1.
87th Academy Awards
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During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, actor Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony for the first time. In related events, the Academy held its 6th Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 8,2014. On February 7,2015, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Birdman or, and The Grand Budapest Hotel each won four awards, with the former film earning the Best Picture honor. The telecast garnered more than 37 million viewers in the United States, the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were announced on January 15,2015, at 5,30 a. m. PST, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by directors J. J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, for the first time, nominations for all 24 competitive categories were announced. Birdman or and The Grand Budapest Hotel tied for the most nominations with nine each, the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 22,2015. For the first time since the expansion of the Best Picture nominee roster at the 82nd ceremony in 2010, Birdman was the first film to win Best Picture without an editing nomination since Ordinary People. Alejandro G. Iñárritu became the second consecutive Mexican to win for Best Directing after Cuarón who won for helming Gravity, at age 84, Robert Duvall was the oldest male acting nominee in Oscar history. Having won for his work on Gravity the year before, Emmanuel Lubezki became the person to win two consecutive Best Cinematography awards. John Toll was the last one who accomplished this feat for his work on 1994s Legends of the Fall, winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger. Hayao Miyazaki — A master storyteller whose animated artistry has inspired filmmakers, maureen OHara — One of Hollywood’s brightest stars, whose inspiring performances glowed with passion, warmth and strength. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Harry Belafonte — For a lifetime of demonstrating how art is ennobled by ceaseless courage, the following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers. Meron and Zadan explained their decision to hire the television and theatre star saying and we have known him his entire adult life, and we have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, television and stage. To work with him on the Oscars is the storm, all of his resources. To be asked to follow in the footsteps of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, and everyone else who had the great fortune of hosting is a bucket list dream come true. Nevertheless, both Meron and Zadan denied such allegations and insisted that Harris was their only choice saying, many names are discussed and sometimes even floated without there being any formal offers. At times, these casual discussions take on a life of their own, Neil Patrick Harris received the Academy’s formal offer
2.
John Erik Kaada
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John Erik Kaada, also known by the mononym Kaada, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. Kaada career spans a string of albums, motion picture soundtracks, high-profile collaborations with key players such as Mike Patton, as well as numerous live appearances at home. A musical blend of woo-wop, show tunes and jungle rhythms into a coherent mix of instrumentation and electronic elements. Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time firmly established Kaada as a key voice on Norway´s blossoming music scene. The album features an evocative quality as it sets out to bring the two worlds of Kaada together, the one of the recording artist with the cinematic film music one. The strings were recorded in the Vigeland mausoleum in Oslo,2009 ´s outing Junkyard Nostalgias with its myriad sounds and instruments. The album was conceived as a homage to the thousands of Polish workers that have come to Norway to earn a better living. Junkyard Nostalgias featured Kaada playing all of the instruments on the album, the titles are lifted from old pieces from the Romantic period. 2007 saw the release of Kaada/Patton´s Kaada/Patton Live DVD – a live recording from the 2005 Roskilde Festival featuring an ensemble playing mostly the repertoire of Romances. The outing features the festival set as well as behind the scenes from the key event. Kaada and Patton have maintained their musical bond over the last decade, spring 2016 sees the much-anticipated release of their new joint effort ´Bacteria Cult ´. Highly active from 1998 to 2006, the trio released six critically acclaimed albums, double bass, drums, keys and distorted vocals form the frame for Cloroform’s highly-charged live sets and studio recordings. The trio made the transition from an act on the domestic scene to a live favourite on European stages. 2007 - Kaada/Patton Live - Live performance DVD Kaada/Patton Live is a DVD of the collaboration between Mike Patton and John Kaada that was released on November 20,2007, the DVD features a live performance of the music from the album Romances from Roskilde Festival 2005. The entire concert is in black & white,2002 saw Kaada being bestowed with the Golden Clapboard Prize at the Amanda Award – the Norwegian equivalent to The Oscars at the time being the youngest filmworker to receive the prestigious award. Composing for films was something that I took up rather coincidentally, - I had not intended to pursue that direction and had no formal training, but at some point, writing film scores was what I did. In the beginning it was stressful and made me nervous. Orchestration and sonorous experimentation are the fields that I really enjoy delving into these days, working on film scores enables me to create unconventional instrument ensembles
3.
