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Norwegian premier of the documentary film “Burma VJ – Reporting From A Closed Country”
The Danish director Anders Østergaard takes us in close to a number of Burmese video journalists who insist on keeping the flow of news from their closed country open, even at great personal risk. ”Joshua”, age 27, works undercover in Burma.
In September 2007, Buddhist monks spearheaded a wide-ranging rebellion against the military regime. Joshua was abruptly thrown into the role of tactical leader for his reporting group. Foreign TV teams were refused entry into the country. It was left to Joshua and his group to document events and keep the resistance struggle alive on TV screens the world over.
Institusjonen Fritt Ord invites the public to the premier screening of this film at Vika Cinema in Oslo at 5.30 p.m. on Monday, 12 January 2009.

Anders Østergaard and Joshua will be speaking before the screening.
Master of ceremonies: Kavi Chongkittavorn, one of the foremost experts on today's Burma.
THE EVENT IS FULLY SUBSCRIBED.
Joshua continues to work for the media organisation Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which is headquartered in Oslo.
Anders ØstergaardBURMA VJ won the Joris Ivens Award (the main competition) and the Movies That Matter Award at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2008. The film was selected to compete in the Sundance Film Festival in the USA in 2009.
Director Anders Østergaard, one of Denmark's most renowned documentalists, is known for his earlier films, including Gasoline (2006), Tintin and I (2003), Malaria! (2001) and Fire in the Ashes (2000).
Magic Hour Films of Denmark is the primary producer, while Norwegian Mediamente is co-producer.
Co-organisers: Democratic Voice of Burma, Mediamente, Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo

Anders Østergaard
See the trailer: Burma VJ
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Supported projects – examples
Lars Hertervig. The frenzy of light
Mediacircus TV received NOK 250 000 for the production of the documentary film "Lars Hertervig. The frenzy of light". Hertervig (1830–1902) was considered to be one Norway's greatest artists before he was diagnosed with incurable insanity and pushed out into the cold. The paintings from the last 30 years of his life were considered the scribblings of a child, but subsequently turned out to bear clear similarities to styles that gained ground in Europe several decades later. Was the painter insane or just ahead of his time? The film questions the myths about Hertervig. The director and scriptwriter is Karl Johan Paulsen.
The list of the major grants made by the Fritt Ord Foundation in April 2012 has now been published.
The list of the major grants made by the Fritt Ord Foundation in April 2012 has now been published.
New Norwegian drama
Among the minor grants awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation in March 2012, we find 11 theatre projects, mainly regarding development of new Norwegian drama. For example, in collaboration with the Harstad Cultural Centre, Holte Productions has been granted NOK 60 000 for the development of the play "Anna Elisabeth – The woman who built the city", based on Anna Elisabeth Kaarbø's diaries from about 1913. The Rimfrost Theatre Group on Senja has received NOK 50 000 for the project "Dedicated enthusiasts", in which they use ordinary people's words to tell stories about dedicated enthusiasts and 'rural Norway'. A grant of NOK 25 000 was allocated to the theatre production "Congo re:born", based on the case of Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French. This initiative was taken by Kjersti Horn, Emil Johnsen, Ågot Sendstad, Mads Sjøgård and Kaia Varjord.
A list has been published of the major grants awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation in March 2012.
A list has been published of the major grants awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation in March 2012.
House of Literature in Trondheim
The Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated MNOK 2 to the establishment of a House of Literature in Trondheim in the Huitfeldtgården Building at Kjøpmannsgata 14. The literary community and the Trondheim Public Library have been prime movers behind the process. The House of Literature will be an arena for literature and the open exchange of ideas and opinions. The goal is to render visible and strengthen literary circles in central Norway and influence the atmosphere for debates in the region. In addition to providing premises for debates, lectures and readings, according to plan, the House of Literature will offer a café, bookshop and work stations for writers.
The list of the major grants made by the Fritt Ord Foundation in March 2012 has now been published.
The list of the major grants made by the Fritt Ord Foundation in March 2012 has now been published.
Action on Belarus!
Norwegian P.E.N. has been granted NOK 50 000 for a full-day conference on Belarus in collaboration with the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The conference is entitled "Action on Belarus!" and will be held at the House of Literature in Oslo from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 22 March 2012. The conference will feature a number of high-profile speakers from Norway and abroad, including Thorbjørn Jagland, secretary general in the Council of Europe, and Natallia Radzina, editor of the Belorussian website Charter97.org. Is Norway's policy in respect of Belarus clear enough? How we can best help the freedom-seeking people of Belarus? For the full programme, see The Norwegian Helsinki Committee's website.
A list has been published of the minor grants awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation in February 2012.
A list has been published of the minor grants awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation in February 2012.


