Kon-Tiki Oscar-nominated
OSLO: Already on the course for a Golden Globe, Norwegian directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning’s action-adventure is now heading for an Academy Award as Best Foreign-Language FeatureNorwegian directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning’s action-adventure Kon-Tiki, which took almost 900,000 admissions is already on the course for a Golden Globe, was today (10 January) nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign-Language Feature – the first Norwegian selection since Elling in 2001.
Produced by Aage Aaberge and Jeremy Thomas for Nordisk Film Production Norway/UK’s Recorded Picture Company, Kon-Tiki follows Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his five scientists on their 1947 voyage from South America to the Polynesian Islands on a wooden raft
. Film stars Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro and Agnes Kittelsen and screenplay is by Petter Skavlan.
Norway has been nominated four times for the Best Foreign-Language Feature, for Arne Skouen’s Nine Lives (Ni liv) in 1957, Nils Gaup’s Pathfinder (Veiviseren) in 1987, Berit Nesheim’s The Other Side of Sunday (Søndagsengler) in 1996 and Petter Næss’ Elling in 2001 – but never laid its hands on it. Thor Heyerdahl’s own documentary of the Kon-Tiki expedition scored the trophy for Best Documentary in 1951.
The 85th awards ceremony takes place on 24 February, 2013.