An opera-documentary about the partisans from Northern Norway who fought for the Soviet Union during World War II. But the USSR turned out to be the wrong ally. The partisans ended up being forsaken by their employer, as well as their motherland, creating wounds that have yet to fully heal.
The film is based on the opera KibergOdysséen by Norwegian singer Anne-Lise Berntsen. Berntsen, who was passionate about social issues, unfortunately passed away before she had a chance to complete her lifework, but the opera still became a reality thanks to three good colleagues of hers: composer Trygve Brøske, librettist Marianne Meløy and opera director Ivar Tindberg. The opera premiered at the Arctic Arts Festival in Harstad in June of 2014. It has been performed five times, most recently in Murmansk in the autumn of 2016.
The opera KibergOdysséen is the story of the partisans from Northern Norway, a sensitive and undercommunicated issue to this day. The opera delves deeply into the brutality of everyday life during the war, hunger, cold, fear, death. It also touches on the wounds inflicted by Cold War Norway. KibergOdysséen is a story that affects people in Northern Norway to this day, a story that turns the tables on the traditional heroic tales of the Norwegian resistance. Those tales were about the boys who went to England and Sweden. Who received all the glory and medals. The Northern Norwegian partisans were met by silence and suspicion in Cold War Norway.
In the documentary about the opera, scenes from the performance are interwoven with documentary footage. We also follow the originator, the socially-involved Norwegian opera singer Anne-Lise Berntsen, and her colleagues as they work on the production.
The film about KibergOdysséen is based on this contemporary Norwegian opera that again is inspired by Homer's Greek heroic tragedy about Odysseus' long journey and yearning for home. The film not only sheds light on the partisans from Northern Norway, it also pays homage to Anne-Lise Berntsen (1943-2012), one of Norway's greatest international opera stars since Kirsten Flagstad. The story in the film is communicated through original narrative techniques where music plays a key role.
| Screenwriter and director | Hilde Korsæth |
| Camera (Multiple-Camera Production Opera) | News On Request by Cato Lauvli, Mads Hanssen, Aleksander Aleksashin, Sigfinn Andersen | Director (Multiple-Camera Production Opera) | Hilde Korsæth | Sound Recording | Store Studio c/o Håvard Christensen and Are Simonsen | Sound Mixer | Store Studio c/o Are Simonsen |
| Documentary Filming | Hilde Korsæth, Valery Gavel, Vasily Yakovlev, Sergey Pashkov | Documentary Sound Recording | Øyvind Planting | Editor | Vasily Yakovlev | Post Producer | Gustav Iden | Sound Editor | Jens Mathias Falkenberg, Bjørn Are Rognlid | Grading | Hans Petter Birkeland | Historical consultant | Rune Rautio |
| Co-producers | Knut Skoglund, Svetlana Soldatova | Executive Producer: | Hilde Korsæth | Production | Tundra Film in co-production with Pomor Film and North-West Broadcasting TV21, Murmansk. |
THE OPERA The Kiberg Odyssey
| Idea | Anne-Lise Berntsen | Composer | Trygve Brøske | Librettist | Marianne Meløy | Director/Dramaturge | Ivar Tindberg | Cast: | Penelope | Anneli Drecker | Odin | Terje S. Naudeer | Helmi | Andreas K. Elvenes | Fridtjof, Jeppe, Uncle Sam Marshall | Bror Magnus Tødenes | Johanna, Hitler, Sirene | Marthe W. Holmern | Nina, Stalin, Sirene | Lilly Jørstad | Birgit, Churchill, Sirene | Siv Irén Misund | Janus, Hektor, Andrei, Håvard | Kjetil Støa | Partisan descendant/accordionist | Jakob Mikkelsen | Children | Rikke Selstad, Håkon Hassel | Orchestra | The Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta | Orchestra Leader | Yuko Kawami | Conductor | Per Kristian Skalstad | Production Designer | Ivar Tindberg | Lighting | Jon Paulsen | Sound | Håvard Christensen | Stage Manager | Ida Nilsen Aune | Répétiteur | Mona S. Sagstad, Trygve Brøske | Costume Designer | Ellen Tyldumsskogen, Katrine Tolo (Penelope's dress) | Props | Paul Dzur, Irene Lind |
The film about KibergOdysséen was first aired on NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) on May 13, 2017.
The film received an honorable mention at the Northern Character Film & TV Festival in 2017.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||