Résumé / Filmography

Sara Eliassen

Birth: 29.03.77. Oslo, Norway
Lives and works in New York.

Education

2010-2011 The Whitney Museum of American Art, Independent Study Program. (Studio artist)
2010 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
2008-2010 Master of Fine Arts, Filmmaking, San Francisco Art Institute, USA
2006 Modern Japanese literature, University of Oslo, Norway
2004 French studies, Sorbonne, Paris, France
2003-2004 Western literature, University of Oslo, Norway
1999-2002 Bachelor of Arts- equivalent. The Kaos Pilot Academy, Denmark. 3 year-educational program in cultural leadership. Exam-project: The Medium (An activist film-attack)
1997 Examen Philosophicum/ Examen Facultatum, University of Oslo (Introduction to historical- philosophical studies)

Fellowships/distinctions

2010 Member of the Int. Short Film Jury, Nordic Panorama film festival
Recipient of the Skowhegan Matching Grant Award
Recipient of the 2010 James Broughton Film Award, SFAI
2009-2010 Fellowship, The Norway American Foundation
2008-2010 Fellowship, SFAI MFA, Filmmaking

Norwegian Grants

2011 Statens kunstnerstipend: 2 years Norwegian artist grant
Oslo kommunes Kulturstipend: International exchange
2010 Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards Stiftelse: Research and Int. exchange
Ragnvald og Ida Blix’ Fond: Research and Int. exchange
Statens kunstnerstipend: Equipment stipend
Fond for lyd og bilde: Screenwriting development grant
2009 NFI: Distribution and travel grant, Venice Film Festival
NFI: Distribution and travel grant, Sundance Film Festival
NFI: Project funding, Still Birds
2008 Fond for lyd og bilde: Project funding, Still Birds
2006 Fond for lyd og bilde: Distribution Not Worth It
Fritt Ord: Project funding Not Worth It
Bergesenstiftelsen: Project funding Not Worth It

Selected Filmography

2010-11 Postures (work in progress)
25 min HD. Fiction film and video installation
Director/ writer/ editor/ executive producer
2009 Still Birds (no: Alle fugler)
12min 17sec. 16mm. Fiction
Director/ writer/ co-editor/ co-producer
Prod. by Henrik Henriksen, Union film and The Sara Eliassen Group

Screenings:

New Horizon Film Festival, Wrocklaw,  Poland, July 2011
St. Johns Woman Film Festival, Canada, Oct. 2010
Calgary Int. Film Festival, Canada, Sept. 2010
Citizen Jane Film Festival, USA, Oct. 2010
Munich Int. Short Film Festival, Germany , June 2010
Toronto World Wide Short Film Fest, Canada, June 2010
Transylvania Int. Film Festival, Romania,  May 2010
San Francisco Int. Film Festival, USA, April 2010
Breda Int. Film Festival , The Netherlands, March 2010
Go Short Int. Short Film Festival, Netherlands, March 2010
Miami Int. Film Festival, USA, March 2010
Sundance Film Festival, USA Jan. 2010
Stockholm Int. Film Festival, Sweden, Nov. 2009
Nordic Panorama, Iceland, Sept. 2009 (Special mention)
66. Venice Int .Film Festival , Italy, Sept 2009
The Norwegian Int. Short Film Festival, June, 2009 (Honorable mention)
2006 Not Worth It (no: Handlefri):
Trash & Carry. Backwards Shopping. Something Special
A Christmas Dream. Shine. Glow
6 Anti-Commercials. 35mm. 6 X 45 sec
Director/ writer/ producer, collaboration with Lilja Ingolfsdottir
Prod. by Toobeaucoup and Balfe/ Campbell Productions.

Screenings:

The anti-commercial series are part of a larger public art project, Handlefri, executed by Sara Eliassen and Lilja Ingolfsdottir in 2007. For a week, the films were screened as ‘ads’ in commercial TV-channels for 1.2 million people, they were showed as ‘ads’ in 80% of Norwegian movie theatres and on commercial screens in shopping malls, train stations, airport trains and on public buildings throughout Norway. The films have was also screened at the Haugesund International Film Festival (2007) and The Norwegian Short Film Festival (2006).

Exhibitions

2011 516 Arts Center, New Mexico
Worlds Outside This One. : Group Show with the collective Building a Nation. Installation/ video.

Whitney Independent Study Program, group show
1929-2011: 3 channel video installation, in collaboration with Ivor Shearer

The Performance Art Institute, San Francisco
Cream, from the top: Highlights from Bay area, MFA graduate shows. Single Channel Video Installation, Postures.

2010 CAC, Las Vegas Contemporary Art Center
Solo show with the collective Building a Nation, During Las Vegas Off The Strip, Performance Festival. Installation/ performance/ video
2009 Queens Nails Annex, San Francisco
The Lab. Group Exhibition: Stevito and the Sarettes. Video works
2008 SF Cameraworks, San Francisco
Chordata. Group exhibition curated by Blixa bargeld: The Republic of Zvadaland, installation and video work
2007 The Stenersen Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo, Norway
Alfa Omega. Exhibition on consumption by photographer Knut Bry. The six Anti-commercials made in collaboration with Lilja Ingolfsdottir, took part in the show.

Teaching

2011 Science Fiction as a critical tool, Norwegian High Schools (DKS)
2009 Music-video history and making, Norwegian High Schools (DKS)
2006-2008 Anti-commercial film making, Norwegian High Schools (DKS)

Casting/ Director’s Assistant

2006-2007 Casting for the Norwegian feature film Upperdog, (Dir: Sara Johnsen, produced by Friland AS.)
2004 Director´ s assistant on the Norwegian feature film Uro (Dir: Stefan Faldbakken, prod. by Friland AS.)
2004-2005 Director´ s assistant on the Norwegian feature film High-School Teacher Pedersen(Dir: Hans Petter Moland, prod. by Motlys AS)

References

Renée Green
Artist/ filmmaker/ writer/ professor at MIT, dept. of Art, Culture and Technology

Lynn Hershman
Artist/ filmmaker and Chair of the Film Department, San Francisco Art Institute

Hans Petter Moland
Feature Film Director. Moland Film Company. Oslo, Norway