to speak with the observed men or to help them cook. Thus prepared, Folke Nilsson entered the house and life of an eccentric fellow named Izak. He kept to the rules and was enthusiastic about his task. The research turned out differently than either man had imagined.

About the director

Bent Hamer (b. 1956, Sandefjord, Norway), director, screenwriter and producer, graduated in film theory and literature from the University of Stockholm, and attended film school in the Swedish capital as well. He is the owner of BulBul Film productions, where all his films have been made. He has been making movies (documentaries and shorts) since the eighties, but his feature debut came in 1995 with Eggs (screened at the 31st KV IFF. His third feature, Kitchen Stories, premiered at this year’s Cannes IFF in the Director’s Fortnight section.