Bent Hamer
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Bent Hamer is a film director, writer and producer, born in Sandefjord, Norway in 1956. Hamer studied film theory and literature at the University of Stockholm, in addition to his feature films, he has written and directed a number of short films and documentaries. His first film, Eggs, premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it was shown in the Directors Fortnight section and his 2003 film Kitchen Stories screened at many international festivals and was the Norwegian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In April 2004, Bent Hamer started shooting Factotum based on the novel of the name by US poet. The screenplay was written by Hamer and Jim Stark, who produced the film together with Christine Walker, the film premiered at the Kosmorama Film Festival in Trondheim, Norway, on 2005-04-12. Hamer is the owner and founder of the BulBul Film Association, established in Oslo in 1994
4.
Ane Dahl Torp
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Ane Dahl Torp is a Norwegian actress. Torp had her first film appearance in The Woman of My Life and she has received an Amanda award for her roles both as Trude Eriksen in Svarte penger, hvite løgner, and as Nina Skåtøy in the film Gymnaslærer Pedersen. Torp was named a Shooting Star at the Berlin Film Festival in 2006 and she also starred in Uro, and played the role Gisela in the Norwegian/Swedish action television series Code Name Hunter, for which she won the Gullruten award for best female actor in 2007. Torp is the daughter of Norwegian linguistics professor Arne Torp, on October 20,2007 she married Jazz trumpeter Sjur Miljeteig. They reside in Oslo, and have two children, a boy and a girl
5.
2014 Toronto International Film Festival
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The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkins film The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. a Little Chaos, a British period drama directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet closed the festival. More films for each section were announced on 12 August, with the completed on 19 August. A total of 393 films were shown, including 143 world premieres, the first Friday was dubbed Bill Murray Day, as festival organisers dedicated a day to the actor by screening a select number of his films for free. Jules Big Muddy by Jefferson Moneo Corbo by Mathieu Denis The Crows Egg by M, the selected films received a followup screening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox as a Canadas Top Ten minifestival in January 2015
6.
Emil Abossolo-Mbo
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Emil Abossolo MBo is a Cameroonian-French television, theatre and film actor who has played in French, African and American productions. Abossolo was born in Yaoundé, the city of Cameroon. His father took him to the theatre when he was six years old. Since that day acting has been his passion, Abossolo has been living in France for over twenty years now. He has a son named Akeva and his career started on stage, where he played Hamlet, Titus Andronicus and La Tragédie du Roi Christophe. He starred in several French television shows such as La Brigade des Mineurs, internationally he is mostly known for his appearances in the television show Highlander, The Series, Queen of Swords, and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. More recently, Emil has been playing in African productions and he played in Ezra, the movie that received the 2007 Stallion of Yennenga at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Emil Abossolo-Mbo at the Internet Movie Database
7.
Kitchen Stories
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Kitchen Stories is a 2003 Norwegian film by Bent Hamer. Swedish efficiency researchers come to Norway for a study of Norwegian men, Folke Nilsson is assigned to study the habits of Isak Bjørvik. By the rules of the institute, Folke has to sit on an umpires chair in Isaks kitchen and observe him from there. Isak volunteered for the program in promise of a horse, Isak stops using his kitchen and observes Folke through a hole in the ceiling instead. Isaks friend Grant visits him often, however, the two lonely men slowly overcome the initial Norwegian-Swede and subject-observer distrust and become friends. Grant is a survivor from concentration camps and feels Folke is stealing his friend and this friendship costs Folke his job during an inspection. Folke is forced to leave and he drives up-to Sweden border, Folke who is alone occupies at Isaks home and continues friendship with Grant. Bent Hamer was amused after perusing post-war research books on the efficiency of the Swedish housewife and this led to him making the film Kitchen Stories. Joachim Calmeyer as Isak Bjørvik Tomas Norström as Folke Nilsson Bjørn Floberg as Grant Reine Brynolfsson as Malmberg Sverre Anker Ousdal as Dr. Jack Zac, benjaminsen Leif Andrée as Dr. Ljungberg Gard B
8.
