Netflix Utøya film okayed
A film about the July 22, 2011, terror attacks will begin filming this fall
The Local
A film about the July 22 terror attacks carried out by right-wing extremist Anders Breivik in Oslo and on the island of Utøya will be produced by streaming giant Netflix.
English director Paul Greengrass will direct the film, writes deadline.com.
The film will, according to the report, use Norwegian actors and has a budget of $20 million (155 million kroner). Preparations have already begun for filming, which is scheduled to take place during the autumn.
In February this year, newspaper Bergens Tidende reported that Greengrass would collaborate with Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad on the film.
“Åsne’s book En av oss [One of Us] was a thorough piece of work that made a deep impression on me. She conveyed the truth about what happened and how those involved experienced the atrocities,” Greengrass told the newspaper.
Seierstad told Bergens Tidende in February that she had spoken with a national support group established after the July 22, 2011, atrocity.
“A film can be very hard for many people no matter what, because the wounds are still open. That’s why I contacted the support group and those involved in the book. It’s important that they think a film is the right thing to do now for it to go ahead,” she said.
Greengrass is known for film dramatizations of real-life events. He won a Golden Bear award at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival for the film Bloody Sunday about the 1972 shootings in Northern Ireland.
He also directed Captain Phillips (2013), about a ship hijacked by Somali pirates; Green Zone (2010) about the 2003 invasion of Baghdad; and United 93 (2006), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Director.
Other films he has directed include three in the Bourne action-thriller series.
This article was originally published on The Local.
It also appeared in the Sept. 8, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
