Nokas

Colour, 35 mm
Norway, 2010, 95 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Nokas is the abbreviation for the central cash service Norsk Kontantservice, which delivers money to Norwegian banks. On the 5th of April 2004, eleven armed men  stormed the company building in the Norwegian city of Stavanger. The men had given themselves eight minutes to carry out the robbery and take off before the police arrived. But nothing went according to plan: a gun battle ensued and human life was sacrificed in the crossfire. The fate of most of these involved is well-known today, but it doesn’t change the fact that, of the stolen 57 million Norwegian crowns, 51 million is still unaccounted for. The circumstances surrounding the biggest robbery in Norwegian history are described by director Erik Skjoldbjærg with the chilling detachment characteristic for his thriller Insomnia (1997). The events are seen through the eyes of those who were directly involved – the bank robbers, police officers and employees of the firm. The film is based on testimonies of eye-witnesses and unfolds in the places where the attack took place.

About the director

Erik Skjoldbjærg (b. 1964, Tromsø, Norway) was hailed for his short film Traces (Spor, 1996), yet it was a year later that he received instant recognition on the international scene for his remarkably stylised, chillingly dark crime thriller Insomnia (1997), featuring Stellan Skarsgård in the lead role. Five years later director Christopher Nolan came up with an American remake of the film. Skjoldbjærg embarked upon an American-German coproduction in the USA for the psychological drama Prozac Nation (2001) starring Christina Ricci, although he didn’t pursue a career in Hollywood. He returned to his native Norway, where he worked primarily in television (the series "Skolen,” 2004; mini-series "Størst av alt,” 2007). He also created a loose adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s drama An Enemy of the People (En folkefiende, 2005).