Romania benefitted of a real infusion of the Norwegian art and culture made in the first half of 2015. Renowned Norwegian singers performed in our country this summer, while Norwegian film will be well represented soon within TIFF.
Norwegian jazz musician Nils Petter Molvær came to Romania this April for two performances during the third edition of the Jazz in Church Festival.
April 16, Molvær performed in the Transylvanian town of Sfântu Gheorge, in the Unitarian Church. At the following day, Molvær came to Bucharest to give a performance in the Lutheran Church.
Since his breakthrough with the album Khmer in 1998, Molvær has been well- known name in the European jazz scene. Considered a pioneer of the music style jazz fusion, he is acknowledged for his experimental style of mixing jazz and electronica.
Norwegian musician Ane Brun gave her first solo performance in Romania on May 10 at Sala Radio in Bucharest. Visual effects accompanied the concert with the playlist will including an exciting mix of Ane’s own songs as well as experimental covers by artists such as Bjork, Alphaville and Cindy Lauper.
Ever since releasing her best- selling album, A temporary dive in 2005, Ane Brun has been a significant name in the Scandinavian music scene. Her remarkable talent as a singer and songwriter has resulted in three trophies at the Norwegian music awards Spellemannprisen.
Her show was organized by Twin Arts, with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Romania.
The latest Norwegian brand event is due in Cluj-Napoca within a prestigious international film festival.
TIFF International Film Festival 2015 due in Cluj-Napoca during May 29-June 7 will hold Norwave focus section presenting movies and music concerts from Norway to promote the Romanian-Norwegian cultural dialogue. The project is financed by SEE and Norwegian grants.
Norwegian atypical humour will be present through Bent Hamer, the Norwegian filmmaker famous for “Factotum” after Charles Bukowski.
“In his presence, 1001 Grams film will be also screened in Cluj-Napoca. Norway’s submission for Oscars 2014, the film is a charming comedy about a woman researcher who is studying the perfect weight of a kilogram, while thus re-weighing her own life. 3×3 section will turn back to the filmmaker’s beginnings, at “Eggs” debut, then going to “Water Easy Reach” focused on a young sailor’s adventures while waiting in a port in Spain,” TIFF organizers informed in a press release.
TIFF will also host live concerts of Norwegian contemporary music performed by jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen, next to Afghan-German artist Simin Tander.
On June 2 the Norwegian night will take place at the Students’ Cultural Hall, when the Norwegian mini-orchestra Einar Stray is expected to perform. “Nine Lives” screening is scheduled to be a special moment within the night, as the Norwegian audience has voted it as the best Norwegian film of all times.
TIFF will enjoy the presence of script writer Stig Frode Henriksen, while screening horror parody “Dead Snow 1&2” (2009/2014) which tells the story of a group of teens confronting Nazi zombies.
“Miss Julie”, the most recent film directed by Liv Ullman, Ingmar Bergman’s muse and partner, will have a special screening at TIFF, while Anne Sewitsky’s new movie, the thrilling “Homesick” will be screened for the first time at Cluj Film Festival.
At the same time, two Norwegian products will be presented within EducaTIFF: “Operation Arctic”, a surviving lesson where three youngsters get to an island threatened by storms and polar bears, and “One Night in Oslo”, a story about friendships among teens.
Did you know that…
In Cluj-Napoca at Babes-Bolyai University there is one of the most important centers of teaching Norwegian language and culture in the world? The Norwegian lecturer’s office is more than 20 years old. Professor doctor Sanda Tomescu Baciu set up the Norwegian language and literature specialization in 1991. The Nordic Studies Library was established later on in 1997, while the department of Scandinavian languages and literatures came along in 2001.
The Norwegian language department is actually the only one in Romania where there is this specialization at a master degree’s level and where there is library on Nordic studies which is hosting no less than 4,000 volumes in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish languages. The books were collected by sponsorships and donations made by Norway and the other Nordic countries.