 |
| Dag Johan Haugerud, Liselott Forsman. The morning discussion at the School, 16 June 2024. Photo: Juho Liukkonen. |
 |
| Dag Johan Haugerud. |
Hosted by Liselott Forsman. In English. 60 min
The School, Sodankylä, Midnight Sun Film Festival (MSFF), 16 June 2024.
Timo Malmi (MSFF 2024): " From the perspective of a neighbouring country, Norwegian Dag Johan Haugerud seems to have achieved a national breakthrough with his first feature film I Belong, which won Amanda Awards (Norway’s “Oscars”) for best film, director, and screenplay in 2013. On a Scandinavian level, a similar thing happened with his next feature Beware of Children, which was shown on Finnish TV and screened at the Midnight Sun Film Festival. It won both the 2020 Nordic Council Film Prize and the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Gothenburg Film Festival. Though the film also received attention elsewhere, such as at the Venice Film Festival, it is Haugerud’s new trilogy on sexuality and the role of men that is set to secure his international renown, as the first instalment Sex triggered the momentum with its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. "
" Haugerud uses fairly minimalist means to observe the behaviour of the characters in his films and creates tension between them with artful subtlety. But “sparsity” does not apply to the dialogue: Haugerud’s films are full of conversation, and he excels in developing an expressive, rich tapestry of dialogue that often propels the narrative on. This talent likely stems from his experience as an author since 1999. Haugerud, who grew up in the small town of Eidsberg, originally trained as a librarian, and has long been employed as such at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He has also pursued film and theatre studies at university level, both in Norway and Stockholm. "
" Haugerud’s early career followed a familiar path in that he directed his first short film in 1998 and made several more before transitioning to feature films. His filmography also includes hour-long specials such as the monologue drama I’m the One You Want (2015) and the musical comedy The Light from the Chocolate Factory (2020). Both in his films and, reportedly, in his novels, he reflects on the fundamental questions of existence in everyday situations, amidst social pressures and norms. His affinity for collaborating with trusted actors from the outset is evident in the final product. Dag Johan Haugerud’s thoughtfully captivating output has reflected the lives of teachers, nurses, and other urban middle-class Oslo residents but now, with the chimney sweep families in Sex, it is tempered with a flavour of contemporary working-class Norwegian life. " Timo Malmi
MSFF Press release 16 June 2024: " Aamukeskustelua jatkoi kiireisen jälkituotantoprosessin keskeltä Sodankylään hypännyt norjalainen kirjailija ja ohjaaja Dag Johan Haugerud. Maatilayhteisössä kasvanut Haugerud muistaa lapsuudestaan Disney-elokuvat ja televisiossa myöhään esitetyn Draculan (1931), joka pelotti häntä lapsena niin paljon, ettei hän uskaltanut laskea jalkojaan sohvalta lattialle. Ohjaajan isän piti kantaa poika nukkumaan.
Työväenluokkaisesta taustasta huolimatta Haugerud luki lapsena paljon ja näki elokuvia, sillä isä oli kiinnostunut amerikkalaisesta kulttuurista ja Hollywood-elokuvista.
‘’Isäni luki Steinbeckiä ja Hemingwayta. Kävimme elokuvissa joka sunnuntai’’, Haugerud kertoi. Hänelle ovat jääneet mieleen myös maanantaisin Norjan ainoalta tv-kanavalta näytetyt suomalaiset draamasarjat.
Haugerud opiskeli aluksi kirjastonhoitajaksi, mutta tie vei lopulta Tukholmaan ja raamatun tutkimuksen pariin.
‘’Matkustaessani Euroopassa satuin näkemään Leos Caraxin elokuvan Levoton veri (1986). Silloin sain idean opiskella elokuvaa. Halusin ymmärtää enemmän ja olla osa sitä maailmaa.’’
Haugerud teki ensimmäisen elokuvansa 16 Living Clichés Super8-kameralla. Tyyli on jalostunut vuosien varrella ihmissuhteita, seksuaalisuutta ja yhteiskuntaa tutkiviksi teoksiksi. Toisistaan erottuvien elokuvien sarjassa on kuitenkin yksi yhteinen nimittäjä: Oslo, joka tuntuu lähes omalta henkilöhahmoltaan.
‘’Koen olevani Oslossa ulkopuolinen. Kaupungissa on vahva luokkajako, joka heijastuu jokapäiväiseen elämään. En oikein ymmärrä Osloa, ja siksi haluan tutkia sitä elokuvissani’’, Haugerud summasi.
Haugerudin uusin elokuva, suunnitellun trilogian ensimmäinen osa Sex (2024) tutkii seksuaalisuutta ja sen harmaita alueita, erityisesti miesten keskuudessa, sillä miesten seksuaalisuus on jäänyt stereotyyppisten representaatioiden vangiksi. Elokuvassa sukupuoliroolit ja seksuaalinen suuntautuminen kyseenalaistetaan leikkisästi.
