THE CULTURAL TECH TRANSFORMATION
The connection between Norway and Texas has been close for many years. Here in Norway, this connection is arguably the strongest here in Halden. In a region known as the Deep South of Norway, this town has long been the unofficial home of the Americana movement, creative cultural and musical activities.
Most certainly, it has been the music and stories that have come from the Lone Star State, embraced here with a passion. But there is more to the Austin – Norway connection that this.
In the morning Friday sessions we will feature innovative stories with a focus on the story of Austin and its technical transformation in the past decades.
Norway is at the cutting edge of technology – creative forces innovating their way into the 4th Industrial Revolution. We will look at the major changes that are happening right here on our doorstep – examining the dynamic between tech and community and culture asking the hard question:
“How can Norway better merge creativity with technology in an innovative way that benefits both business and culture”
THE CULTURAL TECH TRANSFORMATION
0900 - 1230
KULTURHUSET, HALDEN
Tordenskjolds gate 1
THE CULTURAL TECH TRANSFORMATION
KULTURHUSET
08:30 am
Join the magazine Ballad as it welcomes you for morning coffee, snacks and a chat.
9:00 am
WELCOME
Ingeborg Lauvik
The CEO of Halden Business Development Ingeborg Laukvik welcomes participants to this day of creative technology.
9:10 am
AUSTIN AND THE CREATIVE TECH RENAISSANCE
Joe Nick Patoski
We look at the city of Austin surging to the forefront of American tech hubs, rivaling even Silicon Valley in the eyes of some. Entertaining and colorful, he has bee writing about Texas for more than 50 years,
in his book Austin to ATX, Joe Nick Patoski describes the legendary technological transformation of Austin, Texas. Listen as he tells the fascinating story of how outsiders, free spirits, thinkers, educators, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and politicians created the right atmosphere to become national leader within technology with Dell Technologies and others leading the way.
Joe Nick Patoski has authored and co-authored biographies of Willie Nelson, Selena, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Dallas Cowboys, and the City of Austin. His byline has appeared in Texas Monthly, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Oxford American among many others. Variety magazine has mentioned him as one of the “10 Documakers to Watch”.
10:00 am
STUDIO CITY - World Class in Østfold
CEO Dag Hvaring
Dag Hvaring has led the Studio City initiative since 2021. and will tell the story of this world class full-service studio for motion picture and television production at Brennemoen.
The area spans 62 acres, regulated for a building mass footprint of 500 000 sq. feet, and up to 70 feet tall. The 27 acres backlot area encompasses a mix of fields, hills, and forest.
This national production and competence centre for film and television industries, with Scandinavia as its home market, will be amongst the world’s most sustainable studio complexes.
This will include substantial ESG focus across the building processes, buildings and building materials, 100% renewable energy, studio operations, production, backlots, food and beverages, waste and storage facilities.
10:30
COFFEE BREAK
Relax and enjoy a talk with your new friends
10:45
MERGING CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY
Joe Nick Patoski, Østfold University College Associate Professor Henrik Skaug Sætra and a Halden Business Representative
A debate and discussion about finding the right balance between technology and culture, learning from Austin where Michael Dell and startups fed off the community and culture that already existed, primarily through music and film.
Will tech threaten to overwhelm the rest of the community and culture with its financial muscle, positing the question whether the culture that fostered tech can thrive in a tech-driven economy?
PARALLEL SESSION (VIDEO ROOM)
11:30
THE POWER OF THE MUSIC VIDEO
Arvid Skancke-Knutsen
Each day, Arvid Skancke-Knutsen will bring you an update about the student Music Video workshop and and present recent Norwegian music videos in collaboration with Ballade.
12:30 LUNCH
LUNCH AT THE KULTURHUSET
Join us at the Kulturhuset for lunch. The Kulturhuset is located just down the street from the Halden Kino and is the main networking venue here at the Halden International Music Film Festival.
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For those with Full Delegate or Day passes, the lunch is covered as part of the package.
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Enjoy the exhibition from the Austin Museum of Pop Culture straight from Deep in the Heart of the Lone Star State!
Enjoy the other exhibitions which continue, free of charge!
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Music Video Exhibition (a-ha Take on me, Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer and more)
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Bluestown Notodden and sister city Clarksdale, Mississippi
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Photo exhibition featuring artists from films being show at the HIMF
FILM PASS
For those of you who have not chosen a Delegate Pass, and simply want to enjoy the different HIMF films from Thursday to Saturday, we offer a FILM PASS at a cost of just 400 kroner.
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Note that this FILM PASS does not cover the two closed screenings on Thursday nor the The Last Waltz at 3:30 pm on Saturday (tickets can be purchased here).
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All entry is on a first-come, first served basis where capacity is limited.
Purchase your FILM PASS today here!
