‘War Sailor’ Director Gunnar Vikene Recounts How Daughter’s Tears Over Child Casualty Of Syrian Conflict Spurred Film – Contenders International

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Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor tells the forgotten story of the 30,000 Norwegian civilian sailors who were conscripted at the beginning of World War II to serve on convoys keeping Allied supply chains open.

Conditions were treacherous with a high risk of being torpedoed by German U-boats or attacked from the air. When ships went down, it was too dangerous for other vessels to stop or turn back to pluck sailors from the water, a fact that would haunt survivors. RELATED: The Contenders International – Deadline’s Full Coverage Spanning the years 1939-72 and drawing on true stories, the drama follows the fate of friends and civilian sailors Alfred and Sigbjørn as they face endless perils at sea, buffeted by a war in which they are not playing a combat role.

Back home in Bergen, Alfred’s wife struggles to survive with their three children as the port becomes a target for British bombing raids, due to the presence of German submarine bunkers in it waters.  “I met these sailors when I was 13,” Vikene said Saturday on a panel at Deadline’s International Contenders event. “My father was a painter, and they were his colleagues.

They were self-medicating with alcohol and very traumatized. We were painting a flour silo, and one of them took his shirt off and was walking around the edge, 60 meters from ground.