New opening hours at the Kon-Tiki Museum in 2012.

January – February 10-16
March – April – May 10-17
June – Juli – August 9-18
September – October 10-17
November – December 10-16
Closed:

24, 25, 31 of December.
1. January and 17. May

NEW: Every day at 12.00 in the Kon-Tiki Cinema we screen the original Kon-Tiki Movie.

See trailer from the new "Kon-Tiki movie"

Press release from Nordisk Film Distribusjon AS

Oslo, Monday 31 October 2011

SEE PÅL SVERRE VALHEIM HAGEN AS THOR HEYERDAHL – and go behind the scenes of the major feature film "Kon-Tiki"!

The first still photos from "Kon-Tiki" are ready. The photos are being released with a video blog showing the shooting that took place in the open ocean this summer. Kon-Tiki is one of the largest Norwegian film ventures ever. The takes were shot in six different locations; the last of which was the Maldives. Filming has now been completed for the feature film which will premiere on 24 August 2012.

"Even though KON-TIKI is the most ambitious Norwegian film project ever, and the pressure a project like this results in is immense, we have also had a summer of cloudless skies, hundreds of sunrises and sunsets, and fantastic people around us," says director Joachim Rønning

"This is a dream come true for us, and there were days during this production when we all really felt we were walking in Thor Heyerdahl's footsteps," says director Espen Sandberg.

The first photos can be downloaded here: http://media.filmweb.no

Photo credit photos: Carl Christian Raabe

You can watch the video blog from the filming here: http://www.youtube.com/user/kontikifilmen#p/a/u/0/YXJZg5WT7EQ

Follow KON-TIKI as it approaches its premiere here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kontikifilmen

The film

In 1947, a war-weary world became fascinated by a young, Norwegian man called Thor Heyerdahl. He had developed a revolutionary theory that suggested Polynesia had been populated from South America, which directly contrasted with the established scientific theory about migration from Asia. To prove his theory, he did something previously unheard of. He decided to test his theory in practice - and set out on an epic, danger-filled expedition across the Pacific Ocean. He named the primitive balsa raft on which he would cross almost 8,000 kilometres of ocean 'Kon-Tiki' after the sun god. Thor Heyerdahl was accompanied by five young men; none of them knew each other from before, and only one of them could sail. As for himself, he had a fear of water and could not swim. Thor was willing to sacrifice everything and everyone to prove he was right.

"Kon-Tiki" is a dramatisation of these real events. It is a personal story, with half the globe as its stage: Norway, Polynesia, the USA, Peru and the Pacific Ocean. "Kon-Tiki" is a story about choosing adventure, about daring to stand up for what you believe in, and just doing it when everyone else says it is impossible. It was an epic journey that changed the people who took part in it for ever.

The book about the Kon-Tiki expedition has been translated into more than 70 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies. The documentary about the expedition won an Oscar in 1951 and Thor Heyerdahl became the most famous Norwegian of modern times.

See the original film at the Kon-Tiki Museum.

The original Kon-Tiki film will be shown every weekend at the Kon-Tiki Museum in the run up to Christmas.

The cast

Thor Heyerdahl is played by Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen (Jeg reiser alene - 2011, Jernanger - 2009, Max Manus - 2008, deUSYNLIGE - 2008). Navigator Erik Hesselberg is played by Odd-Magnus Williamson (Hjelp, vi er i filmbransjen! - 2011, En helt vanlig dag på jobben - 2010, Reprise - 2006). The role of radio operator Knut Haugland is played by Tobias Santelmann (Stikk- 2011 (TV), Varg Veum – Skriften på veggen - 2010, Hvaler sesong 2 - 2010 (TV)). Thor's second in command Herman Watzinger is played by Anders Baasmo Christiansen (Vegas - 2009, Nord 2009, Arn – Tempelridderen - 2008, Buddy - 2003). Radio operator Torstein Raaby is played by Jakob Oftebro (Erobreren - 2011 (TV), Varg Veum – Svarte Får - 2011, Max Manus - 2008, Bare Bea - 2004) and Gustaf Skarsgård (The Way Back - 2010, Patrik 1,5 - 2008, Ondskan - 2003, Den Osynlige - 2002) plays the role of the onboard photographer, the Swedish ethnographer Bengt Danielsson. Thor Heyerdahl's first wife is played by Agnes Kittelsen (Dag - 2011 (TV), Sykt lykkelig – 2010, Max Manus – 2008).

The directors

Kon-Tiki is the third feature film by directing team and childhood friends Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning. The directing duo were well-known advertising film directors for many years. Their big breakthrough came with the hit film Max Manus, which attracted 1.2 million Norwegian cinema goers and thus became Norway's most watched film ever. Their first film, the English language Bandidas, was released onto the world market in 2006 and featured stars such as Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek. It was written and produced by legendary French director Luc Besson.

