In this special premiere screening at Scandinavia House with a presentation by director Anders T. Andersen, ASF is proud to share a new film based on the award-winning novel by Tarjei Vesaas. The Birds tells the story of Mattis, a mentally disabled man who is cared for at a small lakeside cottage by his lonely older sister, Hege, where he spends much of his time trying to decipher the ways of nature. When one day a lumberjack arrives and disrupts their routine, isolated existence — by falling in love with, and developing a romantic relationship with, his sister Hege — Mattis becomes increasingly fearful that he will be abandoned.

With his limited understanding of what independence would mean for him, Mattis turns to the symbols and signs of the nature around him to discover a way to live in a world where he’s often felt unwanted. And in studying the unpredictable power of nature, his discoveries may have unsettling, profound results. Directed by Anders T. Andersen (Norway, 2019)

Director Anders T. Andersen will be present for the screening, with a reception following the film.

Anders T. Andersen (b. 1966 in Tønsberg ) is a Norwegian director, writer and actor. Originally from Tønsberg, Andersen studied at The Arts Educational Drama Schools in London, and since 2000 has worked as an  actor at the Norwegian National Theatre, where he debuted as Lyngstrand in Ibsen’s Lady from the Sea. Roles have included an interpretation of Knut Hamsen’s protagonist in a dramatization of Hunger during the Hamsun Anniversary and as Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust. Andersen also conceived and starred in the TV series Berlinerpoplene, based on the novel by Anne B. Ragde, which won three awards in the Norwegian Television Award series Gullraten in 2008, and he received the Prix Italia for Best Drama Seriesm and finished second in the Prix Europa in Berlin the same year. He also won the class best director for episode 7 of the series at the Screen Craft Award at Gluten in 2009.

From 2007 to 2009, Andersen was part of the Torshov Theater’s artistic leadership, and debuted as a stage director in 2008 with the play Jokke’s Worthless Men, written by Christopher Nielsen. From 2010 to 2015, Andersen was the artistic director at Teater Ibsen in Skien. He also contributed in Nielsen’s animated series Two Stoners and the animated film Free Jimmy. His collaboration with Christopher Nielsen continued in 2010 with the stage play Hustyrannen at the National Theatre, and in January 2010, Anders Andersen debuted as a writer with the novel Thomas Olsen’s First World War on Aschehoug Publishing. The Birds is Andersen’s debut as a feature film director.