Vibeke Løkkeberg, seated to the right, in The Long Road To The Director's Chair. Photo: bpk/Abisag Tüllmann
Vibeke Løkkeberg's documentary feature The Long Road to the Director's Chair has been invited to the Forum section at the Berlin International Film Festival (February 13–25).
In November 1973, the young Vibeke Løkkeberg travelled with a film crew to the first international women’s film seminar at the Kino Arsenal in Berlin, to screen her documentary film Abort and to document the event.
The footage, shot on 16mm with external sound recording, was put aside and only recently rediscovered by the National Library of Norway. The footage has recently been restored, resulting in the documentary feature The Long Road to the Director's Chair, directed by Vibeke Løkkeberg and produced by Norway Film Development, Viafilm og Centralfilm, with Anders Tangen as producer.
– I am deeply grateful to the National Library for discovering this 1973 film in their archives, and to my producer Anders Tangen, who has finally made it possible to bring this movie to life, says Vibeke Løkkeberg.
Through interviews with female filmmakers, the film offers an inspiring journey through ambition, courage, and the struggle for equality.
Vibeke Løkkeberg is one of Norway's most acclaimed directors, and her 80th birthday on January 22 will be celebrated at the national Cinemateque in Oslo with a special screening of her 1981 film Løperjenten.
Vibeke Løkkebergs previous film was the documentary Tears of Gaza (2010).
The programmes of the Berlinale Forum and Forum Expanded aim to expand the understanding of what film is, to test the boundaries of convention and open up fresh perspectives to help grasp cinema and how it relates to the world in new ways. The programmes can include anything that serves these ends: contemporary and historical, analogue and digital film, installation art, performance and music.
The Forum and Forum Expanded are programmes independently curated and organised by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art as part of the Berlinale. The Løkkeberg film is closely tied to the Arsenal venue, as this was where the original 1973 recordings were made.
The annual selection of around 40 films for the Forum focuses on contemporary international cinema productions and eschews conventional distinctions, such as that between fiction film and documentary.
Manager International Relations, Documentaries
Manager International Relations, Feature Films
