Unni Straume
Director
Born in 1955, Unni Straume grew up in a small town on the rugged and windswept western coast of Norway. After graduating from film school, she quickly established herself as a director with a very distinct voice, whose documentaries and shorts soon found their way to the international festival circuit.
Her first feature, To A Stranger (1990), was shot in black and white. It was praised for its individuality and visual sophistication, earning official selection at San Sebastian Film Festival, as well as distribution to several territories.
In 1993 her short film Derailment was in an official selection at Cannes International Film Festival. A year later, her feature Dreamplay, loosely based on the Strindberg original and featuring Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson and Erland Josefsson, was selected for “Un Certain Regard,” again making Unni a festival regular.
Her third feature, Thrane´s Method, based on the award winning novel by Norwegain writer Øystein Lønn, showed yet another side to Unni’s talent in the complex and closely observed portrayal of characters in the grip of passion. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has purchased the film for its permanent film collection. Her last feature, Music for Weddings and Funerals, based on her own script and featuring Lena Endre, Bjørn Floberg and Goran Bregovic was an official selection at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. The film was also selected for The Toronto Film Festival in 2002 and The Sundance Film Festival in 2003.
Unni Straume has participated in various international film juries and has been a member of The European Film Academy (EFA) since 1994. She has received the Norwegian Critics Award, as well as the Norwegian Film Business award, the “Gullklapperen.” From 2007-2009 she was a professor at The Norwegian Film School, Lillehammer.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Tro / Faith (2011) (pre-production)
Musikk for bryllup og begravelser / Music for Weddings and Funerals (2002)
Thranes metode / Thrane’s Methode (1998)
Drømspel (1994)
Avsporing (1993)
To a Stranger (1990)
INTERNATIONAL JURIES
- Kortfilmfestivalen, Grimstad 2008
- Napoli International Filmfestival 2004
- Warszawa International Filmfestival 2003
- Europa Film Festival, Lecce 2003
- European Film Award, FELIX 1996
