Oslo | The Outstanding Emmy-nominated Film Critics Call “More Timely Than Ever”
Ruth Wilson as Mona Juul in Oslo. (Photo: HBO / Showmax)
- Oslo, nominated for Best TV Movie at the 2021 Emmy Awards, is now available to stream in South Africa.
- The film tells the story of the behind-the-scenes talks that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
- It stars Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson and Emmy nominee Andrew Scott alongside the Palestinian and Israeli cast.
Oslo, nominated for Best TV Movie and Music Composition at the 2021 Emmy Awards, is now available to stream in South Africa.
Oslo is based on the true story of negotiations between relentless enemies – the secret talks, unlikely friendships and the quiet heroism of a small group of Israelis, Palestinians and a Norwegian couple that led to the peace accords from Oslo in 1993.
The film was called “extraordinary” by the Washington Post; “Spellbinding” by The Hollywood Reporter; “Exciting” by Variety and “more current than ever” by TV Guide.
Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson (Luther, The case) portrays Mona Juul, a Norwegian Foreign Minister, with Emmy nominee Andrew Scott (Chip bag, Sherlock) as Terje Rød-Larsen, Norwegian sociologist and husband of Mona.
Oslo is based on the Tony-winning play of the same name, adapted for screen by playwright JT Rogers and director Bartlett Sher. “It’s a little hard to believe, but my daughter’s best friend in second grade was the daughter of Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen,” says Sher. “We became friends and I introduced Terje to JT”
Palestinian stars Salim Dau (Fauda) and Waleed Zuaiter (Ramy, Baghdad Center, London gangs) play respectively Ahmed Qurie, finance minister of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and his partner Hassan Asfour, while Israeli actor Jeff Wilbusch (Unorthodox) embodies Uri Savir, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rogers says, “One political act in this story just brings both sides of a very intense conflict to the fore and gives them a voice.
Sher agrees: “The play was so successful because good theater is not between an evil and a right; a good play is between two rights.
For Palestinian and Israeli actors, the story was personal. “For all of the Palestinians and Israelis in the cast, this was a topic we could all learn from our own experiences,” Zuaiter said.
Wilbusch agrees: “For us it wasn’t really a movie. We are actors and we act, but it was very emotional for both of us.”
Zuaiter adds: “These men did not apologize. They fought a lot but they reconciled a lot.”
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An intellectual thriller
Rogers says: “The Oslo film is an intellectual thriller about people who risk their lives for beliefs greater than themselves. What fascinated me about these men is that they changed seeing the enemy as a human being; for me this is a very worth telling story in the world we live in. There is something beautiful about a story where people have the courage to see beyond their personal hatreds and fears and to see their enemy as a person, and to be changed by it, and in some cases to be friends for the rest of your life. ”
For Sher, it’s about “Oh my God, if they can come together, anything’s possible… In a deeply polarized culture, if you can watch a story about people who couldn’t be more different from each other. , this may lead you to ask yourself, “What will it take under the current circumstances to see if there is common ground?” “”
Of course, the Oslo peace accords of 1993 failed. “But the point of the film is that they tried,” says executive producer Cambra Overend.
“I don’t believe we can change the world with a movie,” Dau admits. “But we have to do something, we can’t go on like this… We have to live together, because we have no choice.