The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Norway
This page contains a list of the greatest Norwegian Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 7 of which were born in Norway. This makes Norway the birth place of the 38th most number of Film Directors behind Greece, and Pakistan.
Top 9
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Norwegian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Anja Breien (b. 1940)
With an HPI of 53.66, Anja Breien is the most famous Norwegian Film Director. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.
Anja Breien (born 12 July 1940) is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. One of the leading figures of the Norwegian film industry, and one of the first women to rise to prominence as a writer-director in Norway, Breien's body of work in fiction and documentary explores social and political issues, notably women's rights within the context of Norwegian society.
2. Morten Tyldum (b. 1967)
With an HPI of 47.15, Morten Tyldum is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.
Morten Tyldum (Norwegian: [ˈmɔ̂ʈːn̩ ˈtʏ̀ldʉm]; born 19 May 1967) is a Norwegian film director. He is best known in his native Norway for directing the thriller film Headhunters (2011), based on the novel by Jo Nesbø, and internationally for directing the historical drama The Imitation Game (2014), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, and the science fiction drama Passengers (2016).
3. Bent Hamer (b. 1956)
With an HPI of 44.89, Bent Hamer is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Bent Hamer (born 18 December 1956) is a film director, writer and producer, born in Sandefjord, Norway in 1956.
4. Nils Gaup (b. 1955)
With an HPI of 40.22, Nils Gaup is the 4th most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Nils Gaup (born 12 April 1955) is a Sámi film director from Norway.
5. Espen Sandberg (b. 1971)
With an HPI of 39.75, Espen Sandberg is the 5th most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Espen Sandberg (born 2 June 1971) is a Norwegian film director and advertising producer, well known to work with his childhood friend and director Joachim Rønning on several projects such as Bandidas (2006), Max Manus: Man of War (2008), Kon-Tiki (2012) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). He received a nomination at 85th Academy Awards as well as 70th Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for directing 2012 movie Kon-Tiki with Rønning.
6. Tommy Wirkola (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 37.29, Tommy Wirkola is the 6th most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Tommy Wirkola (born 6 December 1979) is a Norwegian film director and writer.
7. André Øvredal (b. 1973)
With an HPI of 36.82, André Øvredal is the 7th most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
André Øvredal (Norwegian: [ɑnˈdreː ˈø̂ːvrədɑɫ]; born 6 May 1973) is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Trollhunter (2010), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) and The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023).
8. Joachim Rønning (b. 1972)
With an HPI of 35.30, Joachim Rønning is the 8th most famous Norwegian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Joachim Rønning (born 30 May 1972) is a Norwegian film director who previously worked in a partnership with Espen Sandberg, both of whom came from Sandefjord, Norway. As a directing team, they went under the name of Roenberg (a portmanteau of their surnames). They co-own one of Scandinavia's largest production companies for commercials called Motion Blur. Rønning now develops and directs film and television as a solo director.Joachim married Amanda Hearst on 2 August 2019.
9. Deeyah Khan (b. 1977)
With an HPI of 27.04, Deeyah Khan is the 9th most famous Norwegian Film Director. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Deeyah Khan (Urdu: دیا خان, pronounced [diːja xaːn], born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the Royal Television Society award for Best Factual Director. She has made seven documentaries to date, all have been shown on ITV in the UK as part of its Exposure series. Her debut film as director and producer, Banaz: A Love Story (2012) about the honor killing of a British-Kurdish woman won an Emmy and a Peabody. Her second documentary, Jihad: A Story of the Others, nominated for a BAFTA, Grierson and Monte-Carlo Television Festival involved two years interviewing Islamic extremists and convicted terrorists. Her 2017 documentary White Right: Meeting The Enemy was also Bafta-nominated and won an Emmy award for Best International Current Affairs Documentary and the Rory Peck Award for Best Current Affairs documentary in 2018— this film saw Deeyah travel to the United States where she shadowed neo-Nazis at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. She is the founder and CEO of production company Fuuse, which specializes in documentary films, digital media platforms and content for television broadcasters and live events. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of sister-hood Magazine which spotlights the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage. In 2016 Khan became the inaugural UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Artistic Freedom and Creativity.
People
Pantheon has 9 people classified as Norwegian film directors born between 1940 and 1979. Of these 9, 9 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Norwegian film directors include Anja Breien, Morten Tyldum, and Bent Hamer. As of April 2024, 2 new Norwegian film directors have been added to Pantheon including Anja Breien, and André Øvredal.
Living Norwegian Film Directors
Go to all Rankings
Anja Breien
1940 - Present
HPI: 53.66
Morten Tyldum
1967 - Present
HPI: 47.15
Bent Hamer
1956 - Present
HPI: 44.89
Nils Gaup
1955 - Present
HPI: 40.22
Espen Sandberg
1971 - Present
HPI: 39.75
Tommy Wirkola
1979 - Present
HPI: 37.29
André Øvredal
1973 - Present
HPI: 36.82
Joachim Rønning
1972 - Present
HPI: 35.30
Deeyah Khan
1977 - Present
HPI: 27.04
