Anne Sewitsky

Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky drew critical praise in both the American and world film festival circuits with her films "Happy, Happy" (2010), "Totally True Love" (2011) and "Homesick" (2015), which took a wry, offbeat look at family and romantic relations. Born Anne Østensen Sewitsky on January 12, 1978 in Oslo, Norway, she was raised in the city of Stavern by her American father and Norwegian mother. Sewitsky studied directing at the Norwegian Film School, where she completed the short "Hjerterklipp" ("Heart Cut," 2006), a drama about a teenager who falls for her father's girlfriend. After graduation, she made "Oh, My God!" (2008), a fantasy-themed short about an adventure undertaken by the animated clothing of a broken child's doll. The short received two awards at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, including the Crystal Bear (Special Mention) for Best Short Film in the Generation Kplus program. The following year, Sewitsky released her first feature film, "Happy, Happy," a black comedy about a blithely optimistic wife and mother (Agnes Kittlesen), whose perspective is turned upside down when a seemingly perfect couple moves in next door and reveals some hidden truths about her life with the help of the titular board game. A major hit on the international festival circuit, "Happy, Happy" earned Sewitsky the World Cinema Grand Prize for Drama at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and also became Norway's official candidate for the Best Foreign Film Oscar that same year. Sewitsky then worked in television, helming episodes of the Norwegian comedy series "Cold Prey" (NRK, 2010- ) before directing her second film, "Jørgen + Anne = sant" ("Totally True Love"). Adapted from a popular children's book in her home country, the drama, about a young girl's first love, marked her return to the Berlin International Film Festival by opening the Generation Kplus program in 2011. Sewitsky's third film, "Homesick," concerned a woman whose new life is put on hold when she discovers that she has a 10-year-old brother she has never met. The picture was selected to debut in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.