Photo: Lee Carter
Rising from the ashes Camilla Strøm Henriksen has just reached the end of a 13-year journey, with the release of her first full-length feature film, Phoenix. But for Henriksen, the film represents more than her transition from actress to fully-fledged director. It tells a very personal story.
130 | Issue 128 | September 2019
Fledglings Henriksen and her younger brother grew up in Oslo, raised by a single mum
By Paula Hammond
Phoenix is a gripping Bergman-esque family drama, starring Maria Bonnevie (Insomnia), Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs McEnroe) and Ylva Bjørkaas, in a startling debut as 14-year-old Jill. From a young age, Jill has been the responsible adult in her family, caring for her loving but mentally unstable mother and her younger brother, Bo. When her estranged father calls to tell her that he
Henriksen says, “as I survived, as a child of a dysfunctional family.”
plans to visit on her birthday, Jill will stop at nothing to have the best day ever – even if fate has other plans. It’s a compelling film, crafted with skill and lots of heart, but there are no easy answers or Hollywood happy endings here – just a family in crisis trying to survive as best they can. “I think, yes, that’s the central theme – survival,”
Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs McEnroe), Ylva Bjørkaas and Casper Falck-Løvås as Jill’s father, Jill herself and Jill’s brother Bo in Phoenix. Photo: Courtesy of Hummelfilm and Lukas Salna