Torill Kove (born 25 May 1958) is a
Norwegian-born
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
film director and animator. She won the 2007
Academy Award for Animated Short Film for the film ''
The Danish Poet'', co-produced by Norway's Mikrofilm AS and the
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
(NFB).
Life and career
Born in
Hamar
Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lak ...
, in the south of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
near
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 ...
, Kove has lived in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
, Canada since 1982. She moved to Montreal to continue her academic studies in
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
at
Concordia University
Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
earning a master's degree (MUP '89) at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...
later changing her major to animation.
Kove has previously stated that she in fact did not watch much animation until she was in her thirties. Unemployed in the fall of 1991, rather than look for work she spent time at the NFB's former public access facility on St. Denis Street, where every day she would watch films. "Two things happened as I was sifting through the NFB animation collection: one was excitement at having discovered such a wonderful treasure of films, and the other was a voice in me that said loud and clear 'I want to do this.'"
Her first Academy Award nomination was for ''
My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts
''My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts'' is a 1999 animated short by Torill Kove. Co-produced by Marcy Page of the National Film Board of Canada and Lars Tømmerbakke of Studio Magica in Norway, the film humorously recounts a tall tale about t ...
'' in 2000, inspired by the story of her own grandmother who had ironed the shirts of Norway's
King Haakon VII for many years.
In 2013 she directed the Danish-Norwegian-Swedish animated feature ''
Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins'', based on the
Alfie Atkins books by Swedish children's book author Gunilla Bergström.
Kove's 2014 NFB animated short, ''
Me and My Moulton
''Me and My Moulton'' is a 2014 Canadian-Norwegian animated short film written and directed by Torill Kove. It premiered at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival on 10 June 2014. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Ani ...
'', is an autobiographical film about a little girl’s desire to fit in, premiering at the
2014 Toronto International Film Festival
The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...
.
It was then nominated for an Academy Award on January 15, 2015.
Her films ''
The Danish Poet'' and ''
My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts
''My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts'' is a 1999 animated short by Torill Kove. Co-produced by Marcy Page of the National Film Board of Canada and Lars Tømmerbakke of Studio Magica in Norway, the film humorously recounts a tall tale about t ...
'' were included in the
Animation Show of Shows.
In February 2015, Kove stated that her next film would be based on her life in Montreal, specifically in the
Shaughnessy Village
Shaughnessy Village (sometimes referred to as the Concordia Ghetto) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located on the western side of the Ville-Marie borough. It is bounded by Guy Street to the east, Atwater Street to the west, Sher ...
neighbourhood.
[ In May 2016, Kove stated on the NFB's blog that she was in production on a more minimalist film, '' Threads'', inspired by her experiences as an adoptive parent:
In addition to directing and animating short films, she has also illustrated several children's books. On September 3, 2015, she received the , Norway's top cultural prize.]
References
External links
Films by Kove
at National Film Board of Canada (nfb.ca)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kove, Torill
1958 births
Canadian women film directors
Canadian children's book illustrators
Norwegian film directors
Norwegian women film directors
Norwegian animated film directors
Canadian animated film directors
Norwegian animators
Norwegian emigrants to Canada
Canadian animators
Living people
Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
Concordia University alumni
People from Hamar
National Film Board of Canada people
Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Animated Short
Artists from Montreal
Film directors from Montreal
Norwegian women animators
Canadian women animators
McGill University alumni