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Anja Breien (born 12 July 1940) is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. One of the leading figures of the Norwegian film industry, her body of work in fiction and documentary explores social and political issues, notably women's rights within the context of Norwegian society.

Career
After completing her studies in French at the University of Oslo, Breien went on to graduate from the French film school L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in 1964. She began work in film as script supervisor on the Nils R. Müller film Det Store Varpet in 1961. Her first film as a director and screenwriter was the 1967 short film Growing Up, followed by the feature-length Rape (Voldtekt), released in 1971. Rape was praised by critics, but also sparked debate due to its criticism of the Norwegian criminal justice system. Breien subsequently wrote and directed Wives (Hustruer) (1975), which became a box-office success and received critical acclaim throughout Scandinavia. Wives was inspired as a feminist response to John Cassavetes' Husbands (1972), and follows three women in their thirties who temporarily abandon their domestic responsibilities for a day of freedom. Breien went on to write and direct two sequels, Wives - Ten Years After (Hustruer 10 År Etter) (1985) and Wives III (Hustruer 20 År Etter) (1996), featuring the same characters ten and twenty years later. In 1981's Witch Hunt (Forfølgelsen), Breien again critiqued her home country's patriarchal society through the story of a woman accused of witchcraft in 1630s western Norway.

Breien has directed all of her screenplays with the exception of 1994's Second Sight (Trollsyn), directed by Ola Solum.

Style
Breien is noted for her realist approach to storytelling, her use of the long take, and her use of a slow, contemplative pace.

Rape (1971) uses a non-chronological storytelling technique and has been compared to Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011).

Filmography

 * Growing Up / Vokse opp (1967)
 * Rape / Voldtekt (1971)
 * Wives / Hustruer (1975)
 * Games of Love and Loneliness / Den allvarsamma leken (1977)
 * Heritage / Arven (1979)
 * Witch Hunt / Forfølgelsen (1981)
 * Paper Bird / Papirfuglen (1984)
 * Wives – Ten Years After / Hustruer 10 År Etter (1985)
 * Twice Upon a Time / Smykketyven (1990)
 * Second Sight / Trollsyn (1994) (as screenwriter)
 * Wives III / Hustruer III (1996)
 * Solvorn / Solvorn (1997)
 * To See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil (2001)
 * Untitled – Sans Titre / Uten tittel (2005)
 * Yezidi / Jezidi (2009)
 * Etching / Riss (2009)
 * From the History of Chewing Gum / Fra tyggengummiens historie (2012)