Ola Solum started his career in the Norwegian film industry in the early sixties, first as a freelancer, then as a permanent employee in the production company Norsk Dokumentarfilm A/S, for which he wrote and directed short documentaries and educational films. In 1967 he was co-director of the feature film Only One Life - the Story of Fridtjof Nansen, but eventually made his solo debut as a feature film director in 1976, with the family film Reisen til julestjernen, based on the 1924 stage play by Sverre Brandt. The film has since become a classic of Norwegian children's films, which even many adults have as a "must see" on television every Christmas Eve.
Solum's greatest success, however, both among critics and at the box-office, is undoubtedly the 1985 spy-thriller Orion's Belt, also a classic in Norwegian cinema. Upon it's release it was, among other things, praised for it's display of "professionalism to a degree we've never before seen in Norwegian cinema" (translated from movie magazine Film & Kino). The film won four Amanda's, the Norwegian National Film Award, including Best Film and Best Score.
In his career Solum directed a total of eight fiction feature films, but worked on many other productions in various capacities such as producer, production manager, editor, assistant director, and even as an actor, both live-action and voice-acting. Sadly, Solum lost his battle with cancer in June 1996, only 52 years of age.
Norsk Filminstitutt
