GROWTH OF THE SOIL

Special Features: 2027 Oscar® Selection, Norway

[MARKENS GRØDE]
The 1917 novel that won Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun the Nobel Prize in Literature is turned into an equally epic film that tells a tale of rural hardship, desire and the passage of time. Lone wanderer Isak (Herbert Nordrum, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD) ascends the rugged mountains of Norway seeking a suitable spot to claim and build a home. He nearly succumbs to the harsh country until he crosses paths with Inger (Asta Kamma August), a solitary woman holding a lamb, who has her own reasons for striking out on her own. Brought together by the unyielding elements in order to survive, Isak and Inger slowly fall in love and build a life together over the years — but modernity, with its questionable promise of progress, proves equally challenging for the couple and their family. Superb performances by Nordrum and August, a captivating yet unromantic visual palette rendered in a tight 4:3 frame by cinematographer Oskar Dahlsbakken and a precise, minimalist score by Kaspar Kaae turn GROWTH OF THE SOIL into an engrossing adaptation that pays proper homage to its acclaimed source material. –Javier Chavez

Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance (Asta Kamma August), 2026 San Sebastián International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Hans Petter Moland; SCR Gard B. Eidsvold, from the novel by Knut Hamsun; PROD Håkon Øverås. Norway/Denmark, 2026, color, 155 min. In Norwegian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Run Time: 155 Minutes

Opening Date: Thursday, December 10, 2026

Genre: Drama

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