Maipo Film
Maipo Film is a Norwegian film production company known for feature films, family entertainment, adaptations, and international co-productions.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Maipo Film is a Norwegian film production company established in 2000. The company operates as a producer of feature films and screen projects, with a catalogue that spans literary adaptations, contemporary dramas, comedies, family films, animated properties, and co-productions. Its work has been released primarily in Norway while also reaching international festival, theatrical, and television audiences. Maipo gained early international recognition through Elling, the 2001 feature based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Brødre i Blodet. The film focuses on the relationship between Elling and Kjell Bjarne after the two men leave institutional care and attempt to build independent lives. Its success established Maipo as a prominent Norwegian production company and led to the sequel Mother's Elling in 2003. Elling was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, giving the company a high-profile international breakthrough. Following Elling, Maipo developed a broad slate rather than concentrating on one genre. Its feature-film work includes character-driven comedies such as My Jealous Barber, Jonny Vang, The Art of Negative Thinking, Happy, Happy, and The Last Joint Venture; dramas such as Homesick, Miss Julie, Staying Alive, and Nobody Owns Me; and family-oriented projects including the Doctor Proctor films, the Svein and the Rat films, the Solan and Ludvig films, and Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins. The company has also participated in co-productions, including Chinaman, The Woman Who Dreamed of a Man, An Enemy to Die For, and Truth Consequence. Maipo’s catalogue includes both standalone productions and continuing intellectual properties. Its work connected with the Flåklypa universe includes The Christmas of Solan and Ludvig and Solan and Ludvig 2, while the Doctor Proctor films adapt Jo Nesbø’s children’s books. The company has also worked in television and serialized storytelling, including the Alfie Atkins television series and Heirs of the Night. In 2024, Maipo received a significant festival distinction when Bikechess won Best International Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Festival. The award reinforced the company’s position as a producer capable of combining commercially accessible storytelling with international festival visibility. The company’s announced or listed projects also include Low Expectations, scheduled for 2026, and The Devil’s Apprentice, also known as The Great Devil War, whose release timing is not specified in the available material. Maipo Film’s brand is therefore associated with Norwegian screen production that moves between popular entertainment and auteur-oriented or literary material. Its output demonstrates a long-term emphasis on recognizable stories, adaptations, ensemble casts, family audiences, and collaboration across national production markets. Precise ownership, management, headquarters, and current corporate structure are not identified in the supplied reference material.
History
Maipo Film was founded in Norway in 2000 and became internationally visible through Elling, released in 2001. Based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Brødre i Blodet, the film follows two men, Elling and Kjell Bjarne, as they adjust to life outside institutional care. Its critical and awards attention, including an Academy Award nomination, made it an important early production for the company and a prominent example of Norwegian cinema reaching international audiences. Maipo continued the story with Mother's Elling in 2003. During the early 2000s, the company also produced or co-produced a wide range of films, including Jonny Vang, To the End of the World, Cash, Salt & Pepper, For Sure, My Jealous Barber, Just Bea, Love Me Tomorrow, All For One, and Svein and the Rat. The slate combined comedy, drama, youth-oriented storytelling, and adaptations, establishing a production identity broader than the Elling franchise. In the middle and late 2000s, Maipo expanded its feature output with projects such as Chinaman, Maria’s Men, The Art of Negative Thinking, Svein and the Rat and the UFO-mystery, Oh My God!, and The Last Joint Venture. The company’s subsequent productions continued to cover both adult and family audiences. Its 2010s work included The Woman Who Dreamed of a Man, Shameless, Happy, Happy, People in the Sun, and the family and children’s projects associated with Doctor Proctor, Alfie Atkins, Solan and Ludvig, and other established properties. The company’s adaptation strategy was particularly visible in the Doctor Proctor films, based on Jo Nesbø’s children’s books, and in the Solan and Ludvig films connected to the Flåklypa tradition. Maipo also participated in television production, including the Alfie Atkins series and Heirs of the Night. Its credits show an interest in developing material across formats rather than limiting operations to a single type of feature film. Maipo’s later work included the 2019 series Heirs of the Night and the 2024 feature Bikechess. Bikechess won Best International Narrative Feature at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, providing a recent international festival milestone for the company. The available filmography also identifies Low Expectations for 2026 and lists The Devil’s Apprentice, alternatively titled The Great Devil War, without a confirmed release date. Across its history, Maipo Film has functioned as a Norwegian production label with an international outlook. Its body of work includes award-recognized drama, popular comedy, family entertainment, animation-related properties, literary adaptations, television, and cross-border co-productions. The supplied references do not establish the company’s current executives, ownership, headquarters, website, or detailed financial structure.