‘’Toisen ihmisen kokemukseen samaistuminen on kiehtovaa ja haastavaa. Elokuva haastaa miettimään niitä oletuksia, joita meillä on toisistamme’’, Haugerud kertoi.
‘’Haluan kirjoittaa dialogia juuri tietyille näyttelijöille. Käyn paljon teatterissa ja kiinnitän huomiota heihin, joiden kanssa voisin tehdä töitä. Näyttelijöiden pitää tottua olemaan katseiden kohteina ja ilmaisemaan monimutkaisia tunteita kehollaan. Se on minusta valtavan kiehtova ammatti.’’
Harjoittelu on Haugerudille olennainen osa elokuvien jännitteen luomista. ‘’Teksti luo pohjan, mutta workshopit näyttelijöiden kanssa ja näyttelijöiden sitoutuminen projektiin luovat suurimman osan siitä intensiteetistä, joka elokuvista välittyy. Kohtauksella on oltava jokin olennainen merkitys ja jännite, joka vetää katsojan mukaansa.’’
Musiikin merkitys Haugerudin elokuvissa on kiistämätön. Hän on tietoinen musiikista kirjallisuuden ja elokuvan tyylikeinona, joka kertoo sanoja enemmän. ‘’Musiikki on oma hahmonsa elokuvissani. Se välittää enemmän tunteita ja merkityksiä kuin sanat tai kuvat voisivat yksinään tehdä. Rakastan tunnetta, kun kävelee kadulla ja tarkkailee ympäristöä musiikin soidessa korvissa. Se saa näkemään todellisuuden eri tavalla.’’
Haugerud, jonka sisko on sosiaalityöntekijä, on kiinnostunut sosiaalisista suhteista ja rakenteista, jotka vaikuttavat kaikkien elämiin. Häntä voikin kutsua elokuvataiteen piirissä enemmän osa-aikaiseksi sosiologiksi kuin pelkäksi taiteilijaksi.
Haugerudin elokuvissa kommunikaatio ja ihmisten väliset suhteet joutuvat suurennuslasin alle. ‘’Minua on aina kiinnostanut kommunikaatio ja miten ihmiset satuttavat toisiaan sanoilla. Erityisesti perhesuhteet ovat kiinnostavia, sillä ihmiset ottavat toisensa itsestäänselvyyksinä ja voivat silloin olla hyvinkin piikikkäitä’’, hän kertoi. " MSFF Press release 16 June 2024
MSFF Press release 16 June 2024: " Sunday’s morning discussion continued with Norwegian writer and director Dag Johan Haugerud, who made time to visit Sodankylä in the midst of a busy post-production process. Growing up in a farming community, Haugerud recalls Disney films and the late-night television airing of Dracula (1931), which scared him so much as a child that he didn’t dare put his feet on the floor. His father had to carry him to bed.
Despite his working-class background, Haugerud read a lot and watched movies, as his father was interested in American culture and Hollywood films.
“My father read Steinbeck and Hemingway. We went to the movies every Sunday,” Haugerud says. He also remembers the Finnish drama series shown on Norway’s only TV channel on Mondays.
Haugerud initially studied to become a librarian but eventually ended up in Stockholm studying the Bible.
“While traveling in Europe, I happened to see Leos Carax’s film Mauvais Sang (1986). That’s when I got the idea to study film. I wanted to understand more and be part of that world.”
Haugerud made his first film, 16 Living Clichés, with a Super 8 camera. His style has evolved over the years into works exploring relationships, sexuality, and society. Though his films are diverse, they share a common element: Oslo, which feels almost like its own character.
“I feel like an outsider in Oslo. The city has a strong class divide that is reflected in everyday life. I don’t quite understand Oslo, which is why I want to explore it in my films,” Haugerud summarises.
Haugerud’s latest film and the first part of a planned trilogy, Sex (2024), explores sexuality and its gray areas, especially among men, as male sexuality has remained trapped in stereotypical representations. The film playfully questions gender roles and sexual orientation.
“Empathising with another person’s experience is fascinating and challenging. The film challenges us to think about the assumptions we have about each other,” Haugerud explains.
“I like to write dialogue specifically for certain actors. I go to the theatre a lot and pay attention to those I could work with. Actors need to be used to being in the spotlight and expressing complex emotions with their bodies. I find that a tremendously fascinating profession.”
Rehearsals are an essential part of creating the tension in Haugerud’s films. “The script provides the foundation, but workshops with actors and their commitment to the project create most of the intensity that comes through in the films. A scene must have an essential meaning and tension that draws the viewer in.”
