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Norway

War movie about the Norwegian Royal Family nominated for 12 awards

The Norwegian film The Kings Choice, which is about the Norwegian Royal Family during the first three days of the German invasion in 1940, has had great success. The film has been well received not only in Norway but throughout the world. The dramatic war movie has now been nominated for 12 prizes at the prestigious Norwegian Amanda Prize on Wednesday.

The film is nominated in, among others, the categories, the Best Director, Best Norwegian Movie, Best Male Actor, Best Photo, Best Music and Best Visual Effects. “I am proud and humble,” says director Erik Poppe to the press after the nominations had been presented. The prize itself is handed out in Haugesund on 19 August at the Norwegian Film Festival.

King Harald arrives at the outdoor cinema, built in the Palace Park in 2016, to show the film about his father and grandfather. Photo: Sven Gjeruldsen, Det Kongelige Hoff / The Royal Court.

The film took four years to create and has cost hundreds of millions of Norwegian crowns. In 2016, the film was Norway’s nominee for the Oscar Award for Best Foreign Film but did not reach the top. After three weeks at the cinema in Norway in 2016, the film became the most seen movie all year in Norway.

Recently, the film was launched in Japan, where there is keen interest in it. It is also the Norwegian film that has been seen by most Danes in Danish cinemas. Soon the film will also be available in Sweden.

In September of last year, King Harald and Queen Sonja invited Norwegians to see the movie with them in a big outdoor cinema in the Royal Palace Park. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people filed into the park on a rainy evening. A group of war veterans were invited to the event to preview the movie, and the family stopped to greet them as they arrived.

The King’s Choice is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Erik Poppe. The film is related to King Haakon VII’s decision of support a continuation of fighting the German invasion forces. The consequences of the government’s no to surrender, and the King’s support of that, was continued hostilities, the Norwegian Royal Family’s dramatic escape and World War II involving Norway on the Allied side.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.