Americanization of a Small Nation Film Culture? The Case of Tancred Ibsen and Norway

by Gunnar Iversen, Professor, Film and Media Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Visiting Scholar, SSAC, Carleton University

Friday, March 13, 2:30 p.m., 412 St. Patrick’s Building.

Refreshments will be served.

How does a small nation compete with Hollywood? In what ways are filmmakers in small nations using, imitating, or opposing aesthetic norms and industrial models from the American film industry? This presentation will discuss these questions through a case study of the films of Tancred Ibsen (grandson of Henrik Ibsen) in Norway. Ibsen worked at MGM in Hollywood before returning to Norway and ushering in Norwegian cinema’s “Golden Age” in the late 1930s. Some have argued that these films were successful merely because they mimicked Hollywood style. This talk will explore how the films both used and opposed Hollywood film style, and the impact of this approach on Norwegian film culture then and now.