Norwegian directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning’s $15,4 million action-adventure Kon-Tiki is nominated for the Golden Globe as Best Foreign-Language Feature. This is the first Norwegian film ever to be considered for the prize instigated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The depiction of Norwegian anthropologist and explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his five fellow scientists’ journey from South America to the Polynesian Islands was filmed during 20 weeks in six countries, from a script by Peter Skavlan. The original 8,000-kilometre trip on the wooden raft took 101 days and was filmed by Heyerdal himself for a documentary, which won an Oscar in 1952.
Kon-Tiki will compete with Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair, Austrian director Michael Haneke’s Amour, French directors Olivier Nakache-Eric Toledano’s The Untouchables and Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone.
US distributor The Weinstein Company are currently organising screenings in the US to promote the Norwegian submission for the Oscar as Best Foreign-Language Feature.
Kon-Tiki, which has been selected for the Palm Springs Film Festival (3-4 January), has also been nominated for two American Satellite Awards (Best Foreign Film, Best Sound), which the International Press Academy will announce on 16 December.
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