ature. So that's the [element] of a trilogy.

They overlap, but each part also has a [slightly] different focus. So, this is not a film adaptation. It's a totally separate work in a way. For the people who have seen or have taken part in all of the parts, it will be interesting.

It sounds like the stories we tell or try to tell about ourselves and our position in the world are a theme you are exploring in The Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Does that sound right?

This is one fundamental question that I've also been working on in other projects - the problem of narratives, or how you construct a narrative of something that is very, very complicated. At the same time, I want to question the narrative. In this film, a lot of questions come together, with the story of my father's arrest as the starting point. It's very hard to find a way to tell this story within a conventional narrative.

I feel that you made yourself very vulnerable by making this film…

One part is, of course, very emotional, and it's a very sad story. But I feel it's also very comic, in a way. In the film, I have an alter ego, Ane Dahl Torp, and we're trying to stage these scenes.

Lene Berg Courtesy of Lene Berg

My father is also both a very charismatic, funny and interesting person, but also horrible. So, I really tried to make all this as rich as I could and create a film in three acts, so that you can follow it. But at the same time, it's also totally broken.

I was going to ask if audiences can expect any protagonist, or even hero, in a film like this, and whether that's you…

In a way, my alter ego is the total protagonist. I'm also in the film, but she kind of takes over more and more. It was a lot of fun to work with Ane. She promised me that she would play me better than I do, and then she did. A key idea for me was to make the film not only about me. Of course, it's a very personal, very specific story, but the film is also about sharing this story with other people, including the crew and cast.

Given the complexity of the story, I expect The Horsemen of the Apocalypse won't end tying the narrative up neatly and easily…

Yes, I hope that when you walk out, you will still think about all sorts of questions. It's not all resolved at the end. I try to put many questions out there, and I hope that the complicated emotions don't go away quickly. After [all,] the story is complicated. My father is complicated. I am complicated.

Has working on the film helped you come to terms with this family trauma to some degree?

In a way, you could say that. It was 40 years since my father died when I started this project, and in a way, I missed him a bit. Through the film, I'm kind of blowing new life into him.

Olav Waastad is an absolutely amazing actor, and he is playing my father in the film. He appears and just insists on being remembered, and otherwise, he just appears in memories.

I think that the idea of meeting my father as a grown-up and having lived a bit of life myself was one impulse for this. Of course, with the project, I was also opening up the wounds again, so it was very challenging too. Why do I have to think about this again? It's been a long time!

Between documentary and fiction, how do you describe The Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

It moves between the two. It is all staged, except for documentary or authentic elements, such as documents and my father's voice. Because he was a film director, he appeared on TV, and there are also excerpts from his movies in the film, because he appeared in his own films.

In the reenactment scenes, I am trying to instruct Ane, but at the same time not sure I want to do this movie. I'm a reluctant director in the film. It's a little bit of a metaphor for the whole process. The crew members also have different roles. One is telling me to get on with it, while another is very supportive of my emotions. So, we are using a lot of different cinematic tools and elements.

 The Horsemen of the Apocalypse' Courtesy of Twentyone Pictures

Would you ever want it described as a film for true-crime fans?



We actually took  true crime  out of the descriptions because we don't want people to be disappointed because it's not really a true-crime documentary.

I would rather call it a tragic-comic story, or a personal drama. It's very tragic, but I laughed a lot while shooting it, and still laugh while editing.

Where did you find the film title, The Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

The title may still change, but I like it. The phrase actually showed up in some of my father's documents. He called all his enemies  the horsemen of the apocalypse.  When I looked into a definition, they are all things that threaten humanity in a way - death, illness, hunger, war. But there are different interpretations. I think they are the bearer of destruction, but also hope. The word  apocalypse  is very interesting etymologically. It actually doesn't really mean the downfall. It's really the moment before when you see everything clearly, but you can't hold on to it.

The film is also a bit nostalgic. We have an old big tape recorder, and an old landline telephone, and a typewriter. Actually, our actor is too young - he had never spoken on a telephone. So, he asked:  How do you hold it and end the call? How do you hang up?  It was funny.

What's the status of the film, and what do you hope for in Venice and beyond?

We're looking for the gap financing, the final 130,000 euros ($151,000) or so that we need to finish the film. We are almost at the end of the editing process.

Once a film is done, I'm always hoping that people leave the theater and are engaged in what they saw, so that they will continue to discuss it. So, I hope that a film will live on in them. I cannot control how, but I'm really looking forward to showing this film to people. I'm hoping that it will find the right audience that needs it or wants it.