Anja Breien (12 July 1940 – 10 May 2026) was a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. One of the leading figures of the Norwegian film industry, and one of the first women to rise to prominence as a writer-director in Norway, Breien's body of work in fiction and documentary explores social and political issues, notably women's rights within the context of Norwegian society.
Background Born in Oslo on 12 July 1940, Breien was a daughter of writer Hans Breien and Dagmar Munch Søegaard. She did not marry, but was a partner of Thorvald Stoltenberg from 2014 to 2018.
Breien died on 10 May 2026, at the age of 85.
Career After completing her studies in French at the University of Oslo, Breien went on to graduate from the French film school L'Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in 1964. She began working in film as a script supervisor on the Nils R. Müller film Det Store Varpet in 1961. She also worked as an assistant director on Hunger (Sult) (1966), directed by Henning Carlsen and based on the novel by Knut Hamsun.
Breien's first film as a director and screenwriter was a short in 1967 titled Growing Up, followed by her short documentary 17. May – A Film about Rituals (17. Mai – En film om ritualer) (1969), a satirical look at the celebration of the Norwegian National Day. Her first feature-length film was Rape (Voldtekt), released in 1971. Rape was praised by critics, but also sparked debate due to its criticism of the Norwegian criminal justice system.
Breien subsequently wrote and directed Wives (Hustruer) (1975), which became a box-office success and received critical acclaim throughout Scandinavia. Wives was inspired as a feminist response to John Cassavetes' Husbands (1972), and follows three women in their thirties who temporarily abandon their domestic responsibilities for a day of freedom. Breien went on to write and direct two sequels, Wives - Ten Years After (Hustruer 10 År Etter) (1985) and Wives III (Hustruer 20 År Etter) (1996), featuring the same characters ten and twenty years later.
In 1981's Witch Hunt (Forfølgelsen), Breien again critiqued her home country's patriarchal society through the story of a woman accused of witchcraft in 1630s western Norway. Witch Hunt was entered into the main competition of the 1981 Venice Film Festival.
Breien's 1979 film Next of Kin (Arven), also known as Heritage and The Inheritance, a drama about a Norwegian family in conflict over an inheritance, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival; it ended up winning the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
Breien directed most of the films produced from her screenplays, one exception being 1994's Second Sight (Trollsyn), directed by Ola Solum.
In addition to her extensive work in fiction cinema, Breien continued to make documentaries throughout her career, many of which have been screened internationally. Her short documentary Solvorn (1997), constructed around a series of photographs taken by Breien's grandmother, screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1998.
Style Breien is noted for her realist approach to storytelling, her use of the long take, and her use of a slow, contemplative pace. Rape (1971) uses a non-chronological storytelling technique and has been compared to Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011).
Selected filmography YearFilmRoleGenre1967Growing Up / Vokse oppWriter/DirectorFiction short196917. May – A Film about Rituals / 17. Mai – En film om ritualerWriter/DirectorDocumentary short1971Rape / VoldtektWriter/DirectorFiction1975Wives / HustruerWriter/DirectorFiction1977Games of Love and Loneliness / Den allvarsamma lekenWriter/DirectorFiction1979Next of Kin / ArvenWriter/DirectorFiction1981Witch Hunt / ForfølgelsenWriter/DirectorFiction1984Paper Bird / PapirfuglenWriter/DirectorFiction1985Wives - Ten Years After / Hustruer 10 År EtterWriter/DirectorFiction1990Twice Upon a Time / SmykketyvenWriter/DirectorFiction1994Second Sight / TrollsynWriterFiction1996Wives III / Hustruer IIIWriter/DirectorFiction1997Solvorn / SolvornWriter/DirectorDocumentary short2001To See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seilWriter/DirectorFiction short2005Untitled – Sans Titre / Uten tittelWriter/DirectorFiction short2009Etching / RissWriter/DirectorDocumentary short2009Yezidi / JezidiWriter/DirectorDocumentary2012From the History of Chewing Gum / Fra tyggengummiens historieWriter/DirectorDocumentary short
Awards and nominations YearFestivalAwardFilmResult1979Cannes Film FestivalPrize of the Ecumenical JuryNext of Kin / Arven (1979)Won1979Cannes Film FestivalPalme d'OrNext of Kin / Arven (1979)Nominated1984Chicago International Film FestivalSilver HugoPaper Bird / Papirfuglen (1984)Won2001Berlin International Film FestivalPrix UIP BerlinTo See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil (2001)Won2001Toronto Worldwide Short Film FestivalBest Live-Action ShortTo See a Boat in Sail / Å se en båt med seil (2001)Won
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