Norsk filminstitutt

The politician Trond Giske was for many years the “crown prince” of the Norwegian Labour Party. But when his party loses popularity and the #MeToo movement raises awareness about sexual harassment, the tide turns for the once-so-popular Giske. Long-standing rumours of inappropriate behavior towards young party members is thrown into sharp relief when a number of women accuse him in public of sexual assault. The flood of media attention, leaked videos and testimonials, and the ensuing political power struggle, bring about his downfall.
 

But Giske, now in his fifties, is not prepared to give up: he travels the country in a self-refurbished caravan painted red to convince his voters that he deserves a second chance. Filmmaker Håvard Bustnes follows him in this tour, while at the same time interviewing politicians and journalists who look back on the political drama – making quite a contrast with Giske calmly discussing his political objectives with his supporters in his caravan. Meanwhile, Bustnes wrestles to understand how he himself has become an object of Giske’s game of power and seduced into this political world of grooming, gaslighting and manipulation  

Production and distribution

Production Year:
2021
Production country:
Norway
Release date (national):
2022-03-11
Release date (international):
2021-11-21
Production company:
Up North Film AS
Financing company:
Norwegian Film Institute
Filminvest AS
Midtnorsk filmsenter
Fond for lyd og bilde
Fritt Ord Foundation
Producer:
Ingrid Aune Falch
Christian Aune Falch
Håvard Bustnes
Film consultant:
Klara Nilsson Grunning

Director

  • Håvard Bustnes

    Håvard Bustnes  (b. 1973) is an award-winning director and producer. His latest feature-length film Name of the Game premiered in the IDFA Frontlight section in November 2021, has been selected to several other film festivals worldwide and won the Norwegian «Emmy award» Gullruten. His previous film Golden Dawn Girls premiered in the IDFA Competition for Feature- Length Documentary in November 2017, was selected to more than 50 film festivals, and won the Human International Documentary Film Festival, One World Brussels and Nordic/ Docs. 

    Other films include Behind the Mask, Two Raging Grannies, Health Factory and Big John. The feature documentary Big John won the (Norwegian «Oscar») Amanda Award for best theatrical documentary, the Best Nordic Documentary Prize at Nordic Panorama and several other awards.  

    Håvard Bustnes

Awards

2023:
Nominated for the National Television Award Gullruten for Best Documentary

Festivals

2021:
IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
2022:
FIPADOC - International Documentary Film Festival
2022:
TIFF - Tromsø International Film Festival
2022:
Göteborg International Film Festival
2022:
Human International Documentary Film Festival
2022:
Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival
2022:
CPH:DOX
2022:
Docville International Documentary Film Festival
2022:
The Norwegian Documentary Film Festival
2022:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
2022:
Watch Docs - Human Rights in Film Warsaw

Crew

Director:
Håvard Bustnes
Cinematographer:
Karl Erik Brøndbo
Viggo Knudsen
Øystein Eldholm
Åsmund Hasli
Editor:
Torkel Gjørv
Composer:
Jonas Colstrup
Sound Recording:
Håvard Bustnes
Sound Design:
Håkon Lammetun
Animator:
Chris Caswell
Narrator:
Håvard Bustnes
Sound engineer:
Matias Frøystad

Technical information

Format:
DCP 2k
Colour:
Colour
Length in min's:
101'
Language:
Norwegian
Subtitles:
English

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