- 2024
Bikechess wins at Tribeca
[1]Bikechess wins Best International Narrative Feature at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
- 2019
Heirs of the Night is listed
[1]Heirs of the Night expands Maipo’s screen work into serialized television or series production.
- 2014
Maipo releases several feature projects
[1]The company’s 2014 filmography includes Miss Julie, One Night in Oslo, and Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder.
- 2013
Solan and Ludvig family films begin
[1]The Christmas of Solan and Ludvig is listed among Maipo’s family-film productions.
- 2003
Mother's Elling follows the original film
[1]Maipo releases Mother's Elling, continuing the story introduced in Elling.
- 2002
Elling receives an Academy Award nomination
[1]Elling receives an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, bringing international attention to Maipo Film.
- 2001
Elling is released
[1]The company releases Elling, a feature adapted from Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Brødre i Blodet.
- 2000
Maipo Film is founded
[1]Maipo Film is established as a Norwegian film production company.
Products and positioning
A Norwegian film producer combining locally rooted stories and literary adaptations with commercially oriented family entertainment, feature-film drama, comedy, and international co-production.
Feature film · 2001
Elling
A 2001 Norwegian feature based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Brødre i Blodet. The film follows Elling and Kjell Bjarne as they try to adapt to independent life after leaving institutional care. It became Maipo Film’s most internationally prominent early production and received an Academy Award nomination.
Feature film sequel · 2003
Mother's Elling
A 2003 sequel to Elling that continues the screen story of the characters introduced in the company’s breakthrough film.
Family films · 2014
Doctor Proctor films
A family-oriented film line based on Jo Nesbø’s Doctor Proctor children’s books. The listed productions include Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder and Doctor Proctor: Bubble in the Bath Tube.
Family and animated films · 2013
Solan and Ludvig films
A family entertainment line featuring Solan and Ludvig. Maipo’s listed entries include The Christmas of Solan and Ludvig and Solan and Ludvig 2.
Feature film · 2024
Bikechess
A 2024 Maipo Film production that won Best International Narrative Feature at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
Television series · 2019
Heirs of the Night
A serialized screen production listed in Maipo Film’s 2019 filmography, demonstrating the company’s work beyond standalone feature films.
Brand decisions
2014
Develop family entertainment through Doctor ProctorProduct launchBackground
Maipo’s filmography includes adaptations and entertainment aimed at younger and family audiences.
Action taken
The company released Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder and later Doctor Proctor: Bubble in the Bath Tube.
Aftermath
The films expanded Maipo’s adaptation and family-film portfolio.
2003
Continue the Elling story with a sequelGeneration changeBackground
The international recognition of Elling created an opportunity to extend the property beyond its first feature.
Action taken
Maipo Film produced Mother's Elling as a follow-up film.
Aftermath
The sequel became part of the company’s early catalogue and reinforced its association with the Elling property.
Recent events
- 2026
Low Expectations listed for 2026[1]
Product launch
Low Expectations, also listed by its Norwegian title Lave forventninger, appears in Maipo Film’s filmography with a 2026 date.
- 2024
Bikechess wins Best International Narrative Feature at Tribeca[1]
Other
Bikechess, produced by Maipo Film, won the Best International Narrative Feature award at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. The film was also associated with an excellence award in Sweden in the supplied filmography.
- 2002
Elling receives an Academy Award nomination[1]
Other
Maipo Film’s 2001 production Elling, based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen’s novel Brødre i Blodet, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The recognition gave the Norwegian company an early international profile.
Sources3 sources
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