Tonje Hessen Schei
Tonje Hessen Schei (b. 1971) is an award-winning documentary director whose films take on international issues that questions systems of power that shape our world. With political thrillers
Tonje has investigated the CIAs drone war, the artificial intelligence revolution, and the consequences of the influence of Evangelical fundamentalists in the US.
Tonje is the director of Praying for Armageddon, a political thriller on the fundamentalist U.S. Evangelical´s power and influence as they work to speed up the end times and fulfill the Armageddon prophecy. The film is to be released early 2023.
Tonje is the director of iHUMAN, a political thriller from the inside of the AI revolution, which premiered at IDFA 2019, with sold-out theaters and a Doc Talk with Edward Snowden. iHUMAN won Best Norwegian Documentary at HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival, 2020. The film had special high level panel debates at the Berlinale and Cannes 2019 and has screened at the UN and EU. iHUMAN has been selected for major international film festivals, including Black Nights Film Festival, CPH:DOX and HotDocs 2020. iHUMAN qualified for the Oscar run 2020.
Tonje directed Drone, a documentary on the secret CIA drone warfare. Drone received the award as Most Valuable Documentary of the Year at Cinema for Peace in Berlin. Drone won the Amanda award, the Norwegian Oscar equivalent, and Gullruten, the Norwegian Emmy, for Best Documentary 2015. Drone was on Netflix.
Tonje directed and produced Play Again and Independent Intervention, which both won several international awards. The films have been screened on all continents in over 100 countries and are used by schools and universities globally.
In Norway, Tonje worked for NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (2005-2006), and she was the Festival Director of Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival (2011). Tonje did a TEDx on Gaming as War in 2016.
Tonje has been featured in national and international media. Including national television broadcast and national newspapers. Internationally media includes BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Vice, Wired, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now! and many more. Tonje is the recipient of The Chicken and Egg Award 2020.
