Norsk filminstitutt

This 3D film project about the soul of buildings allows six iconic and very different buildings to speak for themselves, examining human life from the unblinking perspective of a manmade structure. Six acclaimed filmmakers bring their own visual style and artistic approach to the project. Buildings, they show us, are material manifestations of human thought and action.

Cathedrals of Culture  explores how each of these landmarks a concert hall, a library, a research institute, a prison, a cultural center and an opera house reflects our culture and guards our collective memory.

Production and distribution

Production Year:
2014
Production country:
Germany
Co production country:
France
Denmark
USA
Norway
Release date (international):
2014-02-10
Production company:
Neue Road Movies
Co production company:
Les Films d’Ici
Final Cut for Real
Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia
Lotus Film
WOWOW
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg
Mer Film AS
Executive producer:
Wim Wenders
Producer:
Gian-Piero Ringel
Erwin M. Schmidt
Co producer:
Maria Ekerhovd
Sales agent:
Cinephil - Distribution & Co-Productions

Director

  • Michael Madsen

    Born 1971, Denmark. Conceptual artist, director of documentaries, and works also within music, art and sound production.

    Michael Madsen made the awardwinning To Damascus - a Film on Interpretation (2005). Madsen's film about a depository for nuclear waste Into Eternity (2009) was winner of CPH:DOX Audience Award, IDFA's Green Screen Award, and the Grand Prix at Visions du Réel in Nyon, along with a dozen more international awards.

    Michael Madsen
  • Margreth Olin

    Margreth Olin (b. 1970) studied media and mass communication at the University of Bergen and the University of Oslo, and media, journalism, and documentary filmmaking at Volda University College. She made her debut as a documentary filmmaker with her graduation film In the House of Love in 1994. 

    Her first feature-length documentary, In the House of Angels (1998), garnered Olin (among several other awards) her first National Film Award Amanda for Best Documentary in 1999. She has since written and directed several award-winning documentaries, including My Body (2002) and the feature-length documentaries Raw Youth (2004), Nowhere Home (2012), and Self Portrait (2020). Among many other awards and accolades, My Body won Olin her second Amanda for Best Documentary in 2002, while Raw Youth was nominated for the same award, as well as for the European Film Awards in 2005. Both Nowhere Home and Self Portrait won the Amanda for Best Documentary,   

    Olin has also directed fiction films, making her debut in this field with the short film Gluttony, as part of the portmanteau film The Seven Deadly Sins in 2000. Her first feature fiction film, The Angel, premiered in 2009 and was another tour de force from Olin, winning over the critics, audience and award-juries alike. The highly acclaimed drama was also selected as the Norwegian candidate for the 2010 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.    

    Olin is the managing director of Norwegian production company Speranza Film AS, producing shorts, feature films, and television series. She is also a highly sought-after lecturer, both in Norway and abroad, often focusing on topics from her films, and techniques of storytelling.  

    Margreth Olin

Festivals

2014:
Berlin International Film Festival
2014:
The Norwegian Documentary Film Festival
2014:
Docville International Documentary Film Festival
2014:
DOK.fest - München International Documentary Film Festival
2014:
Planete+ Doc Film Festival

Crew

Director:
Michael Glawogger
Karim Ainouz
Robert Redford
Michael Madsen
Wim Wenders
Margreth Olin

Technical information

Colour:
Colour
Length in min's:
156'

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