Martin Asphaug (born 28 April 1950) is a

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

from

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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. With a background in writing and directing

short films A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, industry

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

and PSAs, Asphaug made his feature film debut with the award-winning 1989 film, ''

A Handful of Time ''A Handful of Time'' (''En håndfull tid'') is a 1989 Norwegian film directed by Martin Asphaug. Starring Espen Skjønberg, Camilla Strøm-Henriksen, Nicolay Lange-Nielsen and Bjørn Sundquist, the film also features Susannah York and Nigel Hawt ...

''. Since 1992 Asphaug has primarily worked in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, in several cases with SVT, directing episodes of ''

Rederiet ''Rederiet'' (''High Seas'' or ''The Shipping Company'') was a (318 episodes) Swedish soap opera that aired on Sveriges Television between August 1992 and April 2002. The cast featured many popular and renowned Swedish actors. The 45-minute epis ...

'' and the first season of ''

Skärgårdsdoktorn ''Skärgårdsdoktorn'' is a Swedish television series produced by SVT Drama. The series ran from 1997 to 2000 and a total of 18 episodes were produced. In English, the title could be translated as ''The archipelago doctor'', and it came to be on ...

''. Since 2000, Asphaug has worked on several projects from author

Håkan Nesser Håkan Nesser (born 21 February 1950) is a Swedish author and teacher who mainly writes crime fiction. He has won Best Swedish Crime Novel Award three times, and his novel ''Carambole'' won the prestigious Glass Key award in 2000. His books ha ...

, the first films of the ''Van Veeteren'' series (adaptations of '' The Mind's Eye'', '' The Return'' and ''

Woman with Birthmark ''Woman with Birthmark'' (''Kvinna med födelsemärke'') is a 1996 novel by Håkan Nesser, which won the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award The Best Swedish Crime Novel Award (''Bästa svenska kriminalroman'') is a literary prize awarded annually s ...

'') and the 1962 period film ''Kim Novak badade aldrig i Genesarets sjö'' of 2005. In 2007 he directed the first two films of the ''Irene Huss'' series by

Helene Tursten Helene Tursten (born in Gothenburg on February 17, 1954) is a Swedish writer of crime fiction. Work The main character in her stories is Detective Inspector Irene Huss. Before becoming an author, Tursten worked as a nurse and then a dentist, b ...

. He lives near

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

Filmography

Feature films: * ''En Håndfull Tid'' (1989, ''

'') * ''Svampe'' (1990) * '' Giftige løgner'' (1992, ''Toxic Lies'') * ''

Andreaskorset ''Andreaskorset'' (literally Andrew's Cross, released in English as ''The Crossing'') is a Norwegian erotic thriller film that premiered in 2004. The film received indifferent reviews, and it is perhaps best remembered as one of 2004's least vie ...

'' (2004, ''The Crossing'') * ''Kim Novak badade aldrig i Genesarets sjö'' (2005, ''Kim Novak Never Swam in Genesaret's Lake'') TV series: * ''Min vän Percys magiska gymnastikskor'' (1994, ''My Friend Percy's Magic Gym Shoes'') * ''Zonen'' (1996, ''The Zone'') * ''

'', episodes 1-8 (1997) * ''Det Grovmaskiga Nätet'' (2000, ''The Mind's Eye'') * ''Återkomsten'' (2001, ''The Return'') * ''Kvinna med Födelsemärke'' (2001, ''Woman with Birthmark'') * ''Slangebæreren'' (2005, ''The Snakebearer'') Short films: * "Stil" (1986, "Essay") * "Hyl" (1987, "Howl") * "Brr" (1987) * ''Folk flest bor i Kina'' (2002: segment "SV")

References

External links

* * Norwegian film directors 1950 births Living people Norwegian male screenwriters {{Norway-film-director-stub