Extremists on film: Propaganda or information?

March 13 2018

Fritt Ord, Norwegian Film Directors and HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival 2018 invite the public to a debate on extremists in film on Tuesday, 13 March, from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the House of Literature.

There is a great deal of talk about extremism – also in documentary films. Both at the cinema and on TV, Norwegian film-makers take us into communities with extreme attitudes and ideologies. What is it that attracts directors to these topics, and what do they achieve by making films that follow extremists closely? Do they become spokespersons for extreme attitudes or contribute to understanding and enlightenment?

Programme

The directors
The panel of directors will discuss how they work and how they deal with extremism in their films. What ethical, security-related and practical challenges have they encountered in the process?

Adel Khan Farooq (The Norwegian Islamist)
Henrik Evertsson (The Race Warriors)
Pål Salahdin Refsdal (Dugma – The Button)

The producers
The panel of producers will discuss what kind of assessments they have made as the production has progressed. How does the producer-director relationship work in the face of such volatile topics and groups? What concerns have they had to take into consideration in the role of lead producer, and what kind of thoughts have they had about reactions from audiences, distributors and broadcasters?

Christian Falch (Golden Dawn Girls (Cradle of Hate))
Jonathan Borge Lie (The Norwegian Islamist)
Eirin Gjørv (Exit).

Moderator: Erik Aasheim

Tickets are available for purchase here
Link to the Facebook event

News

Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.