Anja Breien
Anja Breien | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | Film director Screenwriter |
Years active | 1967-present |
Anja Breien (born 12 July 1940)[1] is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. One of the leading figures of the Norwegian film industry,[2] and one of the first women to rise to prominence as a writer-director in Norway,[3] her body of work in fiction and documentary explores social and political issues, notably women's rights within the context of Norwegian society.[3][4]
Career
After completing her studies in French at the University of Oslo, Breien went on to graduate from the French film school L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in 1964.[2] She began work in film as a script supervisor on the Nils R. Müller film Det Store Varpet in 1961.[2] She also worked as an assistant director on Hunger (Sult) (1966), directed by Henning Carlsen and based on the novel by Knut Hamsun.[5]
Her first film as a director and screenwriter was the 1967 short film Growing Up, followed by the feature-length Rape (Voldtekt), released in 1971.[2] Rape was praised by critics,[2] but also sparked debate due to its criticism of the Norwegian criminal justice system.[3] Breien subsequently wrote and directed Wives (Hustruer) (1975), which became a box-office success and received critical acclaim throughout Scandinavia.[4] Wives was inspired as a feminist response to John Cassavetes' Husbands (1972), and follows three women in their thirties who temporarily abandon their domestic responsibilities for a day of freedom.[5] Breien went on to write and direct two sequels, Wives - Ten Years After (Hustruer 10 År Etter) (1985) and Wives III (Hustruer 20 År Etter) (1996), featuring the same characters ten and twenty years later.[2] In 1981's Witch Hunt (Forfølgelsen), Breien again critiqued her home country's patriarchal society through the story of a woman accused of witchcraft in 1630s western Norway.[5]
Breien has directed most of the films produced from her screenplays, one exception being 1994's Second Sight (Trollsyn), directed by Ola Solum.[3]
Style
Breien is noted for her realist approach to storytelling, her use of the long take, and her use of a slow, contemplative pace.[5] Rape (1971) uses a non-chronological storytelling technique and has been compared to Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011).[4]
Filmography
- {| class="wikitable" !Year !Film !Role !Notes |- |1967 |Growing Up / Vokse opp |Writer/Director |Short film |- |1971 |Rape / Voldtekt |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1975 |Wives / Hustruer |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1977 |Games of Love and Loneliness / Den allvarsamma leken |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1979 |Heritage / Arven |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1981 |Witch Hunt / Forfølgelsen |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1984 |Paper Bird / Papirfuglen |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1985 |Wives – Ten Years After / Hustruer 10 År Etter |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1990 |Twice Upon a Time / Smykketyven |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1994 |Second Sight / Trollsyn |Writer |Fiction |- |1996 |Wives III / Hustruer III |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |1997 |Solvorn / Solvorn |Writer/Director |Fiction |- |2001 |To See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil |Writer/Director | |- |2005 |Untitled – Sans Titre / Uten tittel |Writer/Director | |- |2009 |Yezidi / Jezidi |Writer/Director | |- |2012 |From the History of Chewing Gum / Fra tyggengummiens historie |Writer/Director | |}
Awards and nominations
Year | Festival | Award | Film | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Cannes Film Festival | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Heritage / Arven (1979) | Won |
1979 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Heritage / Arven (1979) | Nominated |
1984 | Chicago International Film Festival | Silver Hugo | Paper Bird / Papirfuglen (1984) | Won |
2001 | Berlin International Film Festival | Prix UIP Berlin | To See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil (2001) | Won |
2001 | Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival | Best Live-Action Short | To See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil (2001) | Won |
References
- ^ "Anja Breien - Biography - Movies & TV - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Anja Breien - English". www.nfi.no. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d Kristjansson-Nelson, Kyja (2015). "Norway". In Nelmes and Selbo (ed.). Women Screenwriters: An International Guide. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 518.
- ^ a b c "Museum of the Moving Image - Programs - Anja Breien: Games of Love and Loneliness". www.movingimage.us. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d Kindem, Gorham A. (1987). "Norway's New Generation of Women Directors: Anja Breien, Vibeke Lokkeberg, and Laila Mikkelsen". Journal of Film and Video.
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External links
- Anja Breien at IMDb