Roenberg was a partnership between Norwegian film directors

Joachim Rønning Joachim Rønning (born 30 May 1972) is a Norwegian film director who previously worked in a partnership with Espen Sandberg, both of whom came from Sandefjord, Norway. As a directing team, they went under the name of Roenberg (a portmanteau of t ...

and

Espen Sandberg Espen Sandberg (born 2 June 1971) is a Norwegian film director and advertising producer, well known to work with his childhood friend and director Joachim Rønning on several projects such as ''Bandidas'' (2006), '' Max Manus: Man of War'' (2008) ...

. They are best known for directing ''

Kon-Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, for ...

'' (2012), which was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Early life and career

In the 1980s,

and his childhood friend

spent their free time making short films with Rønning's father's 30-pound home

video camera A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos (as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film). Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of othe ...

. In 1992 the duo attended Stockholm Film School in Sweden, and graduated in 1994. In 1995 they founded their own company. They called it "Roenberg", a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCapital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the ...

, Labatt's and especially with their

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Super Bowl 2001 Viewer's Poll-winning spot Rex for

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unre ...

. Together with fellow Norwegian director,

Harald Zwart Harald Zwart (born 1 July 1965) is a Dutch- Norwegian film director. Life and career Although born in the Netherlands, Zwart was raised in Fredrikstad, Norway. By age eight, he had started making short films. He attended the Dutch Film Academy ...

, they own and run Motion Blur, a production house for commercials. Founded in 2002 it is now one of the largest and most award-winning productions companies in Scandinavia.

2006–2017

In 2006, the duo directed the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

-produced comedy western ''

Bandidas ''Bandidas'' is a 2006 Western action comedy film starring Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz directed by Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg and produced and written by Luc Besson. It tells the tale of two very different ...

'' in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

starring

Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as th ...

and

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British A ...

, it tells the tale of two very different women who become a bank robbing duo in an effort to combat a ruthless enforcer terrorising their town. In Norway, Rønning and Sandberg best known for directing the 2008 blockbuster movie '' Max Manus: Man of War'' with

Aksel Hennie Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''Hercules'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015). Early life Hennie was born in the Lamber ...

in the leading role, the story follows Manus (Aksel Hennie) from the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

against the

Soviet Union 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, ...

, through the outbreak of

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the occupation of Norway by

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until peacetime in 1945. In the same year they won Lions at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

for their Hydro Commercials Train Loop. In 2012, Sandberg and Rønning were concerned with a new big movie about

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

and the

expedition. The development of this new film was shown in an exhibition at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. The film was released in 2012 with great reviews,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported that 83% of the critics gave a positive review. The site's consensus is: "A well-crafted retelling of an epic true story, Kon Tiki is a throwback to old-school adventure filmmaking that's exciting and entertaining in spite of its by-the-book plotting" and went on to be nominated for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

and

70th Golden Globe Awards The 70th Golden Globe Awards honoring the best in film and television of 2012, was broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on January 13, 2013, by NBC. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosted. Nominations were anno ...

, and was also nominated for several other high-profile awards such as

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

and Norwegian Amanda Award In 2013, it was announced that the duo were expected to direct the fifth installment of ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the ...

'' which was released in 2017 titled '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales''.

Filmography

References

{{authority control Living people Norwegian film directors Filmmaking duos Year of birth missing (living people)