The producers

Aage Aaberge of Nordisk Film Production is the film's executive producer. Aaberge has produced/co-produced more than 20 films in the last 25 years. He is a veteran of Norwegian film production and also has international experience. Aaberge is producing Kon-Tiki together with Jeremy Thomas of Recorded Picture Company, one of Europe's leading producers. Thomas has produced films such as the Oscar winning The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Crash, and The Brave. He was worked with directors like David Cronenberg, Bernardo Bertolucci, Johnny Depp, Stephen Frears, Wim Wenders and Terry Gilliam.

About Nordisk Film

Nordisk Film is a subsidiary of Egmont, and is Scandinavia's leading developer, producer and distributor of creative content within film, music and games. Nordisk Film owns the Scandinavian distribution rights for Sony PlayStation and owns cinemas in Norway and Denmark. Nordisk Film also supplies production and post-production facilities to a large number of Nordic film companies. Nordisk Film has previously co-produced and distributed Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy and been involved in major Nordic productions such as Max Manus, Snabba Cash, Antichrist and Hodejegerne.

Kon-Tiki will premiere on 24 August 2012 and is being produced with the support of the Norwegian Film Institute, Eurimages, Nordisk Film and TV Fond, the Swedish Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute and Film3. HanWay Films, via Jeremy Thomas, is responsible for international sales.

Kon-Tiki will be distributed by Nordisk Film Distribusjon AS.

Press contacts

Siw Skjervold, Nordisk Film Distribusjon AS (+47) 958 30 570 siw.skjervold@nordiskfilm.com

Anne Berentsen, Kulturmeglerne AS (+47) 995 24 438 anne.berentsen@kulturmeglerne.no

Halfdan Tangen Jnr., The Kon-Tiki Museum (+47) 473 75 260 h.tangen@kon-tiki.no

Conference in Baku:

Thor Heyerdahl and Azerbaijan

26-29. October 2011, Azerbaijan University of Languages, Rashid Behbudov Street 60, Baku

The conference will be organized by Azerbaijan University of Languages and the University of Oslo. The two universities have an ongoing cooperation project that develops a regional studies program on Scandinavia, with focus on Norway. Our institutions in Baku and Oslo would like to take advantage of the existing cooperation and arrange an academic conference where Heyerdahl’s theories regarding pre-viking contact will be presented and discussed.
Heyerdahl’s theory, based upon Snorre, that Odin came from Caucasus, will be treated from various points of view, by scholars in different fields: archeology, history, linguistics, philology, etc.

Addressing an aspect of Heyerdahl’s work that has aroused a lot of positive interest in Azerbaijan but which also gave him critics in his homeland, the ambitions are to manage this in a professional manner and hopefully to come to some conclusions. Special emphasis will be put on methodology and potentially diverging opinions between Azerbaijani and Norwegian scholars in this area.

The conference will also treat other aspects of Heyerdahl’s Azerbaijan-related work. For example, he was among the first western authors whose books were allowed in the Soviet Union after Stalin’s death. They were translated into Russian and widely read. Heyerdahl visited Azerbaijan four times, and – based upon his friendship with president Heydar Aliyev – he played a part when Statoil was established in the country.


Statue of Thor Heyerdahl in the village
Kish,nearby Albanian Church.
Scandinavian mythology describes a god called ODIN that came to Northern Europe from a place called Azer. I have studied these writings and concluded that it is no mythology. It is real history and geography.
- THOR HEYERDAHL

Exhibition until 1. st October 2011: Thor Heyerdahl - Kon-Tiki and the value of an Oscar!
	This year it will be 60 years since Thor Heyerdahl won the Oscar for best documentary for the film of the Kon-Tiki expedition. The film was the catalyst behind Thor Heyerdahl's worldwide fame. Thanks to the film, the book about the expedition became a bestseller around the world. It has been translated in 70 languages and millions of copies have been sold. This gave Thor Heyerdahl the chance to carry out new expeditions and he was always accompanied by a film camera. In this exhibition the Kon-Tiki Museum wants to show how important film was in making and keeping Thor Heyerdahl world famous.
The exhibition also shows how an Oscar in 1951 provided the foundation for a totally new pop culture involving music, restaurants and fashion. Tiki pop culture! And the Kon-Tiki story continues. A new feature film is now on the horizon with one of the biggest budgets in Norwegian history. It will be directed by the people behind Max Manus and produced by Aage Aaberge and Jeremy Thomas. The exhibition "Thor Heyerdahl - Kon-Tiki and the value of an Oscar" har been to Germany, Russia qand different cities in Norway durring the spring and summer 2011 and will be exposed in other countries durring the autumn 2011 and spring and summer 2012.

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