‘It’s About Refugees Today’: Erik Poppe on the Contemporary Angle of Haugesund Winner ‘The Emigrants’
variety.comMarta Balaga Norwegian director Erik Poppe takes on Vilhelm Moberg’s acclaimed series of novels in “The Emigrants,” his new historical drama about a struggling Swedish family which emigrates to the U.S.
in 1849, searching for a better future. “It’s probably the most classic work of literature in the whole Scandinavia,” he told Variety, taking about the 2022 Haugesund Festival winner ahead of its national premiere at the 50th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.
Which is why, when approached to direct the film, he had only one reservation: He had to make it his own. “SF Studios tried to develop it for years, with another director, but they couldn’t quite crack it.
I agreed to take over under the condition that I would be able to start all over again. Focusing on what I believed was the most interesting part: the story of Kristina and her husband Karl-Oskar, their kids and their escape.” Written by Anna Bache-Wiig and Siv Rajendram Eliassen and produced by Fredrik Wikström Nicastro, “The Emigrants” is distributed by SF Studios.
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