Music plays an undeniable role in Haugerud’s works. He sees music as a stylistic device in literature and film, conveying more than words alone can. “Music is its own character in my films. It conveys more emotions and meanings than words or images alone could. I love the feeling of walking down the street, observing the surroundings with music playing in my ears. It makes you see reality differently.”
Haugerud, whose sister is a social worker, is interested in social relationships and structures that affect everyone’s lives. He can be seen more as a part-time sociologist in the realm of film art rather than just an artist.
In Haugerud’s films, communication and relationships are under scrutiny. “I have always been interested in communication and how people hurt each other with words. Family relationships are particularly intriguing because people take each other for granted and can be quite sharp with each other,” he explains. " MSFF Press release 16 June 2024
AA: Added notes:
Q: WHAT WAS THE FIRST FILM YOU SAW?
A: A Disney movie with father and Dracula on tv. We were not strict about tv watching. I was so scared I could not move. I was 7. I sat there half the night until father carried me to bed.
I grew up in a farming community. Father was a car mechanic, mother a housewife. Uncles were farmers.
He had books. He had been a teenager during WWII. Nevil Shute, Hemingway, Steinbeck.
With father we went to the cinema and watched tv together. There was only one tv channel.
The Monday movie was usually American.
On Tuesday there was often a Finnish drama.
"Life is too short for Finnish tv drama".
The feeling for tempo is different.
Norwegian critics still use that sentence.
Walking the dogs, all people shut the television at the same time.
Monday: entertainment.
Tuesday: working class drama.
I wrote a lot as a child.
In my circumstances, nobody was writing.
It did not exist.
I thought about becoming a dentist after high school.
Right - Oslo. Left - Stockholm.
In Stockholm I joined a church choir.
A school for Biblical studies.
I worked as a guard for Moderna Museet.
I know a lot about the Bible.
I figured out I was not a Christian.
Q: EUROPEAN VACATION.
A: Germany - France - Canada - Edinburgh. I saw a Leos Carax film, Mauvais sang. Then I pursued film studies for 3 years.
Q: WHEN LEOS CARAX HEAD ABOUT THIS HE SAID "I FEEL SO OLD".
Q: 16 LEVENDE KLISJEER.
A: I needed to be pushed. Super 8. An old Super 8. A party, I won the competition. I was 33.
Q: FOUR NOVELS.
A: A very different Word document rather than literature.
Q: WRITER - PUBLISHER - SCREENWRITER - PRODUCER.
A: Publisher - your own voice - about the art.
Producer - much more commercial.
Super-8 - 3 min 18 sec - edit in the cemra.
Text: one perosn.
10-12" portraits.
A 50 min single drama.
Blow-up for the cinema to 35 mm.
CLIP: Som du ser mig / I Belong (NO 2012).
First meeting with publisher. Publisher is with her baby. The writer is embarrassed.
A: Success book in translation. Hand made for actors. Motivation to work with actors. At the theater I look at the actor who is not speaking. In character all the time. You have to enjoy being on display, be an exhibitionist.
Q: INTENSITY EVEN WITH TALKING HEADS.
A: Writing, rehearsing - tempo, rhythm, suspense, building up.
Q: HOW LONG
A: A script meeting, read it a year before.
Challenge actors, workshop situation.
Q: BARN
A: Accident on a schoolyard. I was 10, an impact in the community, build-up of all kinds of feelings, focus on grown-ups, girl accused of the accident, talking around her.
Social work, nurse, investigation, communication, everyday subjects, everyday life.
Not much analysis, talk character, quite thorough.
Q: OSLO IS LIKE A CHARACTER, A RELATIONSHIP WITH OSLO.
A: I'm not from Oslo. I still feel like I don't quite belong. I cannot figure out how the city is working.
I feel it in my body.
I have an interest in architecture.
I like music videos.
Sony Walkman.
Music you cannot have in literature.
Film has this opportunity to communicate music.
Q: TRILOGY: SEX - DREAMS - LOVE.
TWO MEN DISCUSS IN A CALM MANNER DREAMS OF THE NIGHT BEFORE.
A: Where shall I begin? The male roles in Norwegian society.
After many years of feminism.
The male role is narrowing.
A look into ourselves.
How does it feel to be a man or a woman?
We are more alike.
Many identify as gay, as bisexual.
It's all secretive.
In the US it is the same situation.
Having sex with men without being gay.
Q: FAVOURITE INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS?
A: Rohmer at 16. I sat there giggling. I did not understand anything. I'm a very big fan now.
Tanner.
Wiseman, in recent years.
Q: WHICH FILM WOULD YOU TAKE TO THE DESERT ISLAND?
A: I would not see anything.
Rosemary's Baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment