For director Hans Petter Moland, the feature In Order of Disappearance (Kraftidioten) from Norway marks his return engagement at the Tribeca Film Festival. Back in 2004 the Moland-directed The Beautiful Country made the Tribeca cut.
Moland described Tribeca as being “a wonderful venue for a European film to make its U.S. premiere.” He is no stranger to New York, having worked at director Bob Giraldi’s shop, Giraldi Productions, in the early to mid ‘80s. “I learned a lot from him and while living in New York. I am very fond of the city.”
Whereas The Beautiful Country was a drama–nominated for a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and a Norway Oscar for Best Picture–Moland’s In Order of Disappearance is more along the lines of a dark comedy. “But it’s also a lot of other things,” observed Moland. “It’s an action-comedy. It also has some elements of a thriller. We deliberately smashed some genre constraints. Broadly speaking, it’s a black comedy but to be more precise, it’s a comedy that to some people is dark, but to others, not so dark.”
The film centers on upstanding community leader Nils (Stellan Skarsgard) who has just won a “Citizen of the Year” award when he learns that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate and soon finds himself in the middle of an escalating underworld gang war between Serbian drug dealers and a sociopathic criminal mastermind known as “The Count.”
“It’s a story I had been playing around with,” said Moland. “After I finished A Somewhat Gentle Man, I told my screenwriter [Kim Fupz] on that film about the idea and we decided to this film together." Moland described the protagonist as “a man who is very civilized. He is someone who feels he has a purpose. He is a snowplow operator who keeps a mountain overpass open for his fellow citizens. He subscribes to the virtues of society. And, I wanted to play with this idea: What makes a person like that crash through the porous borders to a more primitive side of himself? We like to think of ourselves as civilized human beings, but when challenged of course we can crack.”
In Order of Disappearance has already garnered favorable reviews in the American and European press. The film made its world premiere in Berlin at a press screening in an 1,800-seat theater. The day after a major press showing, there were several more screenings. “Four or five thousand people got to see it on giant screens,” said Moland. “So it's very good exposure for a film.”
Moland reported that the film has received interest from U.S. distributors after the debut in Berlin. “I imagine it could be interesting for distributors to see how it plays to a U.S. audience. Recently there have been a number of Scandinavian films that have found success in the U.S.”
Moland added that while “people may see me as Scandinavian,” he views many of his influences as being “very American. When I first came to the U.S. in the '70s, American cinema was bursting with vitality. I was also a great fan of Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, Saturday Night Live and when I moved back to Norway I felt my sense of humor was influenced by my stay in the U.S…which I recall as both dark, even a little morbid.”
As for the biggest creative challenge that In Order of Disappearance posed to him as a director, Moland observed, “Every film is a challenge. On this film, it was 20 below zero for the entire shoot. There was also not a lot of money. On the other hand, I worked with great people. A lot of fine actors did it because they wanted to be part of it. It was a communal effort. Looking back, there were some large hurdles, but it was all rather fun–a good time with good people. And in truth, if a film doesn’t exhaust you in making it, it probably isn’t worth making.”
Meanwhile Moland continues to be active in commercials. “I’m still at it. I do things that I like. Making films is a passion for me. I’ve done mostly European ads over the last couple of years.” His recent body of work includes an Amnesty International PSA, “No Means No,” which won a Gold PR Lion at Cannes. He also directed a spot titled “The Inventor” for AF Bygg that was well received In addition to his home base in Norway, Moland maintains affiliations in Germany and France. In the U.S., he is affiliated with Accomplice Media whose executive producer is Mel Gragido. Moland worked together with Gragido back at Giraldi and they have been friends ever since.
