Nina Frederikke Grünfeld (born July 27, 1966) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

film director and author, and the former head of the Norwegian Film Directors (NFR) trade union.

Career

Grünfeld studied mass communication, Eastern European studies, film, and TV in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, and she has a bachelor's degree in film directing from the Swedish Institute of Dramatic Art in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. She is a professor at the

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences The Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (also known as INN University, no, Høgskolen i Innlandet) is a state university college in Innlandet, Norway, established in 2017 from the merger of the Hedmark University College and Lillehammer ...

. She was previously head of research and development at the

Westerdals School of Communication Westerdals School of Communication (WSoC) (presently nameWesterdals Institute of Creativity was a private institution in Oslo of higher learning for uniqely gifted individuals. Admittance required 7th level genius Creative Intelligence' on the ''Le ...

. Grünfeld has held board positions in a number of art and cultural institutions. She owns and runs the film production company Gründer Film in Oslo. In 2015, Grünfeld launched the charitable jewelry project Coexista at the

Nobel Peace Center The Nobel Peace Center ( no, Nobels Fredssenter) in Oslo, Norway is a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize and the ideals it represents. The center is also an arena where culture and politics merge to promote involvement, debate and reflection around ...

in Oslo. The profit from sales went to combating Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and extremism. On January 12, 2019, Nina Grünfeld received the Blanche Major Reconciliation Award for her work. Two of Grünfeld's films are documentaries about her father, the psychiatrist

Berthold Grünfeld Berthold Grünfeld (22 January 1932 – 20 August 2007) was a Norwegian psychiatrist, sexologist, and professor of social medicine at the University of Oslo. He was also a recognized expert in forensic psychiatry, often employed by Norwegian ...

. The first is about his childhood and background story, and the other about his last years of life. Her documentary film ''

Ninas barn ''Ninas barn'' (Nina's Children) is a 2015 documentary film about the Jewish Children's Home in Oslo during the Second World War. The film was written and directed by Nina Grünfeld, and it was produced by her company Gründer Film. A book contain ...

'', which has also been published in book form, is about the

Jewish Children's Home in Oslo The Jewish Children's Home in Oslo was established in 1939 under the auspices of Nansenhjelpen, the Nansen Aid, a humanitarian organization established in 1936 by Odd Nansen, the son of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen. It was intended as ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Her father was one of the children there. Nina Grünfeld is named after the manager

Nina Hasvoll Nina Hasvoll (née Hackel, May 25, 1910 – December 19, 1999), surname also Hasvold and Hasvold Meyer, was a Russian–Norwegian psychoanalyst. She headed the Jewish Children's Home in Oslo during the Second World War, and she escaped to Sweden ...

, who became like a mother to the children at the orphanage. In her documentary series ''Alexia vs. verden'' (Alexia vs. the World), Grünfeld followed the controversial writer

Alexia Bohwim Alexia Bohwim or Alexia Knutsdatter Bohwim (born March 13, 1969, in Oslo) is a Norwegian writer, animal rights activist and feminist. Life Bohwim made her debut in 2008 with the cult novel ''Frognerfitter''. The book is about two girlfriends ...

. The film project started in 2014 and premiered on TV3 on June 11, 2018. The project was supported by the

Norwegian Film Institute The Norwegian Film Institute ( no, Norsk filminstitutt) was founded in 1955 to support and develop the Norwegian film industry. On 1 April 2008, it was merged with Norwegian Film Fund, Norwegian Film Development, and Norwegian Film Commission to ...

. Grünfeld has stated to the media that she aims to follow Bohwim for another 10 to 15 years. In 2019, she worked on a short documentary about a Jewish prayer book that disappeared during the Second World War, and was then found by a Christian priest and handed over in 2015 to the

Jewish Community in Oslo Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. In 2020, she published the book ''Frida – Min ukjente farmors krig'' (Frida: My Unknown Grandmother's War). The book is about her grandmother, who was a poor Jewish woman and prostitute in Czechoslovakia, and who was deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and killed at the

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure o ...

in April 1945.

Books

*''Frida – Min ukjente farmors krig'' (Frida: My Unknown Grandmother's War; Aschehoug, 2020) *''Ninas barn – fortellingen om det jødiske barnehjemmet i Oslo'' (Nina's Children: The Story of the Jewish Children's Home in Oslo; Kagge Forlag, 2015)

Films and television productions

*1993: ''Lang og tro tjeneste'', short film *1996: ''Syndig sommer'', short film *1996–2000: '' Familiesagaen de syv søstre'', TV drama series (as director of one of several episodes) *1998: ''Mellom min mors ben'', short film *2002: ''Mens du står utenfor'', short film *2005: '' Grünfeld – ukjent opphav'', documentary (TV2) *2008: '' Den døende doktoren'', documentary (TV2) *2015: ''

'', documentary (NRK) *2018: '' Alexia vs. verden'', TV and web series (TV3/Viafree) *2021: ''Cheiderboken'', animated short documentary

References

External links

*
Nina Grünfeld
at the

Swedish Film Database The Swedish Film Database ( sv, Svensk filmdatabas) is an Internet database about Swedish films, published by the Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the S ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunfeld, Nina 1966 births Living people Norwegian women film directors Norwegian Jews