Award-winning documentarians Bjarte Morner Tveit and Tonje Hessen Schei have joined Oslo Pictures in Norway as the company steps up its investment in non-fiction.

Producer Morner Tveit joins Stavanger-based Piraya Film, where his credits included Cold Case Hammarskjold, Inside Fur, The Secret Life of Pigs and The mole. The latter went undercover in North Korea and won Best Documentary at the Danish Film Academy’s Robert Awards in 2021.

Director Hessen Schei joins UpNorth Film, which she co-founded in 2017, and is known for documentaries such as iHuman, Drone and Replay. She’s set to release footage from her new film, which has the working title Project X, at CPH:DOX’s Works in Progress next week. The film, sold by Cinephil, is a political thriller that explores the prophecies surrounding Armageddon.

The two join with immediate effect.

They will work alongside Tommy Gulliksen, who leads Oslo Pictures’ new documentary division and is a partner in the company. He previously led art warwhich premiered at CPH:DOX in 2019, and is in post-production on a feature-length documentary noise of ice, about a musician’s attempt to make musical instruments from glaciers. Dogwoof handles sales.

noise of ice is one of five feature films Oslo Pictures has in production and development on its non-fiction slate. The company’s first feature-length documentary, about Norwegian rap duo Karpe Diem, will launch later in 2022.

Oslo Pictures was previously best known for producing drama series and fiction feature films such as Joachim Trier The worst person in the worldpresented in Competition at Cannes and nominated for two Oscars: best original screenplay and best international feature film.