Huldra Film
The true story about vikings in the East
Is a 200 minute docu-drama about a viking who is chased half-dead out of his country and experiences an adventurous journey to mighty kingdoms in the East. After 16 years and an enormous success, he returns to the North to get his revenge, claim the throne and build a nation inspired by what he had learnt.
Harald Hardrada was the most successful Viking king of all time.
He ruled for 20 years until his death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in an ambitious attempt to conquer England. With Harald's death the Viking Age came to an end.
How is it that the grave of a king who was the real founder of Norway and a nation builder is now under a motorway?
Why did Harald Hardrada gain a reputation as a bloody and cruel lord after his death? Who writes history and decides what is true and what is not? These and other questions will be answered in our documentary series "Variagy".
The project is currently in a pre-production state.
We follow the adventurous life of the legendary Viking king Harald "Hardrada" Sigurdsson, who illustrates how important historical contacts between Norway and the Byzantine Empire and Kyivian Rus were to the formation of the Norwegian state.
The thousand-year-old temple amazed the Norwegian with its grandeur and beauty. And made him wonder! After all, a thousand years ago in Norway were built only small wooden buildings, and np cities with a population of more than 1000 people, while in Kyiv then lived about 50,000. The historical connection between Norway and Ukraine is what interested Harald. And returning home he immersed himself in studying the history of his native land. Particular attention was drawn to the personality of Harald Sigurdsson also known as Harald Hardrada, chief of Varangian Guard and Norwegian king, who lived in the 11th century. He was in exile for about 16 years, travelled through Kyivan Rus and Byzantine Empire, married the daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise and later was King of Norway for more than 20 years. Using all his experience gained in the East, Harald Hardrada became the founder of Norwegian statehood.
Pre-production
The birth of an idea.
The author of the project, Norwegian Harald Omland, first visited Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. In Kyiv, he met Tatiana, a woman who later became his trusted friend and partner. The illuminated, uniquely and charismatic Ukrainian woman took Harald to St Sophia Cathedral for the first time.
Project genesis.
While studying Viking history, Harald was surprised at how untruthfully it was taught in studying books. Harald Hardarada, the King of Norway, is presented in them as a bloody, cruel and treacherous ruler. And in our time, his burial place has been developed into a motorway! Why do heroes of the past become national enemies of the present? Who writes history and decides what is true and what is not? How does propaganda work? And is it possible to resist it? These questions are no less relevant today than they were a thousand years ago.
Having his own small video production, Harald Omland with the support of his Ukrainian friend decided to create a documentary project "Variagy", which would tell the whole truth about the Vikings and about Harald Hardrada in particular.
Development of the project.
For several years Harald Omland met with academics, researchers, officials, artists and cultural figures from Norway and Ukraine to secure funding for the "Variagy" project. Some meetings were quite successful. And Harald with his crew managed to film and edit a beautiful promo.
Then the covid happened. And further work on the project had to be suspended. With the beginning of full-scale war in Ukraine, Harald Omland created a humanitarian organisation "Fiodor Foundation", whose activities are aimed at helping the civilian population of Ukraine affected by the war. Special focus of the fund is on helping children - their education and recovery.
As we can see, Harald has more work to do, but his desire to develop the "Variagy" project has not gone away. He continues to expand the team working on the documentary drama. Now his crew is based in Norway and Ukraine.
In 2023, there were several meetings with the Norwegian and Ukrainian Ministers of Culture to raise the issue of funding for the "Variagy" project.
Structure of the documentary drama "Variagy"":
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4 episodes of 50 minutes each
Structure of the series:
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Reconstruction of historical events
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Experts' comments
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3D modelling of architectural objects of the past.
Filming is planned in: Norway, Ukraine, Turkey, Greece, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, Denmark and Balkan. We want to follow in the footsteps of the Greatest Viking King and see how the experience of his travels and adventures was reflected in the building of Norway.
Building strong partnership and friendly relations between Norway and Ukraine is impossible without mutual cultural and educational projects. "Variagy " is exactly that kind of project. Work on it will contribute to strengthening connections between our countries.
Crew & Cast
What's on
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. Meeting between Deputy Minister Halyna Hryhorenko and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine Erik Svedahl and Head of the Norwegian television production company Huldra Film Harald Omland.
Royal Embassy of Norway in Kyiv. Meeting between the Deputy Head of Mission Jan Flaete, Head of Culture and Information Politicy Olena Polishchuk and Head of the Norwegian television production company Huldra Film Harald Omland.
Suspilne Ukraine (National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine) Meeting with the Head of the Managing Board in UA:PBC Mykola Chernotytskyi.
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. Meeting between Deputy Minister Halyna Hryhorenko and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine Erik Svedahl and Head of the Norwegian television production company Huldra Film Harald Omland.
Backstage
