Norwegian Film Institute backs Terje Rangnes’ debut

Director Terje Rangnes. Photo: nfi.no

Norwegian director Terje Rangnes’ feature debut, An Ordinary Day at Work (En helt vanlig dag på jobben), about the daily life of an unscrupulous journalist, will be backed by $1.4m (NOK 9m) from the Norwegian Film Institute. 

The $2.7m (NOK 17.6m) film is based on the 2006 book by Håvard Melnæs, which describes his time as a journalist at Norway’s biggest weekly magazine, Se & Hør. The script is being developed by Erlend Loe and it will be produced by Ørjan Karlsen for Folk Flest Filmproduksjon. 

The film will detail how Melnæs became the top reporter at Norway’s biggest weekly magazine. It will look at his methods, including cheque-book journalism, and his fake friendship with the ageing father of Norway’s crown princess, Mette Marit.

The director, the scriptwriter and the producer have prevously worked together on Utopia – Nobody is Perfect in the Perfect Country (Folk flest

bor i Kina), produced by Norwegian production company Motlys. Rangnes has directed several shorts and television series.

Yet to be casted, An Ordinary Day at Work – which is also the first feature from Folk Flest Filmproduksjon – will shoot from August 25, and the Norwegian première has been scheduled for the autumn of 2010, through SF Norge.

The Norwegian Film Institute also granted production support for two local shorts and Cold Race (Kaldt kappløp), a television series about the international fight for Antarctica resources, produced by Nordisk Film & TV for Norway’s NRK.

Source: Screen Daily.com (Jorn Rossing Jensen)