Finn Gjerdrum Movies

Not to be confused with the 1980 Anne Bancroft-Dom DeLuise farce of the same name, this raunchy Finnish sex comedy stars Nils Jorgen Kaalstad as Rino Hanssen, a virginal, agoraphobic porn addict who still lives with his father at age 30 - and whose only friend is a hateful, asthmatic loser named Filip (Kyrre Hellum). Circumstances change somewhat when Rino's dad opts to rent one of the rooms in his apartment to a beautiful, free-spirited young girl named Malin - so free-spirited, in fact, that she finds meaning through constant sex and wild living. One step at a time, Rino finds himself drawn out of his shell and into a world he has long sought to avoid; fears of failure and rejection linger, however, making this transition an extremely challenging and frightening one for Rino. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

It's the hottest day of the year in Norway, and seven disparate souls are about to cross paths without knowing what fate has in store for them. Frode and Milla are about to become parents, but they are heartbroken to learn that their newborn child will likely not be long for this world. Bobbie-Pop is a fallen pop singer who sees no other escape from his pain than to take his own life. Institutionalized kleptomaniac Leon is determined to seek out and marry Åsa - the woman with who has sworn to marry him within the span of a decade. When Leon's brother Trygve checks his brother out of the institution under the auspices of celebrating Leon's birthday, he has no idea that his brother is determined to remain a free man at all costs. The angel who connects all of these unassuming souls is Vidar, Leon's best friend at the institution, and the man with the power to see things that none of the others can even comprehend. Though Vidar may be able to save all of the others from a grim fate, it remains to be seen if he will be able to save himself when all is said and done. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Reportedly the third in acclaimed director Lars von Trier's "Golden Hearts" trilogy (preceded by Breaking the Waves and The Idiots), this film is a hip reworking of the classic Hollywood Musical, starring international pop diva Bjork. Set somewhere in rural Washington state, Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) works in a pressing plant, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her 10-year-old son, Gene (Vladica Kostic). Her best friend is coworker and fellow European Kathy (Catherine Deneuve). While outside work, she is maintaining a cautious friendship with local yokel Jeff (Peter Stormare). She also landed a starring role as Maria in an amateur production of The Sound of Music. Selma's life would be one of relative contentment if it were not for the ugly secret she harbors -- she is on the verge of blindness due to a genetic disorder, and her young son will suffer the same fate without an operation. Selma has quietly been stashing away money for the surgery and has already amassed $2,000. When her savings, squirreled away in a can in the kitchen, suddenly disappear, she confronts her cash-strapped landlord Bill (David Morse). Of course, like all musicals, the plot periodically takes a backseat to the seven production numbers, including a show-stopping sequence in Selma's factory. Shot entirely on digital video, the film reportedly used up to 100 cameras for each musical number. Dancer in the Dark received top prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival including Best Actress for Bjork and the coveted Palme d'Or for Best Picture. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This is a terrifying look at multi-racial youth gangs in Norway, shot in the style of a documentary. Director Eric Poppe, whose previous work is in the field of commercial films, concentrates in his first feature on the lives of five young boys living in contemporary Oslo. Thirteen-year-old Jonas and his pal Emir, who is two years older and comes from former Yugoslavia, are good friends who both belong to a gang of Oslo youths aged between 11 and 15. Their world is dominated by committing petty crimes to earn a fast buck, often entailing drug dealing. Emir has been dealing with brain damage ever since his father hit him on the head with a wooden club; he suffers from sudden outbursts of violence against adults and his peers, and his behavior stretches the limits of his friendship with Jonas. Schpaaa (which is a slang term for 'cool') is a modern day version of a famous 1948 film from Norway called Gategutter/Street Boys, in which director Arne Skouens portrayed the lives of poor street kids in Oslo in the thirties. Erik Poppe used amateurs for all the main roles to give the narrative a more realistic look and deliberately avoided moralizing. Schpaaa made a big impression in Norway, which prompted the Ministry for Children and Family to arrange for extra screenings. The visually stunning film was shown as part of the Panorama program of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi