At the Trondheim premiere of the TV series Rinnan on 24 October, Midgard Film Commission presented the ÅrneSæ Award for the seventh time. Producers Kristin Ulseth and Bente Maalen gave this year’s award to Næringsforeningen i Trondheimsregionen, the Trondheim Region Business Association.
Torstein Langeland, business developer at Næringsforeningen, accepted the award on their behalf.
From left: Bente Maalen, producer Blaane Film, Torstein Langeland from NIT, Solveig Ræstad Midgard Film Commission and Kristin Ulseth, producer Miso Film Photo: Mari Andreasen Lunde
The ÅrneSæ Award is designed by Superponni
The ÅrneSæ Award
“Årne sæ” is Trøndelag dialect for “it’ll be sorted”. True enough, but rarely by itself. Someone has to do the sorting, and the ÅrneSæ Award honours those people.
The award goes to those who have made a remarkable effort to help a production run smoothly, and who put Trøndelag on the map as a film-friendly region. It is never given to anyone from the film industry. Public bodies and their employees can win, provided their effort goes beyond the call of duty.
The producers choose the winner, and Midgard Film Commission and the producer present the award together at the local premiere. The award itself is a framed poster designed by Superponni. Launched in 2022, it is to our knowledge the only award of its kind in the Nordic countries.
This year’s winner
Næringsforeningen has not carried cables or closed off streets. Their work happens in meeting rooms, long before the first camera is set up: opening doors, connecting productions with local business and speaking up for the region. For Rinnan, they also gave the production space in their own premises.
Guri Knotten CEO Næringsforeningen i Trondheimsregionen - Photo: NIT
Over several productions, Næringsforeningen has made film-friendliness a shared goal for the region. During Troll 2, they set out a strategy for Trondheim to be ready to host large-scale film productions. They have also been a strong voice for a rules-based, competitive film incentive scheme for the region. Rinnan shows why that matters. The story belongs to Trondheim, yet the region lost shooting days because it had no competitive incentive to offer.
Attracting productions means helping where you can to keep costs down, and that is where Næringsforeningen stepped in, with premises. It matters for the region that series like Rinnan can be filmed where the events actually took place.
“We were only supposed to rent one room, but we ended up taking over three floors,” producer Bente Maalen said as she presented the award. “Having all our production offices in one place was of great value to us. When the whole film circus moves in, it’s quite massive, but they were generous and hospitable all the way.”
Torstein Langeland, business developer at Næringsforeningen, accepted the award on their behalf, and it came as a surprise to the association.
“We were glad to help with premises, and it was great fun having the crew in the building,” says CEO Guri Knotten. “Thank you for working so hard to bring film productions to Trondheim and Trøndelag. It matters for the region.”
Torstein Langeland, business developer at Næringsforeningen, accepted the award on their behalf.
Photo: Mari Andreasen Lunde
What is film-friendliness?
Film-friendliness is about how a place receives a film crew. It is the municipality that makes things possible, the fisherman who provides a boat, the cabin owner who rents out the cabin, and the neighbour who puts up with a week of floodlights outside the window.
None of these people work in film. Yet without them, many productions in Trøndelag would never have happened.
Why it matters
Film Commissioner in Midgard Film Commisison Solveig Ræstad - Photo: Hallvar Bugge Johnsen
A film or TV production has a tight schedule and a large crew, and every hour of delay is expensive. When producers choose where to shoot, they look at landscape and incentives. They also ask a simpler question: will things work there?
“Producers talk to each other. If things work here, word gets around quickly, and so does the opposite,” says Solveig Ræstad, film commissioner at Midgard Film Commission. “A region that says yes and keeps its word gets more productions and more local spending. But it has to be good for both sides. It is important that a production leaves the place in good shape. Then it is much easier to welcome the next one.”
Trøndelag has seen this first-hand. Frøya, home to two previous ÅrneSæ winners, won the Global Production Award for Emerging Location in Cannes and the EUFCN Location Award in Berlin. Behind awards like these are local people who made the filming possible.
About the TV series RINNAN - THE TRAITOR WITHIN
The Traitor Within - Photo: Mari Andreasen Lunde Poster Image: Prime Video
Rinnan (international title: The Traitor Within) tells the true story of Henry Rinnan, a failed salesman from Levanger who became one of Norway’s most notorious traitors. During the German occupation, he built a network of young Norwegian agents who infiltrated the resistance. From their headquarters in Trondheim, known as Bandeklosteret, the gang tortured and killed fellow Norwegians.
It is one of the darkest chapters in the history of Trondheim and the region. The four-part series, directed by Kenneth Karlstad and co-produced by Trøndelag-based Blaane Film, was filmed here, in the streets where it happened. That does not happen by itself. It takes a region willing to make room for it.
Rinnan premieres on Prime Video on 30 October.
Previous winners
2025 – Troll 2 (Netflix / Motion Blur): Sjur Olsborg, verger at Nidaros Cathedral
2025 – Heim (Blaane): Gunnar Thorsen, Mayor of Steinkjer
2024 – Billionaire Island (Netflix / Rubicon): Mona Elisabeth Skarsvåg, film coordinator, Frøya Municipality
2022 – Forbannelsen (The Film Company): Kåre Wessel, who helped with extras on Røros
2022 – Bjørnis, season 2 (NRK / Monster / Herstory): Anniken Lie, Trondheim Fire Department
2022 – Alle hater Johan (Nordisk Film/ Film in Norway): Titran Grendalag, represented by Grethe Lund
