Out Stealing Horses

November, 1999. Following the death of his wife, 67-year-old Trond Sander has retired from Oslo to a small village in the east of Norway. The millennium is coming to an end, and so too it would appear is Trond’s life. One winter night he suddenly recognises an old acquaintance from his youth in his neighbour, Lars. The encounter brings back memories of 1948 when Trond spent an entire summer in a simple wooden hut by the river with his much-admired father. Long afternoons in the forest, rides on wild horses and hard work felling wood begin to blur into a series of images of carefree happiness but also fateful experiences.

Based on Per Petterson’s award-winning novel Ut og stjæle hester (Out Stealing Horses), the film also looks into how collaboration and resistance during the second wolrd war had an impact on personal decisions and became an indelible part of Trond’s childhood memories.