Norwegian film adaptation Stargate – A Christmas Story starts shooting with stellar cast
On Thursday February 8, the heartwarming Christmas film adaptation Stargate – A Christmas Story will start its principal shooting. The film is based on Ingvild Rishøi's critically acclaimed, award-winning and bestselling book of the same name. The film is directed by Ida Sagmo Tvedte's, who has also written the script together with Ingvild Rishøi. The cast includes Jan Gunnar Røise and Bartek Kaminski among others. Stargate - A Christmas Story will premiere in Norwegian cinemas at Christmas in 2025 and SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordics. REinvent handles international sales.
"Delivers pure Christmas magic" and "...has everything a Christmas story should have..." critics wrote about Ingvild H. Rishøi's first novel Stargate. A Christmas Story. when it was published in 2021. The critically acclaimed book was launched in Norway, Denmark and Sweden at the same time, went straight into the bestseller lists and has been sold to 15 countries, including large territories such as Spain, France, Germany and the USA.
Stargate – A Christmas Story is a heartwarming Christmas adventure about a father and his two daughters Melissa (16 years old) and Ronja (10 years old). The sisters are played by Anna Drakopoulou Sverrirdottir (age 15) and Luiza Idrizi (age 9) and their father is played by Bartek Kaminski (The Ambassador, Norsemen). The cast also includes Staffan Göthe (A Royal Secret, A Serious Game), Tevje Espeland (Hybris, Elevrådet), Damir Babovic (In Order of Disappearance, Home Ground), Suheib Ahmed (10 years), Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes (Luka and the Magical Theater, Monster), Hamza Kader (22 July, Tilt) and Shana Mathai and Jan Gunnar Røise, both currently relevant in Power Play.
The film is directed by Ida Sagmo Tvedte, who has also written the script together with the author Ingvild H. Rishøi. Sagmo Tvedte is recognized for her award-winning drama series Sara (2008), Mia (2010) and Jenter (2013). She has received the Creative Talent award at the Kidscreen Awards in 2016, and her series Snøfall won for Best New Series in 2020. Stargate - A Christmas Story is her feature film debut.
“Stargate - A Christmas Story will be a warm Christmas film, which with both humor and a hint of adventure will initiate good conversations about a theme that needs to be made visible. The novel has complex characters that I fell in love with, and I had a wonderful collaboration with Ingvild writing the script. I am now really looking forward to start shooting. We have a team of both experienced actors and new talents, and in Luiza Idrizi we have found our strong-willed and imaginative Ronja”, says Ida Sagmo Tvedte, director.
“I feel so proud when I see the great cast who will play in the film, and everyone who will work behind the camera. It feels like a privilege that the book will be made into a film and that there are such great talents taking care of it”, says Ingvild H. Rishøi, author and scriptwriter.
Stargate – A Christmas Story is produced by Motlys with Hege Hauff Hvattum as producer and Yngve Sæther as executive producer and with the support from the Norwegian Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Oslo Filmfond. SF Studios distributes the film in the Nordics and REinvent handles international sales.
Stargate – A Christmas Story will have its theatrical release in Norwegian cinemas at Christmas in 2025.
About Stargate – A Christmas Story
It is December, Christmas is approaching, and ten-year-old Ronja is on her way home from school. In her hand she has a piece of paper with a phone number that she thinks can make Christmas good this year.
Ronja lives at Tøyen in Oslo with her father and older sister Melissa. The holidays are just around the corner and dad is out of work, again. When Ronja helps him get a job as a Christmas tree seller in the market square, his luck seems to have turned. In a moment, the fridge is fully stocked and their loving dad smells like fir needles instead of beer. But as soon as he gets money in his hands, the temptations lurking at the local Stargate pub become too great. And once again the girls are forced to fend for themselves. Ronja is a dreamer, like her father, and uses her vivid imagination as both a shield and an escape. Most of all, she fantasizes about living with her sister in a cabin deep in the forest.
Stargate - A Christmas Story is a warm and emotional story about a father who does his best but not enough, an older sister who tries to fill his shoes, and a little sister who never stops hoping.
For more information, please contact:
Silje Nikoline Glimsdal, Senior Acquisition Manager, SF Studios, silje.glimsdal@sfstudios.no, +45 244 00 802
Malin Strihagen, Vice President Brand & Communications, SF Studios, malin.strihagen@sfstudios.se, +46 70 780 39 35
About SF Studios
SF Studios is one of the world’s oldest film companies and is celebrating 100 years in 2019. Today SF Studios is the leading film studio in the Nordic region with its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden and offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London. The company is producing and distributing feature films and TV series as well as providing the streaming service SF Anytime. SF Studios is part of the leading Nordic media company Bonnier.
About REinvent
REinvent is a packaging, sales and financing studio all in one. REinvent has extensive knowledge of original trends and sales opportunities in both the Scandinavian and international markets and works with high profile European production companies.
About Motlys
Motlys is an independent production company that has delivered a wide range of quality films since 1983, told by filmmakers with distinctive narrative voices that entertain and engage as much as they enrich. Motlys has produced award-winning and critically acclaimed films and drama series such as Barn, Hope, Home Ground, Thelma, Welcome to Norway, Louder Than Bombs, Blind, I Belong, Oslo, August, 31st, North, The Man Who Loved Yngve, Comrade Pedersen and many more. Motlys has also produced the successful NRK series Power Play.
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