Erik Poppe was born in 1960 in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

He began his career as a photojournalist, covering war zones and conflicts around the world. After being hospitalized in serious condition in Colombia, he decided to turn toward the arts. His film career started as a cinematographer—he shot, among others, Eggs (1995) by Bent Hamer, one of the most groundbreaking Norwegian films of the 1990s. He later turned to directing, and in the early 2000s created the Oslo Trilogy, portraying the unseen tragedies of his hometown through various life situations. In Hungary, his Hawaii, Oslo (2004) became widely known, but at this year’s CineFest we honor the director by screening the trilogy’s (arguably strongest) third film, DeUsynlige (Troubled Water, 2008). After that, Poppe turned his attention to the history of Scandinavia—especially Norway. His Utøya – July 22 (2018), which was screened in competition in Miskolc, depicts one of Europe’s bloodiest terrorist attacks in a single, continuous shot. Instead of focusing purely on the facts, the film gives immense weight to the human dimension. The same is true for Quisling: The Leader’s Last Days (2024), screened this year as the CineFest closing film, in which Poppe explores the inner struggles of the Nazi puppet government leader in Norway during World War II. Poppe shows audiences that we can only stop being baffled by the horrors of history if we understand their human contexts within the whole picture.