In the pursuit of the authentic cinema A comparative study of two films about the 22. July 2011 terrorist attack in Norway

Abstract

Films often tries to portray or represent historical events and the dominant mode of representation is the pursuit of an authenticity feeling. No matter whether it is a documentary or fiction, the goal is to give the audience an authentic experience about the historical event. This paper will compare two films, one documentary and one fiction, about the 22. July terrorist attack at Utøya in Norway where 69 youths were killed. The two films are “Reconstructing Utøya” (2018) directed by Carl Javer and “Utøya 22nd July” (2018) directed by Erik Poppe. This article will discuss the concept of authenticity in general and investigate which artistic strategies the films use in the search of the authenticity tone.