In 1975, Norwegian film director and author Arnljot Berg (Bobby's War, Closed Ward) was arrested in Paris and charged with the murder of his wife, Evelyne. Back then, his daughter, filmmaker Lene Berg (False Belief, Kopfkino), was nine years old. In 1982, the father died by suicide. Forty years later, the dramatic childhood experience is the starting point for her new film, The Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The shoot for the movie, which moves between documentary, staged and fictional elements, is completed; the editing process is ongoing. And at this week's Venice Gap-Financing Market, part of the Venice Film Festival, Berg will meet with potential backers to ensure she can wrap the film.

The hybrid film, produced by Ellen Ugelstad of Twentyone Pictures, dives into such themes as childhood trauma, family, guilt, memory and narratives. Berg herself appears in The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with Ane Dahl Torp portraying her alter ego in the film, while Olav Waastad appears as her late father.

Produced by Norway's Twentyone Pictures, in co-production with Sweden's Story and Germany's Alma Bäng, and Maria Ekerhovd from Mer Film, the film is supported by the Eurimage, Norwegian Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, Oslo Filmfond, The Art Council Norway, ARTE, Fritt Ord, Viken Filmsenter and Amarcord.



Berg talked to THR about her unusual approach to The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, how it mirrors the challenges of trauma and memory, and her hopes for Venice.

I heard that you have done work in other art forms about your father and his story. Can you talk a little bit about that and why you wanted to now explore your family history in film form?

They are all linked in a way. When I started to work on this material, I knew from the start that I wanted it to be an exhibition and a novel and a feature. Actually, I wrote the first scenes for the feature, but then I had this huge exhibition in Bergen, so I had the opportunity to develop some of the ideas in that form. Then, I published the novel [From Father (Fra far)] because the publisher was enthusiastic, and now it was time for the fe

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