Norwegian debut film Lovable for main competition in Karlovy Vary

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival is one of the world's oldest and Europe's most important film festivals, taking place from June 28 to July 6. Lovable (Elskling) is the only Nordic film among twelve films invited to the main competition, and it can thus win the festival's Grand Prix Crystal Award.

Lovable is Lilja Ingolfsdottir's feature film debut. She graduated from the London International Film School and has made several award-winning short films, including Neglect. 

"I am incredibly proud and honored that Lovable will have its world premiere at one of the world's largest and oldest A-festivals. It's especially fun because I studied film at the national film school, FAMU in Prague, almost twenty-five years ago. I am immensely excited about this fantastic start for our film; it means a lot for both the film and me as a filmmaker," says director and screenwriter Lilja Ingolfsdottir.

About Lovable

Maria, 42 years old (Helga Guren), must confront herself when her husband announces that he wants a divorce. Lovable is about a woman's opportunity for self-recognition, growth, and confrontation with unconscious and dysfunctional patterns within herself.

The film was presented at the Finnish Film Affair, where it won the main prize for the best upcoming Nordic project. In connection with the award, Ingolfsdottir told Variety that the film is based on first-hand experience but is less a breakup drama than an exploration of how a person or couple reaches a point where it's too late to turn back.

The screenplay and direction are by Lilja Ingolfsdottir, and the cinematography is by Øystein Mamen. The cast includes Helga Guren, Oddgeir Thune, Heidi Gjermundsen Broch, Marte Magnusdotter Solem and Elisabeth Sand.

The film will have its world premiere in Karlovy Vary and its Norwegian premiere on October 11 this year.

Read more about Loveable in our Film Database

Neo Talent Program

Lovable has been part of the Norwegian Film Institute's Neo talent program and has received 6,450,000 NOK in production grants.

Neo is aimed at film directors and series creators who want to debut in longer formats. The goal has been for the Neo scheme to encompass and cultivate strong storytelling voices and artistic courage.

During the closing of this year's Cannes Festival, director and screenwriter Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel was awarded the debut prize Camera d’or for Armand, another film that received support through the NFI’s Neo program.

Loveable, is produced by Thomas Robsahm for Nordisk Film Production A/S and Amarcord with support from the Norwegian Film Institute and the Nordic Film & TV Fund. Local distribution by Nordisk Film Distribution. International sales are handled by TrustNordisk.

The Chinese Sørfond film Ju way ren (Stranger) by Zhengfan Yang will be shown in the Proxima program in Karlovy Vary. The Norwegian co-producer is Hilde Berg in Norsk Filmproduksjon.

Previous Norwegian Participation in Karlovy Vary

In 2023, the Swedish-Norwegian feature film The Hypnosis by Ernst De Geer was shown in the main competition. Herbert Nordrum played the lead role and won the Best Actor award.

Back in 2012, Martin Lund’s The Almost Man (Mer eller mindre mann) won the main prize Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary, and actor Henrik Rafaelsen was also awarded an acting prize for the film. In 2007, Bård Breien won the directing prize for The Art of Negative Thinking  (Kunsten å tenke negativt), and in 2006, Joachim Trier won the directing prize for Reprise.