Kino Hall #1
13:30
SIR DOUG AND THE GENUINE TEXAS COSMIC GROOVE (2015, USA)
Introduced by Director Joe Nick Patoski
Sir Doug & The Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove tells the story of Doug Sahm, the wild man musicians’ musician and unsung hero of Texas music. A kinetic, quirky character with a solid sense of place as well as an innate wanderlust, Doug Sahm’s story is the story of Texas music. The film premiered at SXSW in 2015 and was released on Amazon Prime in 2017. Sir Doug earned 5-star ratings from 89% of the viewers
the people who watched, finding fans across the world.
Doug Sahm enjoyed a great popularity here in Scandinavia. Now, here in Halden, the film is launched once again as the genius Sir Doug is introduced to new generations in addition to older fans and followers by Joe Nick Patoski, colorful author and director from Deep in the Heart of Texas.
15:40
WITHOUT GETTING KILLED OR CAUGHT
(USA, 2021)
Directed by Tamara Saviano, Paul Whitfield
Guy Clark, the dean of Texas songwriters, struggled to write poetic songs while balancing a complicated marriage with wife Susanna and a deep friendship with writer Townes Van Zandt, with whom Susanna forged a passionate dependence.
For more than forty years, Guy Clark wrote and recording unforgettable songs. His lyrics and melodies paint indelible portraits of the people, places, and experiences that shaped our world
Writer, producer, and music industry insider Tamara Saviano chronicles the story of this legendary artist from her unique vantage point as his former publicist and producer of the Grammy-nominated album This One's for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark.
Saviano's skillfully constructed narrative weaves together the extraordinary songs, larger-than-life characters, previously untold stories, and riveting emotions that make up the life of this modern-day poet and troubadour.
Kino Hall #2
15:15
NOTHING STAYS THE SAME:
THE STORY OF THE SAXON PUB (2019, USA)
Director Jeff Sandmann
Introduced by Producer Jeffrey Brown
A look at the history - and challenges - of live music in Austin TX seen through the lens of storied venue The Saxon Pub.
Threatened with closure when the landowner received an offer to sell the plot in order to build a large block of flats instead. The club had the best sound in all of Austin, and was preparing to close or move operations to the outskirts of town. The documentary that won the audience award at SXSW in 2019 shows us how The Saxon Pub fared. Several of Austin's most famous musicians and artists are in the film.
"Nothing stays the same except the changes, and the changes are here to stay."
MYSTERY MAN (2023, Norway)
Exclusive preview: Paolo Vinaccia documentary
Directed by Arne B Rostad
Who was this man, the musician, the food person, the fisherman, the fellow human being and not least the philosopher of life?
Arne B Rostad has followed Paolo Vinaccia in music from the first time he heard Paolo at Club7 in 1980. When Paolo's widow, visual artist Trude Semb, contacted Rostad in early autumn 2019, filming began the following week.
The background for this film is a curiosity about Paolo as a musician and a person. And not least a fascination with him as a creative, executive and uncompromising person.
Kino Hall #3
I6:00
EXIT (2017, Norway)
Introduced by Director David Skaun
David Skaun’s breakthrough short film. Robert, played by the charismatic personality Tommy Tokyo, escapes from prison a cold winter night, but his loved one does not show up as planned. His pursuit of a new beginning soon turns into a living hell when his dream meets the harsh reality of the dark and lone world on the outside. In every attempt of reaching his dream of love and freedom he keeps failing, even when he reaches to God for help.
16:45
R.L. BURNSIDE – A PORTRAIT OF A BLUESMAN (Norway)
Introduced by Directors Øyvind Pharo and Kjell Bjørgeengen
In the 1990s, the veteran and slide guitarist R.L. Burnside (1926 – 2005) was influence in spreading the blues to indie rocker. Toasting Bloody Marys and rapped about the Signifyin' Monkey and Stagger Lee between songs, R.L’s trio showed the way for The White Stripes and The Black Keys. The album Ass Pocket of Whiskey together with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (1996) became a hit for the record label Fat Possum.
Øyvind Pharo and Kjell Bjørgeengen accompanied him during Ole Blues in Bergen 1998, at his home ground Kimbrough's Juke Joint in Holly Springs, Mississippi and on tour in England in February 1999. Matthew Johnson from Fat Possum, journalist Robert Gordon and also Jon Spencer complete the portrait of the blues man.
BYPARKEN - A NIGHT IN AUSTIN
19:00 - 01:00
Join us for an evening of entertainment and the real Austin feel. Live music with Dag Vagle, and afterwards a Doug Sahm tribute band fronted by Jan Dahlen and the Kulseth brothers.
Good music and lots of fun that will end the second day of the Halden International Music Film Festival!
At Byparken by Halden Station.