Louder Than Bombs – Norway

Trier and his regular screenwriter, Eskil Vogt, portray events subtly through lucid, organic, original cinematography that addresses the different emotional state of each character. Memories of, longing for, and loss of a dead woman are central to the care that Triers shows for his characters.

An upcoming exhibition to celebrate photographer Isabelle Reed three years after her untimely death brings her eldest son, Jonah, back to the family home, compelling him to spend more time with his father, Gene, and his withdrawn younger brother, Conrad, whom he hasn’t seen in years. With the three of them under one roof, Gene tries to connect with his sons, but they struggle to reconcile their feelings for the woman whom they all remember very differently.

Motivation of the adjudication committee

Joachim Trier’s Louder Than Bombs is a study of grief that centres around a father and his two sons three years after their mother has passed away. She has left behind a small, loving family with some complex relationships. They struggle to connect with one another and to speak about their grief and their own existence.

Trier and his regular screenwriter, Eskil Vogt, portray events subtly through lucid, organic, original cinematography that addresses the different emotional state of each character. Memories of, longing for, and loss of a dead woman are central to the care that Triers shows for his characters.

Joachim Trier (b. 1974) attended the European Film College in Denmark, then trained at the National Film and Television School in the UK, where he made several award-winning short films. He achieved instant worldwide fame with his feature debut, Reprise (2006), which travelled the world collecting more than 20 international awards, including Best Director at Karlovy Vary and the Discovery Award at Toronto. His second feature, Oslo, August 31st, was selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and won Best Director at the Norwegian Amanda Awards 2012.

Louder Than Bombs, Trier’s English-language debut, had its world premiere in competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won the Bronze Award for Best Film at the Stockholm Film Festival. Thelma (working title), Trier’s next Norwegian-language project, tells the story of a young woman not yet aware of her frightening powers.

Louder Than Bombs is Trier’s third nomination for the Nordic Council Film Prize, following Reprise in 2007 and Oslo, August 31st in 2011.

Eskil Vogt (b. 1974) studied directing at French film school La Fémis. His first short films made in France, An Embrace and The Strangers, won respectively the Prix UIP at the 2003 Grimstad Norwegian Short Film Festival and the European Jury Award at the 2005 Angers Premiers Plans Festival. 

Blind, his debut feature as writer/director, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it won Best Screenplay in the World Cinema strand. It has garnered a dozen other awards, such as the New Talent Grand Pix at CPH PIX and four Amanda awards, including Best Direction. Blind was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2014. 

As a screenwriter, Vogt has collaborated on all of Joachim Trier’s short and feature-length films, including Reprise; Oslo, August 31st; and Louder Than Bombs. He co-wrote the screenplay for Trier’s upcoming supernatural thriller Thelma.

Thomas Robsahm (b. 1964) is an award-winning film producer, director, musician, and former actor. Following a career as a young actor, Robsahm’s directing debut, Rebels with a Cause, was released in 1992. Since then he has directed both feature films and documentaries, including S.O.S., winner of the Amanda Award for Best Film in 2000, and Modern Slavery, the Amanda winner for Best Documentary Film in 2009. His most recent project as a director was the NRK documentary series Punx (2015).

As a producer, Robsahm has worked with directors including Margreth Olin, Solveig Melkeraaen, and Jannicke Systad Jacobsen. Louder Than Bombs, selected in competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, is his first collaboration with Joachim Trier. Robsahm is now producing the director Motlys’s supernatural thriller Thelma.Robsahm joined Motlys in 2013, after spending four years as Feature Film Commissioner at the Norwegian Film Institute.

Original title: Louder Than Bombs

Director: Joachim Trier

Screenwriters: Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

Producer: Thomas Robsahm

Production company: Motlys

Principal cast: Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid

Running time: 109 minutes

Norwegian distribution: SF Norge

International distribution: Memento Films International

Britt Sørensen, Kalle Løchen, Silje Riise Næss