The nominees for Amandus Blikkfang
Photo: «Headless» by Abel Skancke Aarflot
Amandus Blikkfang is the new film festival for Amandusfestivalen, which focuses on studio films and filmmakers from all over the Nordics aged 20-26. The festival was first organized in Lillehammer in September 2021 and is organizing its second edition 8 – 10 September.
The festival has its main focus on the social meetings between young adults interested in film. The cinema hall has been moved to a large backyard tent at the cultural center Fabrikken. This makes it “more down-to-earth and informal than other similar film festivals, but we think it also makes the festival even more memorable,” write the festival managers Eivind M. Nordengen and Stine Marie Solem in a press release.
A selection committee has selected 22 nominated films from 163 entries for a program which is to be “the best of young film production in the Nordics”.
“The films show great breadth in both content, artistic expression and thematics. Here we find both dark and serious stories, to cheerful and humorous films. We find playful productions that look like a professional feature film, but also films that challenge the artistic expressions that can be created with the film format. We think everyone should be able to find something to like in this year’s programme.»
Student films make up the majority. Here we find three of our exam films from The Norwegian Film Schoolas well as two films from the documentary line on The TV school in Lillehammer. Høyskolen Kristiania/Westerdals is also involved in nominations, and in addition we find films from Oslo School of Photography, NTNU and University College in Volda.
Half of this year’s films are from other Nordic countries in Norway. Some of the films are also made outside of film studies.
“It is also amusing to see that there is a good mix of regulars and newcomers on the list of filmmakers,” say Nordengen and Solem. “One of the goals of focusing on an older target group for the Amandus Festival has been to be able to follow filmmakers longer, all the way from their rapid beginnings as a film-interested youth, to a fully trained filmmaker from a film school. We are happy to see that we are succeeding in this.”
IN FLAMES by Sverre Aune (Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin, Germany, Norway) • ALWAYS IN CHARACTER by Lasse Gottlieb (Panorama Academy, Denmark) • APEX POINT by Jacob Møller (The Animation Workshop, Denmark) • BAD LESBIAN by Simone Norberg (Sweden) • CONTINENTAL by Henrik Trøan Schefte, Snorre Johnsen Ulvåg (NTNU, Norway) • DANCE MY DOCKA by Jasmijn Kooijman (HDK Valand, Sweden) • DEATH AT THE BUS STOP by Maja Kjellstad Aanonsen (University of Volda, Norway) • REVIEW by Iain Aigin Stronach Forbes (The Norwegian Film School, Norway) • THE GODS ANIMALITY by Mone Frogg (Norway) • HELLO DEAR MOM by Akiko Ahlstrand (Gothenburg Folk High School, Sweden) • HEADLESS by Abel Skancke Aarflot (Oslo School of Photography, Norway) • SERIOUS HUMOR by Hedda Gundersen Gullikstad (College of Innlandet, Norway) • THE IMMIGRANTS by Filip Emanuel Søgnen Kaloudis (Norway) • KISS ME, NEVER by Anna Eline Friis-Rasmussen (The Danish Film School, Denmark) • COSMOS by Anders Davidsen (The Norwegian Film School, Norway) • REQUEST by Anne Sinéad Hodgers (The Animation Workshop, Denmark) • MY FATHER, THE FISH KING by Julia Ammouri (Stockholms Konstnärliga Högskola, Sweden) • SOMEONE TO HANG OUT WITH by Jesper Vigander Edwin (Westerdals, Norway) • ZERO FIRE by Marius Burkovskis Jacobsen (Norway) • DADDY by Ingrid Marie Røine (Norway) • POLITICAL AUTOIMMUNE by Iver Neset (Norway) • BETRAY by Adrian Blomqvist (Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Finland) • SLURP by Gustav Lillebror Ekander (Skurup Folkhögskola, Sweden) • SUPERDUPER MEGAGAS SINGLE by Håkon Anton Olavsen (The Norwegian Film School, Norway) • SLEEP BENEFITS by Julian Solli (Norway) • TELLS YOU ABOUT: THE BIRDS AND THE BEES, SAGITTARIUS TRAVELING by Pollyanna Popermâjer (Malmö University, Sweden) • THE GENERAL’S ROOM by Georges (The Animation Workshop, Denmark) • THE LAST PICTURE SHOW by Matilda Friman (HDK Valand, Sweden) • NEGRO SPACE PROGRAM ® by Marien Singbo Wa Tata (Sweden) • THE PAPER by Katariina Anna Maria Haukka (Turku AMK, Finland) • TO SHARE AND OWN by Una Solvik Golmen (College of Innlandet, Norway) • UNDER THE MOLDA by Bendik D. Antonsen (Westerdals, Norway) • UNIT OF RESISTANCE by Alfred Hedbratt (HDK Valand, Sweden)