Sami Sara Margrethe Oskals first indiginous feature film EALLOGIERDU- The Tundra Within Me will world premiere in the Discovery section, TIFF Toronto 2023. The beautiful lovestory from the tundra is produced with generous production support from ISFI – International Sámi Film Institute, Nordnorsk Filmfond, Samedieggi and Freedom From Fear stories script and development support from ISFI – International Sámi Film Institute, Nordnorsk Filmfond, Samedieggi,Freedom From Fear stories, and Norwegian Film Institute.
Night premiered in PÖFF Black Knights Filmfestival November 25th 2022, on Winter 2022, and had a national cinema release in Norway January 19th 2023.
Mona Johanne Hoel wrote the manuscript for Night. Emma is a doctor and sole mother to two children, three and five. Her life is turned upside down when tests prove she has developed aggressive node lymph cancer and is predicted two to three months left to live. Emma’s still married formally but has never told anyone why she left the marriage. Now she urgently has to hinder that the children fall into her violent ex-husband’s care before she dies. Guri Glans, Marie Louise Tank, Henrik Rafaelsen and Jørgen Langhelle play the leading roles.
Freedom From Fear stories produced Sara Margrethe Oskal’s three short films “Covid side effects” 2019 “Daughter of the sun” 2018 “Aurora keeps an eye on you”, 2015. “Daughter of the sun” premiered in the competition Sydney short film festival and won the main shortfilm price during Frankfurt book fair, 2019.
The film had 380 000 views at NRK, our national television. It competed at NUUK International Film Festival in Greenland and in ImagineNative filmfestival in Toronto.
In 2015, we produced her short film Guovssahas oaidna du / Aurora keeps an eye on you, who premiered at TIFF, Tromsø International Filmfestival, Gothenburg International Filmfestival, Tampere International Filmfestival, and world premiered at ImagineNative Film Festival in Toronto, it’s available to stream in FilmBib, National Library service, it is available through V-Tape Canada and Sapmi Film.
Sara Margrethe Oskal is also a great actress both in theater and film. She’s a director poet and screenwriter. She was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2017 and has her very particular eyesight and interpretation on contemporary Sami stories.
The heartwarming caringcomedy Are you leaving already? by screenwriter and director Mona Johanne Hoel worldpremiered at Oslo Pix 2019 and was screened at Gothenburg filmfestival 2020. It premiered in Norwegian cinemas 19.6 2020 during the pandemic.
The short film One last try, beautifully interpreted by actress Kjersti Holmen is available on the Norwegian library platform FILMBIB. The film was nominated for the short film price at the Grimstad shortfilmfestival June 2018.
Our two documentary projects Haydn stuck on my mind and The real time music tale are in the pre production, getting ready for distribution.
In the documentary Norway Lenghtwise, 2012, made for Norway’s Sports Federation, screened at NRK, 2012.
Director, DOP and editor Mona Johanne Hoel follows Per Christian Brunsvik, paralyzed from hip and down after a Freestyle accident, and Steinar Andreassen Jensen, born with Cerabral Parese, Arne Fagerlie, Stig Andreassen and Rita Andersen on handbikes from Lindesnes to the North Cape. The journey started 24/4-2011 and ended as planned 30/6. The music is by Mari Boine
After her stay in Sunnås rehab clinic, Mona J. Hoel has had his own perspective on being handicapped and is currently working on the second documentary for the Sunnå Foundation. One is a documentation of a stay at Hurdal where patients learn to drive sitski. It is on youtube; http://youtu.be/JyRQuQa4zAg
We are now on target with Pusterom, a documentary about the art project at Sunnås Hospital, initiated by their employees painter and ceramist Ellen Frøysa.
Mona Johanne Hoel is currently developing her series The ten forced commandments.
In these films, were Night 2022, and Are you leaving already? are the 1st and 2nd. Mona Johann Hoel exposes each of the ten Lutheran commandments turned upside-down in each archetypical character introduced in her feature film Clorox, ammonia and coffee 2004. She highlights the influence the Lutheran commandments still have on us and that they have each individual deprive responsibility for our actions, encouraging us to oppose to them. By challenging her characters to “kill”, “still” “betray”- they all oppose and thereby our society has less challenges.
Cabin fever/Når nettene blir lange, Dogma nr. 19 by screenwriter and director Mona Johanne Hoel world premiered in Karlovy Vary main competition 2001 and Screen International predicted it would become a block buster. It was Case study at Toronto 2001, won 2 Amanda prices at Haugesund International Filmfestival, and travelled to several major festivals like Moscow, Pusan. In 2012 it was invited to the prestigious Polish festival in the beautiful Kazimierz village, along with guest of honor, Zbigniew Zamachowski. Cabin fever and the Dardenne brothers The red bike. Cast Svein Scharrfenberg, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Gørild Mauseth, Kari Simonsen, Turid Gunnes, Geir Karma, Bjarte Hjelmeland, Wieswava Mazurkiewics, Jerzy Novak Kari Simonsen harvested Æres Amanda for her role, Svein Scharrffenberg received Amanda for best male lead actor.
Mona Johanne Hoel has made a series of exciting short films. Including the music video Vuollge mu mild Bassivarrai/ Come with me to the sacred mountain by Mari Bone, the amazing musician and Sami singer.
Mari Bone and Mona Johanne Hoel released their second music film 2007 with the song Vuoi Vuoi Mu, http://youtu.be/L3qLgf8AQoI
Mona and Mari started their collaboration in 1991 when Mari Boine made one of the music tracks in the award-winning documentary The beauty or the beast 1992, depicting forest work with horse against today’s mechanical operations with Tor Anders Syvertsen and Dag Tore Syvertsen who still thrive with a case and drive thrown out with horse. Arvo Pärt and Manfred Eicher allowed the use of the magnificent work Tabula Rasa after watching the film.
In 1998, Mona Johanne Hoel was invited by Ernst Billgren to direct one short film in his project The Art of Exposing a Film Recording, an exhibition in his direction presented by Jan Blomgren at Färgfabriken Stockholm. Ernst Billgren wrote scripts and iinvited film professionals to produce his shortfilms as part in an art installation. The different props were painted onto the walls and each of the ten directors made their short films. Mona Johanne Hoel directed Kitchen that featured the great actors Pernilla August, Johan Rabeaus and Peter Whalbeck.
Occasionally, they had 100 audiences sitting on chairs like in an art museum watching while they were preparing, rehearsing, filming and editing the movie. It was a wonderful experiment and became a movie full of power and energy.
Mona Johanne Hoel has always been concerned with everyday heroes and being a fellow human being. In the fall of 2009, she went into dialogue with Elsa Lystad and together they developed a project still in the casting So you believed I was dead, a kind of testament of two life’s living women with strong stories, taken up in a black box. It’s not released yet.
For more than eight years Mona Johanne Hoels health was strongly affected from a diseased floppy bite attacking her central nervous system, and she was unable to stand on her feet and other severe challenges. This made a big hole in her Curriculum Vitae, but now she is back and pumps life back into her strong projects.