Octopus

Octopus is an animated children’s film about incest between underage siblings. The film is about an abuse between a big brother and a younger sister, and the hard time afterwards – where both the perpetrator and the victim must be taken care of in order to be able to face tomorrow in the best possible way.

Director’s statement
As a filmmaker I find it most exciting to communicate topics that are challenging. I would like to make quality films, with several layers, which will work for both children and adults, like I did with Angry Man (2009) and Mother didn’t know (2020).

In Octopus, I want to touch on the theme of pleasure and sexuality in children, about what is illegal, about inadequate boundaries and about doubt and guilt when play turns into something dangerous.

The film is freely based on the book The Octopus (2013) by author Gro Dahle and illustrator Svein Nyhus. Sibling incest is a serious and widespread problem but is a topic very few have previously dared to talk about. I want the film to be a starter to dare to talk about this topic.

I want to portray an ordinary wealthy family, and a normal boy, that we can like and feel sympathy for. He does not understand where the boundaries go, even though he understands that what he is doing is not right. He thinks or hopes that the sister thinks it's ok