NOK 500 000,- to “Songs from the Street”

Director Mali Finborud Nøren and the production company Skofteland Film AS have been granted NOK 500,000 from the Norwegian Film Institute to produce the documentary film “Songs from the Street” (Orig. working title:  “Plata fra gata”).

The film follows three people who make their daily living by selling the magazine =Oslo (a magazine created to give drug addicts an alternative income which might reduce their need to steal, beg or prostitute to get money). They need about 0,5-1,5 grams of heroin per day, and live a rough life on the street. The film the focuses on the fact that, that these three are skilled artists. They have recently been given the opportunity to make a record, and this project brings new meaning into their lives.

The film was earlier granted NOK 200,000 in development funding from the Norwegian Film Institute.

Director Mali Finborud Nøren received her education from the well-known Documentary Film Studies at Volda College, Norway, and has been working as a director for ten years. Now she makes her own documentaries about subjects that engage and intrigue her. Her first documentary film was “Memento mori”, aired on NRK December 6th. 2008.

- Mali Finborud Nøren has already proven that she can handle sensitive subjects, and give them a cinematic structure. In this film she wants to represent  people who seem to be at the bottom of the social ladder, and show that there is a positive force in all of us, no matter how hopeless the situation might seem, says documentary film consultant in NFI, Stig Andersen in his evaluation.

- With this warm, open and positive documentary film, we wish to open the eyes of the viewers and show them that addicts living on the street are humans, too. And just like us, they have hopes and dreams of what is to become of their lives. They are individuals, and as a group they are just as differentiated as the rest of the society. But the contrasts in their lives might be more dramatic and obvious than for most of us. They belong to a group who are often stigmatized. They are people that most of us don’t want to know of, and we hurry by them on the street says director Mali Finborud Nøren.

- I wish to give them a face, and show the viewers a new and maybe unexpected look into these individuals and the lives they lead.

By following the people of the streets in their everyday struggle, we get an insight to how much effort it takes just to make it from day to day. The contrast is dramatic, when they can finally leave all their worries behind, and concentrate on what they love; music and poetry.

Starts shooting: 1st of March 2009
Release: October 2009

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POSTED 20.02.09