Movies on War

Movies on War is a film festival devoted to films about war and conflict, peace and reconciliation. The films we screen in our programs cover the full range of armed conflicts, regardless of geography, and provide insights into social movements, cultural events, popular uprisings, and political change, both in the past and in the present. Since the very beginning, filmmakers have used the language of the cinema for reflection on world wars and conflicts. They have worked for a better understanding of the human, political, military and social driving forces behind these conflicts, and through this contributed to the work for peace.

As a unique cultural initiative nationally as well as internationally, the festival wants to help make the Inland Region in Norway a well-known and attractive destination. The site development in Elverum has a long and dense history of war and conflict, and the cityscape has been greatly influenced by conflicts both in the distant and near past. Local anchoring and local ownership is, therefore, a natural starting point for developing the festival precisely at this location. We have good support from public authorities in the region, and close cooperation with other educational and cultural institutions locally, regionally and nationally.

The initiative to establish Movies on War (MoW) came from the regional film community represented by Østnorsk film center and Film3, which in turn contacted the Elverum region Næringsutvikling AS (ERNU). The proposal was investigated and resulted in the festival being held for the first time in 2011. The festival takes place in mid-November each year. In the first four implementations, MoW was organized as a project under the direction of ERNU. From 2015, the festival has been established as a non-commercial company and from 2019 is owned by Peer Væringsaasens National Fund.