Norway 2019Language:NorwegianSubtitles:EnglishDirector:Maria SødahlWriter:Maria SødahlCinematographer:Manuel Alberto ClaroEditor:Christian SiebenherzMusic:Goran Obad, Nils WingereiSound:Gisle TveitoWith:Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan SkarsgårdProducer:Thomas RobsahmProduction Company:MotlysDistributor:ARSENAL Filmverleih GmbH125 min, Colour

Brain tumour. Terminal. Life expectancy: Three month. This is Anja’s diagnosis one day before Christmas. “Unsentimentally”, as the director states, yet emphatically and charged with emotion, the film follows the life of Anja, her husband, and their six children over a short ten-day period. Stellan Skarsgård, EUROPA-awardee at the Braunschweig International Film Festival 2010, delivers a brilliant performance as husband. It took the director two years to finish the script, also an autobiographical account: Nine years ago, she received the same diagnosis. Her hope is that the film will inspire to reflect upon life. She sees her illness as a second chance to learn about love and to love life.

Director's Biography:Maria Sødahl, born1965, graduated from Den Danske Filmskole in 1993. Following various short films, she presented her first feature-length film LIMBO (2010), which won multiple awards. HOPE premiered at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival (TIFF).