War Sailor

War Sailor (Krigsseileren) is a 2022 Norwegian war drama film directed by Gunnar Vikene.

Synopsis
Based on the true stories of the 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who participated in the Allied convoys during the Second World War, it follows two best friends from Bergen, one married and the other unmarried, who, in 1939, join the Norwegian merchant marine and are forced to stay at sea for the duration of the war without any ability to communicate with their families in occupied Norway. In the meantime, the married sailor's wife and their three children endure a harsh life in occupied Bergen, which is also bombed by the Allies. The British politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1959, Philip Noel-Baker commented after the war, "The first great defeat for Hitler was the battle of Britain. It was a turning point in history. If we had not had the Norwegian fleet of tankers on our side, we would not have had the aviation spirit to put our Hawker Hurricanes and our Spitfires into the sky. Without the Norwegian merchant fleet, Britain and the allies would have lost the war".

Production
The film stars Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen and Ine Marie Wilmann. It was Norway's entry for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards.

War Sailor is a co-production of Rohfilm Factory and Studio Hamburg, Germany, and Falkun Films, Malta. It is the most expensive Norwegian feature film, with a budget of $11 million.