‘Kon-Tiki’ makers fend off pirates

The new Norwegian feature film Kon-Tiki, which topped lists of the most-seen films in Norwegian cinemas in 2012, came out on DVD and BluRay last month and quickly became available on The Pirate Bay and other file-sharing websites. The film’s makers are in despair, and trying to halt the practice. “This is pure thievery,” producer [...]

‘Kon-Tiki’ en route for Golden Globe

Norwegian film industry officials were celebrating after the “Kon-Tiki” film released in Oslo last summer was nominated for Norway’s first-ever Golden Globe award for a full-length feature film. It won the nomination last week as Best Foreign-Language Feature. Kon-Tiki, about Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s efforts to mount his famed voyage on a balsa raft, faces tough [...]

New film boosts Kon-Tiki Museum

Not everyone agrees that the new film “Kon-Tiki” should be Norway’s candidate at the Academy Awards in Hollywood, but Oslo’s Kon-Tiki Museum is riding high on its wave of success. The interest it’s set off among the public is resulting in a badly needed burst of visitors at the museum that had been operating at [...]

Heyerdahl Jr also in the spotlight

Last week’s release of the new Norwegian film Kon-Tiki has thrust the son of the legendary Kon-Tiki captain Thor Heyerdahl back into the limelight – and into a new family quarrel. He seems to mostly be enjoying all the fuss, but claims his mother was the real adventurer. “She was the tougher of the two,” Thor [...]

‘Kon-Tiki’ film hit stormy seas

Norwegians have been streaming to cinemas in record numbers to see the new epic feature film Kon-Tiki, about their most famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary voyage on a balsa raft over the Pacific. Meanwhile, another drama has been playing out in real-life, as the daughter of a Kon-Tiki crew member claims the directors took far [...]

Ovations greet new ‘Kon-Tiki’ film

The applause was long and loud after the long-awaited film about Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki expedition premiered at the film festival in Haugesund over the weekend. The film Kon-Tiki is the most expensive ever made in Norway, and its producers hope the critical acclaim will bode well for its financial success as well. The [...]

Rough seas at two famed museums

Both the Norwegian Maritime Museum and its neighboring Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo have been navigating through stormy seas the past year, rocked by financial and personnel problems respectively. While the Kon-Tiki Museum faces smoother sailing, the Maritime Museum appears stuck in crisis. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported earlier this week that the Maritime Museum has [...]

Heyerdahl’s theories win support

Thor Heyerdahl, arguably Norway’s most famous explorer, had to endure a lot of criticism over his theories of migration in the South Pacific and elsewhere but genetic testing and new research may help prove him right. Heyerdahl, who died in 2002, mounted his famed expedition on his Kon-Tiki raft to prove that Polynesia could have [...]

New ‘Kon-Tiki’ film unveils cast

UPDATED: Work on a new film about legendary Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl is moving into high gear, 60 years after the first Kon-Tiki film won the Oscar for best documentary. Cast members of the new version, which will center on Heyerdahl himself, were introduced on Tuesday in front of the original Kon-Tiki raft, still on [...]

Views and News’ Museum Guide

Norway’s capital is packed with museums, and they’re often popping up in the news. We intend to follow that news, and focus every week this spring on a specific museum worthy of a visit. THIS WEEK: The Kon-Tiki Museum, where a new exhibit on his Ra expedition opens April 28. It’s been more than 60 [...]

Kon-Tiki set to sail on the screen

A major new film  that will dramatize Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl’s famed Kon-Tiki expedition has won financial support, just as Heyerdahl’s grandson sets off on a new expedition himself. Olav Heyerdahl is part of the crew on a unique raft called the Plastiki.  The Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947 captured international attention in a post-war world, became the [...]