Gritt

Sometimes, you come across subtle films that gives you a physical experience that you carry with you a long time after leaving the cinema. When they are as artistically ambitious and uncompromising as Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s Gritt, there is nothing else to do than to applaud.

Gritt is a continuation of the critically acclaimed short film Retrett, and revolves around the artist Gritt (brilliantly portrayed by Birgitte Larsen), formerly known as Gry-Jeanette. She left straight from drama school for Hollywood, but had a breakdown and had to change course. Now, 17 years later, she’s back in Oslo.

While her former classmates have promising careers across the country’s theatre stages, Gritt has other, passionate plans for an extensive, radical art project. The problem is that very few understands her vision, and she is short on both human and economic support. A refusal from the Arts Council to fund her project and a sudden loss of a place to live makes her situation even more unstable, and brings Gritt to an underground theatre where she moves in backstage. While the theatre crew are away on tour, she begins working on her own performance that aims to overthrow the patriarchy and bury capitalism.

A film festival aims to screen films that are challenging and awakens strong emotions and amazement. Gritt has already screened at film festivals like Rotterdam and Göteborg, and we are very proud to present Søimer Guttormsen’s strong feature film debut at this year’s Oslo Pix.

Johanne Svendsen Rognlien

Director

Itonje Søimer Guttormsen (b. 1979) is a director educated from European Film College in Denmark, The Norwegian Film School and Akademin Valand in Sweden. She has previously directed the short films Irma ut i verden (2005), Andropia (2007), Den utvalgte (2008) and Retrett (2016), which received big attention both in Norway and abroad. Søimer Guttormsen is also behind the art film festival ByFlimmer, and the choir KORET. Gritt is her feature film debut and a continuation of her short film Retrett.

This film is part of