There is one month left until Amandus Blikkfang takes place for the fourth time, and after spending the summer reviewing nearly 300 submitted film entries, we are finally able to present this year’s nominated films.
272 films have been narrowed down to 35, and it has been a tough job to distill them to these final selections.
“We could have easily created a program twice the size,” says the new festival director, Eivind M. Nordengen. The quality of many of the submitted entries was so high that it was almost heartbreaking to have to say no to so many fantastic contributions. But we are convinced that we have put together a program that will engage, inspire, and perhaps even provoke a little.
Among the nominated films, there is, as usual, a large majority of fiction films, which also reflects the submissions. However, the program includes seven animated films and seven documentaries, with a wide range of themes, genres, and cinematic expressions. There is also a good mix of films from Norway and other Nordic countries, giving the festival a strong Nordic perspective.
This year, in fact, there is a majority of female directors among the films: 19 of the films have a female director, while 15 have male directors (one film has two directors, one of each gender).
In addition to the large and well-established film schools such as The Norwegian Film School, Westerdals, and the Finnish ELO Film School at Aalto University, there is also a long list of smaller educational institutions represented. This provides the festival with a rich variety of expressions and themes, and it also shows that it is not necessarily the films with the largest budgets that have been most successful in the selection process.
Amandus Blikkfang 2024 will take place from September 26th to 28th at Kulturhuset Banken in Lillehammer, promising three days filled with cinematic art that challenges, inspires, and excites. You can already get your festival pass now.
The full program with screening times and other events will be announced closer to the festival. All filmmakers will be contacted with more information about the next steps.
The films have been viewed and evaluated by our selection committee, consisting of Stine Marie Solem, Mone Frogg, Frøydis Fossli Moe, Øystein Egge, Tiril Frisk Vinje, Maria Bardal, Line Øverli Andersen, and Eivind M. Nordengen. If any of the committee members were involved in any of the films, they did not participate in the evaluation of those films.