Just how different is Norway’s cinema industry from its Swedish counterpart? Did you know for example that most of the country’s cinemas are owned by municipal governments? Or that SF has its own active production department in Norway?
Cinema in Norway has a long history. As early as 1896, the first public film screening took place in Oslo - just months after the Lumière brothers first dazzled audiences with moving images in Paris. 1913 marked the passing of the first cinema law, which among other things required cinemas to obtain special licenses. At the time, it was primarily municipal governments that received these permits, a fact that created an entirely different structure for the cinema industry compared to that found in Sweden.
