Anja Breien

Anja Breien b 1940 was educated at the French film school LInstitut des hautes études cinématographiques IDHEC graduating in 1964 after first having studied french at the University of Oslo as well as having had her start in the moviebusiness working as a script supervisor on Nils R Müllers film Det Store Varpet in 1961 She made her directorial debut with the short film Growing Up in 1967 based on a medieval legend The short was later to become part of the portmanteau film Days From A Thousand Years in 1970 Her feature film debut was the criminal drama Rape in 1971 which received favorable reviews and has in recent years been released on DVD as part of the Norwegian Classicsline Breiens second film followed in 1975 and has since become one of the most commented and analyzed films in Norwegian cinema history The cheerful and decidedly feminist comedyWives became a boxoffice success and made editor of International Film Guide Peter Cowie refer to Breien as a dogmedirector twenty years ahead of time The film also spurred to popular sequels Wives Ten Years After 1985 and Wives III 1995 examining the lives of the characters of the original film ten and twenty years on Wives Ten Years After was also awarded the Norwegian National Film Award Amanda for Best Film of 1985 After the critical acclaim and commercial success of the first Wivesfilm in 1975 Breien was firmly established as one of the leading directors in Norwegian cinema a position she further cemented in the following years directing critically hailed films like Games of Love and Loneliness 1977 and Heritage 1979 the latter of which was nominated for the Palme dOr at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival Her 1981 drama Witch Hunt was selected for the Venice Film Festival and the thriller Paper Bird 1984 further displayed Breiens proficiency across genres In addition to directing numerous feature films of significance Breien has also established herself as a director of perhaps equally important short and documentary films through her entire career In addition to her early short more recent films such as Solvorn 1997 To see a Boat in Sails2000 Untitled Sans tître 2005 Etching 2009 and Yezidi 2009 have all been screened at international festivals and received several awards The documentary short To See a Boat in Sails 2000 was for instance awarded the Prix UIP Berlin at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2001 and also the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the Toronto World Wide Short Film Festival While first and foremost recognized as a director it must also be noted that Breien has extensive experience as a writer and has written most of her own films over the years be they either original screenplays or adaptations She has also written screenplays for other directors notably Ola Solums Second Sight from 1994  A subject of academic interest on every level a pioneer among Norwegian female film professionals and one of the still active longtime veterans of the Norwegian film industry Anja Breien is revered and respected as one of the most influential and important directors in Norwegian film history as well as one of Norways most internationally recognized directors with a career spanning five decades