section Facing the Fear – Cinematic reflections on terror, trauma and resistance

UTØYA JULY 22

Erik Poppe
NO
2018
93

This feature film depicts the appalling moments during the right-wing terrorist attack on a holiday camp in Norway on July 22, 2011. Whilst eschewing any sensationalisation of the events, it speaks both hauntingly and powerfully from the perspective of the victims.

Kaja spends a few summer days with her little sister at a holiday camp on the small island of Utøya. The news of an attack in Oslo unsettles the youngsters - and suddenly shots are fired. A fight for survival begins. The following 72 minutes, captured in a single shot, follow the events that cost the lives of 69 people - children and adolescents - and deeply shocked Norwegian society. Director Erik Poppe forgoes music and refrains from staging scenes featuring either explicit violence or the perpetrator in an intimate portrayal that brings us as close as possible to the emotions and thoughts of those who were exposed to such an unthinkable situation. Several of the survivors served as advisors to the film crew during both the production and filming.

Text: Merlin Webers
English: Peter Rickerby

Credits

original title UTØYA JULY 22

international title UTØYA JULY 22

german title UTØYA JULY 22

JFBB section Facing the Fear – Cinematic reflections on terror, trauma and resistance

director Erik Poppe

country/countries NO

year 2018

duration 93

Erik Poppe

BIO Erik Poppe is one of Norway's most renowned directors, celebrated by audiences and critics alike. Born in Oslo in 1960, Poppe began his career as a press photographer and has received several awards for his work. After studying at the Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm, he worked as a cameraman on various feature films before making his directorial debut in 1998 with SCHPAAA, which was shown in the Panorama section of the Berlinale in 1999. The film marks the first part of his multi-award-winning Oslo trilogy. For the second part, HAWAII, OSLO, he was awarded the Norwegian film prize Amanda in 2005. He completed the series in 2008 with TROUBLED WATER, which was the first film in the history of the Hamptons International Film Festival to win both the Audience Award and the Best Film Award. His film THE KING'S CHOICE - ATTACK ON NORWAY was shortlisted for the Oscar® in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2017. With UTØYA 22 JULY, Erik Poppe was invited to compete at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival. Erik Poppe is the only director to have won the Norwegian Film Critics Award four times.

Credits

performances