‘Max Manus’ is Norway’s Oscar candidate

Aksel Hennie with directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. Photo: Nfi.no

The Norwegian Oscar committee has selected Max Manus (Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning) as the Norwegian candidate for the Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign-Language Feature. Nominations will be announced on February 2, 2010; the 82nd awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on March 7, 2010.

Also shortlisted for the European Film Awards (which will be decided on December 12), Max Manus recently swept the Amanda awards, Norway’s national film prizes, leaving with seven statuettes. It has also received five Kanon awards from the Norwegian film industry.

Produced by John M Jacobsen (Oscar-nominated for Nils Gaup’s Pathfinder-Ofelas/Veiviseren/1987) and Sveinung Golimo for Filmkameratene, the film has exceeded 1.1 million admissions domestically for Nordisk Filmdistribusjon, to become the best-grossing local release since 1975.

Through TrustNordisk, the WWII story of Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus has been licensed to over 30 countries. After a gala performance in Toronto, it will next month screen at the Hamptons International Film festival (US) and at New York’s Scandinavia House. The Hamburg Film Fest and the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck are also on the schedule.

Source: Norwegian Film Institute