Einar returns to his family in Norway after serving as an officer in Afghanistan for nearly a year. Absent a clear father figure, the eldest brother Oscar has assumed responsibility for his younger brother Fredrik and their home, as their mother Anna spends most of her days in bed. Einar’s homecoming does not go as expected; he seems distant upon seeing his family again.
One morning he goes out hunting the morning doesn’t return as promised that evening. After spending the entire night waiting, the boys decide to walk up the mountain, hoping to find their father. The search itself becomes a test of manhood and the brothers’ relationship, one from which they will return forever changed. Directed by Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken (Norway, 2015).
“Returning Home is a refreshing war film that instead focuses on the seriousness of mental health among returning solders from Afghanistan, and for a small film it sure packs a powerful message.”—Cinema Scandinavia
About the director
Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken grew up in Hamar, Norway and studied media science in Norway and the U.K.. He is a self-taught filmmaker and trained cinema projectionist. Dahlsbakken has made several short films using 8mm, S16mm, 35mm, and 65mm film techniques, and cultivates the analog idiom in the creative process. His greatest success so far has been the short film The Devil’s Ballroom (2012), which won awards at multiple festivals around the world.
Dahlsbakken’s first feature film, Returning Home (Å vende tilbake), premiered in 2015 at the Rome Film Fest and was shortlisted as the Norwegian Oscar candidate for Best Foreign Language Film. Dahlsbakken continues to develop his own personal film projects, shorts as well as feature films.
New Nordic Cinema
1489170600
1489183200
Image courtesy of the Norwegian Film Institute
FRI—3-10-2017—6:30 PM
$12 ($7 ASF Members)
75 min. In Norwegian with English subtitles.