Ola Solum (17 July 1943 – 28 June 1996)"Ola Solum"
''

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

'' was 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. In 1983, he directed the documentary ''Kamera går! – Norsk filmproduksjon gjennom 75 år'' (Camera Running - 75 Years of Norwegian Film Production). One of Norway's greatest directors,Atle Jørstad
"Lager ny ''Reisen til Julestjernen''"
''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'', 29 January 2011 he was particularly known for ''

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt or the Belt of Orion, also known as the Three Kings or Three Sisters, is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak Alnitak is a triple star system in the constellation of ...

'', which premièred in 1985 and won four Amanda Awards, including best Norwegian film of the year. He also wrote scripts for a number of Norwegian films.

Career

Solum began his career as a director in the early 1960s, writing and directing short documentary and educational films primarily for Norsk Documentarfilm A/S, by whom he was employed beginning in 1964, but also for other companies, such as a film about the Norwegian State Railways made with Ed Epstein for ABC-Film in 1966. In 1968 he co-directed ''Bare et liv'' (''Only One Life - the Story of

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

''), a Norwegian-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

co-production.Ola Solum

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 ...

, accessed 21 July 2013. The Norwegian production partner for this film was

Norsk Film Norsk Film was a Norwegian film production company established in 1932 and disestablished in 2001. It was located in Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast ...

, a company with which he was associated for the rest of his career. He was one of the young film makers supported by that company, and was a member of the Vampyrfilm group. He made his solo feature-film directing début in 1976 with ''

Reisen til julestjernen ''Reisen til Julestjernen'' (Journey to the Christmas Star) is a Norwegian play by Sverre Brandt from 1924. It was performed for the first time on Saint Stephen's Day (December 26), 1924. The play holds the record for the most performances at the ...

'' (Journey to the Christmas Star), a children's film with a stellar cast which has since been shown on

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

every Christmas. He also wrote the shooting script. In 1978, he made ''

Operasjon Cobra ''Operasjon Cobra'' (Operation Cobra) is a Norwegian thriller film from 1978 directed by Ola Solum. The film is about a Norwegian family living in Fornebu who are held captive in their own home by terrorists. The goal is to have a base near where ...

'' (Operation Cobra), which was intended for older children and successfully used their language, earning praise from Norsk Film. He was therefore given the assignment to direct '' Carl Gustav, gjengen og parkeringsbandittene'' (1982) in connection with Norsk Film's 50th anniversary. In 1985 Solum directed ''

''. The film was a big success both in Norway, where it was seen by some 700,000 people, and abroad. It won four Amanda Awards, including best Norwegian film of the year,. It had an effect on the Norwegian film industry, sparking the so-called "helicopter period" of films marked by internationalisation (partly as a result of the need for international financial support for such large projects) and emphasising suspense and special effects;Gunnar Iversen, "Norway", in ''Nordic National Cinemas'', ed. Tytti Soila, Astrid Söderbergh-Widding and Gunnar Iversen, London / New York: Routledge, 1998,
p. 130
it was listed in ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

'' in 2007 as the tenth most important Norwegian film. His next film, ''Turnaround'' (1987), was not even shot in Norwegian and was therefore ineligible for state financing. Solum was appointed artistic director of Norsk Film in 1982''Scandinavian Film News'' 2.2 (1982
p. xlii
but resigned to take over the direction of '' Wayfarers'' (''Landstrykere'', 1989) after the original director became ill. The film was a success, but required two years and 12 million kroner over budget, leading amongst other things to a change in leadership at Norsk Film. After this, he directed only two more feature films before his death from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Oslo in June 1996: ''

The Polar Bear King ''The Polar Bear King'' is a 1991 Norwegian fantasy adventure film directed by Ola Solum and starring Jack Fjeldstad, Maria Bonnevie, Tobias Hoesl, Monica Nordquist, and Anna-Lotta Larsson. The film is based on the Norwegian fairy tale '' The Whit ...

'', a well received children's film, and ''Trollsyn'', for which he again took over directing duties. In 1990–93 he ran his own production company, Alpha Film A/S. In addition to the Amanda Awards for ''Orion's Belt'', Solum three times won the Norwegian cinema managers' award, ''Sølvklumpen'', in 1978, 1980 and 1985.

Filmography

*1976 - ''

'' *1978 - ''

'' *1982 - '' Carl Gustav, gjengen og parkeringsbandittene'' *1983 - ''Kamera går! – Norsk filmproduksjon gjennom 75 år'' *1985 - ''

'' *1987 - ''Turnaround'' *1990 - '' Landstrykere'' *1991 - ''

'' *1994 - ''Trollsyn'' (''Second Sight'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solum, Ola Norwegian film directors 1996 deaths 1943 births Deaths from cancer in Norway