Private Project

Rosenhof

Rosenhof, HD video, Color, Sound, 13.40 min, 2024

Rosenhof is a short animation film exploring the emotional conditions of a historical building in Oslo.
Taking the building on a journey of self-reflection the film is loosely based on the history of the building and its changing occupants.
Rosenhof avoids the use of any text and narration, and does not attempt to tell the hi-story of the building. It rather tries to reveal what the building might have sensed, felt and experienced.

The building was constructed as one of the largest schools for children in the country, 1917. But due to the housing crisis after the WWI, families moving to Oslo were accommodated in its classrooms during the first 2 years, and then the school was opened for children. With the invasion of Norway in 1940 the school was used as the headquarters of the SS forces for 5 years. Children returned to the school in 1946 and later 1984 it became a center for teaching Norwegian language to immigrants. This building carries the weight of three aspects of Norwegian modern history: Education, Fascism and Migration.

(Due to the low resolution of this PREVIEW file you might notice some image distortions. They do not appear on the screening copy.)

  • Farhad Kalantary
    Director
  • Farhad Kalantary
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 25, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Norway
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16/9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Farhad Kalantary

Farhad Kalantary (Tabriz, 1962) is a visual artist working with film, video, sound and installations.
He studied at San Francisco Art Institute (MFA, 1996) and San Francisco State University (BA, 1992). He lives and works in Nesodden, Norway.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I started working on this film in 2019 just before the pandemic and it took me almost 6 years to complete it. Having worked thousands of hours on various aspects of the film, it was hard to let it go in the end. I thought this could be my last film and I should give it all I have got. It became an animation film with duration of almost 14 minutes.
"Rosenhof" is about a historical building in Oslo, but it does not tell the story of the building. Instead it imagines a psychoanalysis, or better put a Schizoanalysis of the architectural body.