O' Horten
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O Horten is a 2007 Norwegian film directed by Bent Hamer. The films title character Odd Horten is a train driver. On the day of his retirement he ends up in an unexpected situation, as in other films by Hamer, the themes are loneliness and old age, and the courage to take chances. O Horten has been described as a film without a plot or a clear chronology. The films main cast consists mainly of senior Danish and Norwegian actors, including Bård Owe, Espen Skjønberg, there are also several cameos from various well-known Norwegians, such as ski jumper Anette Sagen in her first film role. The music was composed by John Erik Kaada, generally well received by critics, it was chosen for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. Skjønberg was awarded an Amanda Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Odd Horten is an overcautious 67-year-old man about to retire after forty years as a train driver on the route between Oslo and Bergen. As he awakes, he goes through a daily routine. When he gets there, he makes small talk with Svea, who owns the house where he stays when there. Back in Oslo, his colleagues throw him a farewell party, as the party moves to a co-workers apartment, he ends up getting accidentally locked out. He climbs up a scaffold, trying to reach the apartment window, the boy asks him to stay and wait for him to fall asleep, but Odd falls asleep first. He oversleeps in the room and arrives too late for the train he was to drive on his final working day. He is left standing on the platform without any fixed points in his life, with nothing, a number of scenes then follow whose exact sequence is unclear. While Odd is at a restaurant, police come in and arrest the cook, at the shop where he normally buys his pipe tobacco, he learns that the owner has died. He decides to sell his boat, leading to misadventures when the buyer, Odd goes to the local swimming pool, but his shoes were removed when the facility closed, as he is leaving, he finds a pair of red high-heeled boots and walks away in them. By chance he then runs into another man his age, the far more spontaneous Trygve Sissener, the two spend the evening in conversation over a few drinks at Sisseners house, and Odd is led to realisations about his own life. It emerges that his mother—a free-spirited woman—was a ski jumper, and he now feels as if he has let her down, by never having the courage to seize the day and try new things. In the early morning Sissener suggests the two go driving blindfolded, the stunt goes surprisingly well, but as Sissener pulls over the car, he dies
9.
Factotum (film)
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Factotum is a 2005 film directed by Bent Hamer, adapted from the novel of the same name by Charles Bukowski. It stars Matt Dillon as Bukowski’s alter ego Henry Chinaski, the film is principally a French-Norwegian co-production, although with an American cast. It was released in Norway in 2005 and distributed in the U. S. by IFC Films in 2006 and it was released on DVD in the U. S. on 26 December 2006. Bukowskis picaresque novel, also titled Factotum, was published in 1975, the book and the film both center on the character of Henry Chinaski, Bukowski’s alter ego, who appears in much of his fiction. Although events in the book take place in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the film has a contemporary setting, for example, Matt Dillon reads the poem Roll The Dice in a voiceover at the end of the film. Henry Hank Chinaski is working toward becoming a writer struggling with alcoholism. The film follows Chinaski as he works at, and gets fired from, various jobs, which include cleaning a massive sculpture, delivering ice, working at a pickle factory, and in a bicycle shop. In the course of sampling the smorgasbord of short-lived occupations, he meets up with assorted eccentric, the first woman Chinaski meets in a bar becomes his most consistent companion throughout the film. Jan, like Chinaski, is an alcoholic and he moves in and becomes her lover and drinking partner. They co-exist comfortably in languid squalor until Chinaski becomes upset after an altercation where he beats a man at the racing track who refuses to give up his seat. Initially polite, Chinaski assaults the man after Jan challenges his behavior, after a strange misadventure on Pierres boat, Chinaski briefly returns to Jan, who is now working as a chambermaid at a hotel. A pivotal scene occurs with Jan after Chinaski discovers that he has caught a case of the crabs from her, Chinaski gains work but quickly loses his job after deciding to drink instead of completing cleaning a large statue. Chinaski and Jan again break up after realizing their relationship has become boring and predictable, Jan moves in with a wealthy man who was the person assaulted before by Chinaski. By the films end Chinaski finds that he is most comfortable being alone with just his alcohol, in the final scene Chinaski justifies his lifestyle. While drinking, and watching a topless dancer, he describes the costs, persistence needed. In voiceover he says, If you’re going to try, go all the way and this could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire and you will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is
