This film is part of Free
Men of Norway
A shipment of dried cod bound for Germany is sprayed with kerosene by a young Norwegian in one of the more inventive acts of anti-Nazi sabotage from this gripping film.
Overview
A group of Norwegians stage a daring escape across the North Sea in the dramatic centrepiece of this Academy Award-nominated March of Time report from 1941. The sighting of a surfacing submarine provides a genuine moment of nail-biting tension. Various forms of resistance, from setting up of shortwave radio transmitters to digging up railway lines are shown in recreated sequences which vividly depict the inventiveness and bravery of the young people of Nazi-occupied Norway.
A perfectly pitched blend of reconstructed scenes and genuine footage combined with an informative commentary - characterised by the nonchalant humour of the Norwegian speaker - earned this March of Time issue a deserved Academy Award nomination. The depiction of a raid on a Nazi radio station and oil refinery features authentic film of Nazis being rounded-up and blindfolded, adding a note of real-life drama to the reconstructed sequences and boosting morale at the same time. One of the nicest features of the film is the prominence of Scandinavian knitwear featuring snowflakes, deer and trees: an unofficial uniform wholly in line with the self-deprecating bravery of the Norwegian resistance itself.
Related
Private Life of the Gannets Private Life of the Gannets
Documentary 1934 14 mins Location: Pembroke/Penfro
The marginal lives of a breeding colony of gannets on the isolated Pembrokeshire island of Grassholm
Giuseppina Giuseppina
Drama 1959 32 mins
Short film by James Hill about a girl who works in her father's rural Italian petrol station and her longing to escape.
London Can Take It! London Can Take It!
Government sponsored film 1940 9 mins Location: London
Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.
Prelude to Victory Prelude to Victory
Documentary 1943 18 mins
Nominated for an Oscar, this film dramatically depicts the carefully plotted invasion which took Hitler by surprise and led to the defeat of Axis powers in Africa.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.