Bent Hamer (born 18 December 1956) is a film director, writer and producer, born in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

, Norway in 1956.

Biography

Hamer studied

film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...

and literature at the

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

and the Stockholm Film School. In addition to his feature films, he has written and directed a number of short films and documentaries. His first film, ''

Eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

'',

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d at the

1995 Cannes Film Festival The 48th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 1995. French actress Jeanne Moreau served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Carole Bouquet hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kust ...

where it was shown in the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...

section. That same year, it was shown in competition at the

19th Moscow International Film Festival The 19th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 July 1995. The Golden St. George was not awarded. Jury * Richard Gere (United States – President of the Jury) * Friedrich Gorenstein (Germany) * Aurelio De Laurentiis (Italy) ...

where it won the award for Best First Film; it also received the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize at the 1995

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. His 2003 film ''

Kitchen Stories ''Kitchen Stories'' () is a 2003 Norwegian film by Bent Hamer, director of ''Eggs'' and '' O' Horten.'' The film was Norway’s entry for the 2003 Academy Awards and was a selection at the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals. Plot Swedish eff ...

'' screened at many international festivals and was the Norwegian submission 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 ...

. In April 2004, Bent Hamer started shooting '' Factotum'' based on the novel of the same name by US poet and writer

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

. The screenplay was written by Hamer and Jim Stark (''

Mystery Train "Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabil ...

'', '' Cold Fever''), who produced the film together with Christine Walker (''

American Splendor ''American Splendor'' is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular interv ...

''). The film premiered at the Kosmorama Film Festival in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, Norway, on 2005-04-12. Hamer is the owner and founder of the BulBul Film Association, established in Oslo in 1994.

Filmography

Feature films

* ''

'', 1995 * ''Water Easy Reach'' (En dag til i solen), 1998 * ''

'' (Salmer fra kjøkkenet), 2003 * '' Factotum'', 2005 * ''

O' Horten ''O' Horten'' is a 2007 internationally co-produced comedy-drama film written and directed by Bent Hamer. The film's title character Odd Horten is a habit-bound train driver, who is about to retire. On the day of his retirement he ends up in an u ...

'', 2008 * '' Home for Christmas'', 2010 * ''

1001 Grams ''1001 Grams'' () is a 2014 Norwegian drama film written and directed by Bent Hamer. It was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. Cast * Ane Dahl Torp as Marie, a ...

'' (2014) * '' The Middle Man'' (2021)

Short films

* ''Rødvyn Aargang 81'', 1981 * ''Longitude Latitude'' (Makrellen er kommen), 1989 * ''Happy Hour'', 1990 (co-director: Jörgen Bergmark) * ''Sunday Dinner'' (Søndagsmiddag), 1990 * ''Stone'' (Stein), 1992 * ''Applause'' (Applaus), 1993 * ''Just for the hell of it'' (Bare kødd), 1995

Documentaries

* ''Courage to Dignity'' (Mot til verdighet), 1994 * ''Norway the Conqueror'' (Norge erobreren), part of documentary series 2001–05

References

External links

Norwegian Film Institute Webpage for O'Horten
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Bent 1956 births Living people People from Sandefjord Norwegian film directors Norwegian screenwriters