The feature film Armand, the documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, the animated short film Maybe Elephants, and the Palestinian-Norwegian documentary No Other Land have all been shortlisted for Oscar nominations.
"We are incredibly proud and happy that Armand, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Maybe Elephants, and No Other Land have taken an important step closer to an Oscar nomination. Competing with the best films in the world, these Norwegian films and filmmakers have received attention, been seen, and appreciated to the extent that they’ve been voted onto the shortlists. We have great faith that the excellent campaigning will continue and lead to nominations when they are announced on January 17, 2025," says Kjersti Mo, CEO of the Norwegian Film Institute.
“This is huge! I am very proud that Armand has been shortlisted for an Oscar. It has been a fantastic adventure working on this film, and it’s exciting that the journey continues. I want to thank everyone who contributed to making this film what it is. This is a recognition of the hard work of everyone involved,” says Armand director and screenwriter Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel. Armand was shortlisted in the International Feature Film category.
“This is an amazing recognition for the entire team, and especially the Steen family, who so generously shared their lives with us. The coming weeks leading up to the nominations in January will be very exciting. And it’s incredibly fun to see such strong Norwegian representation,” says The Remarkable Life of Ibelin producer Ingvil Giske. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin was shortlisted in the Feature Documentary category.
“To be one of 15 shortlisted animated short films out of 88 Oscar-qualified entries this year is amazing! The film has had a wonderful festival run since its premiere in Annecy in June, and this really gives momentum for the film’s future life,” says director Torill Kove. Maybe Elephants was shortlisted in the Animated Short Film category.
“This is incredible! We are very proud that No Other Land has been shortlisted for an Oscar. The attention the film has received is enormous, and being shortlisted for an Oscar is almost incomprehensible. We want to thank everyone who contributed to making this film. It’s a recognition of hard work and creativity from the entire team. It’s a major achievement and proof that the film is being seen and appreciated,” say Norwegian producers Bård Kjøge Rønning and Fabien Greenberg. No Other Land was shortlisted in the Feature Documentary category.
The shortlists in ten award categories were announced 17 December on the website of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The final Oscar nominations will be announced on Monday, January 17. The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Six Norwegian films have previously been nominated in the category formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film: Nine Lives (1957), Pathfinder (1987), The Other Side of Sunday (1996), Elling (2001), Kon-Tiki (2012), and The Worst Person in the World (2022, including a nomination for Best Original Screenplay). The King's Choice was shortlisted in 2016 and Hope was shortlisted in 2021.
Torill Kove has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film three times – for My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts, The Danish Poet, and Me and My Moulton. She won the Oscar for The Danish Poet in 2007.
Foto: Eye Eye Pictures og Norsk Filmdistribusjon
Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve) is summoned to a parent-teacher meeting on short notice. Her son is accused of something, but what exactly remains unclear. Soon, the principal, a school nurse, and another set of parents become part of a meeting that spirals out of control.
Directed and written by: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Øystein Røger, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Vera Veljovic
Producer: Andrea Berentsen Ottmar for Eye Eye Pictures
Armand received NOK 8,111,625 in development and production grants from the Norwegian Film Institute, including NOK 7,130,000 through the Neo talent program. Additional support came from SFI, NL Film Fund, and Talent Norway. The film is co-produced with Prolaps Produktion (Sweden), Film i Väst (Sweden), Keplerfilm (Netherlands), Zefyr (Norway), and One Two Films (Germany). Its Norwegian distributor is Norsk Filmdistribusjon, and Charades, a French company, is its international sales agent.
The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, where Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel became the first Norwegian to win the Caméra d'Or for best debut feature. It continues to play in Norwegian cinemas and recently won the European Discovery FIPRESCI award at the European Film Awards.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. Photo: Bjørg Engdahl
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin tells the story of gamer Mats Steen, who passed away at just 25 years old due to a muscular disease. His parents mourned what they thought was a lonely and isolated life until they started receiving messages from Mats’ online friends worldwide. The film recreates the vibrant life of Mats’ avatar "Ibelin" in the gaming world, based on real events and dialogue from World of Warcraft.
Directed by Benjamin Ree, known for his previous film The Painter and the Thief (2020), which was the first Norwegian documentary to compete at Sundance. Like The Painter and the Thief, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin also made the Oscar shortlist.
Produced by Ingvil Giske for Medieoperatørene, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin premiered in Norwegian cinemas in March 2024 and later streamed on Netflix worldwide. It received NOK 4.2 million in grants from the Norwegian Film Institute and has won Amanda Awards and prizes at Sundance, Gothenburg, and the European Film Awards.
This animated short film follows three moody teenage daughters, a restless mother, and a potato-wrestling father who, in the 1970s, leave their predictable life in Norway for the eclectic metropolis of Nairobi. Life will never be the same.
The film is a playful, autobiographical look at family life, adolescence, and the therapeutic power of memories, regardless of their reliability.
Directed by Torill Kove, it received NOK 1.8 million in grants from the Norwegian Film Institute. The film is co-produced by Mikrofilm (Lise Fearnley and Tonje Skar Reiersen) and the National Film Board of Canada, both seasoned animation producers who also worked on the award-winning feature Titina (2021).
The film has been screened at festivals in Toronto and Annecy, among others.
No Other Land. Photo: Antipode Films.
No Other Land follows a Palestinian activist who joins forces with an Israeli investigative journalist to challenge Israel's settlement policies that daily displace Palestinians in the West Bank.
Directed by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, and Hamdan Ballal, the film documents the injustice faced by Palestinians over several years, culminating in dramatic developments in the fall of 2023. It is produced by Bård Kjøge Rønning and Fabien Greenberg of Antipode Films.
The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2024, where it won the Berlinale Documentary Award and the Panorama Audience Award. It has also won Audience Awards at festivals such as CPH:DOX, IDFA, and Visions du Réel, as well as Best Documentary at the European Film Awards.
Manager International Relations, Feature Films
Manager International Relations, Documentaries
Manager International Relations, Short Films and Drama Series
