Jan Petter Dickman

Jan Petter Dickman’s name keeps popping up for a reason—he’s been right in the thick of some seriously intense Norwegian cinema. You might recognize his work if you’ve seen “Quisling: The Final Days” (2024), which digs into the last moments of Vidkun Quisling, Norway’s most notorious traitor. That film doesn’t exactly sugarcoat things; it’s heavy, gritty, and unapologetically raw, with Dickman helping steer the ship through some extremely choppy historical waters. But that’s not his only claim to fame. Go back a few years and there’s “The King's Choice” (2016)—a big deal in Norway, since it takes you right into the chaos of WWII when King Haakon VII had to make choices that’d shape the country forever. The tension? Palpable. The stakes? Through the roof. Dickman’s fingerprints are all over that film’s nerve-wracking, human moments. And don’t even get started on “Utøya 22. juli” (2018). That movie is just gut-wrenching. It throws you right into the terror of the 2011 attacks on Utøya Island, telling the story mostly from a survivor’s perspective. It’s not there to comfort you—it’s there to make you feel every ounce of fear and confusion the victims went through. Dickman doesn’t shy away from tricky subjects or emotional powder kegs; he dives in, head first, every time. Basically, if you’re hunting for films that don’t mess around with the truth, and pack a punch emotionally and historically, Jan Petter Dickman’s projects should be on your list. There’s no gloss, no easy answers, just a whole lot of reality and guts.