Noorwegen / 2018 / 113 min / Noors en Engels met Nederlandse ondertitels Première datum Nederland: 31/10/19 Distributie: Arti Film VOF – Hilversum - www.artifilm.nl ; Tel.: 0623885005 Waargebeurd en fascinerend verhaal over de Noorse Sonja Henie, één van de grootste kunstschaatssters ter wereld en ‘uitvinder’ van deze sport. Sonja is 16 jaar oud als ze op de Winterspelen van 1928 Olympisch Goud wint. Een prestatie die ze herhaalt in 1932 en 1936. Daarmee is ze nog steeds de enige vrouw die dit Olympische resultaat solo boekte. In 1936 vertrekt ze naar Hollywood waar ze een aantal zeer succesvolle schaatsfilms maakt. Eind jaren dertig is ze de best betaalde Hollywood actrice en door lucratieve nevenactiviteiten en merchandising is ze één van de rijkste vrouwen ter wereld. In haar villa in Hollywood is ze altijd omringd door fans, minnaars en haar familie. Ze vertrouwt haar zaken blindelings toe aan haar oudere broer, maar gaandeweg begint haar roem te verbleken en als het financieel slecht gaat door foute investeringen verandert ze van een inspirerende en gefocuste sportster in een keiharde zakenvrouw die in de spotlight wil blijven staan.. Korte synopsis Waargebeurd verhaal over de Noorse Sonja Henie, één van de grootste kunstschaatssters ter wereld. Op drie opeenvolgende Winterspelen won ze Olympisch Goud met deze door haar “uitgevonden” sport. In 1936 vertrekt ze naar Hollywood waar ze de best betaalde Hollywood actrice werd. Het is het opmerkelijke verhaal van een fascinerende vrouw die er alles aan doet om in de spotlight te blijven staan. Oneliner Waargebeurd en fascinerend verhaal over kunstschaatsster en drievoudig Olympisch Kampioene Sonja Henie die eind jaren dertig de best betaalde Hollywood actrice werd. Achtergrond Sonja Henie (Oslo, 8 april 1912 - op een vlucht tussen Parijs en Oslo, 12 oktober 1969) was een kunstschaatsster uit Noorwegen. Henie nam viermaal deel aan de Olympische Winterspelen (in 1924, 1928, 1932 en 1936). Bij haar Olympisch debuut was ze elf jaar oud. Tijdens de vrije kür van die wedstrijd moest Henie meerdere malen naar de kant schaatsen om haar coach te vragen wat ze vervolgens moest doen. Op de drie volgende Winterspelen van 1928, 1932 en 1936 werd ze Olympisch kampioene. Ze is daarmee de enige vrouw die dit resultaat solo boekte. De Zweed Gillis Grafström (1920-1928) was haar bij de mannen voorgegaan en de Russische paarrijdster Irina Rodnina (1972-1980) volgde haar met deze prestatie. Ze werd tien keer wereldkampioene (1927-1936), zes keer Europees kampioene (1931-1936). Na het wereldkampioenschap van 1936 werd ze professional. Ze trad veel in ijsshows op, en speelde in verschillende Hollywood speelfilms, zoals de kaskrakers “Thin Ice” en “Sun Valley Serenade”. In 1934 opende Henie de eerste kunstijsbaan in Nederland, aan de Linnaeusparkweg in Amsterdam. Een van de toeschouwers was de negenjarige Annie Verlee, die enthousiast werd voor deze nieuwe sport, en in de jaren '50 de jeugdige talentjes Joan Haanappel en Sjoukje Dijkstra zou trainen. Henie trouwde drie keer, twee keer met een Amerikaan en de derde keer met een Noor. Met deze laatste keerde ze terug naar haar vaderland. Ze overleed in 1969 aan leukemie aan boord van een vliegtuig tijdens een vlucht van Parijs naar Oslo. Regisseuse Anne Sewitsky is internationaal bekend geworden door haar film “Happy, Happy”. Hoofdrolspeelster Wilmann is vooral bekend geworden door haar hoofdrol in de film “Homesick” uit 2015. De schaatsscènes zijn bijna allen door Wilmann zelf uitgevoerd, die hiervoor een jaar lang intensief trainde. Sonja: The White Swan is opgenomen in Noorwegen, Roemenië en Spanje. Uit Wikipedia: Biography Sonja Henie Early life Henie was born in 1912 in Kristiania (now Oslo) Norway; she was the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie (1872–1937), a prosperous Norwegian furrier, and his wife, Selma Lochmann-Nielsen (1888–1961). In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. Wilhelm Henie had been a one-time World Cycling Champion and the Henie children were encouraged to take up a variety of sports at a young age. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, then followed her older brother, Leif, to take up figure skating. As a girl Henie also was a nationally ranked tennis player, and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended. She was educated by tutors, and her father hired the best experts in the world, including the famous Russian ballerina, Tamara Karsavina, to transform his daughter into a sporting celebrity.[2] Competitive career Henie won her first major competition, the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 10. She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, at the age of eleven.[3] During the 1924 program, she skated over to the side of the rink several times to ask her coach for directions, but by the next Olympiad, she needed no such assistance. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen. The results of 1927 World Championships, where Henie won in 3–2 decision (or 7 vs. 8 ordinal points) over the defending Olympic and World Champion Herma Szabo of Austria, was controversial, as three of the five judges that gave Henie first-place ordinals were Norwegian (1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 7 points) while Szabo received first-place ordinals from an Austrian and a German Judge (1 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8 points). Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year, became one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions. She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and her world titles annually until 1936.[3] She also won six consecutive European championships from 1931 to 1936. Henie's unprecedented three Olympic gold medals haven't been matched by any ladies' single skater since; neither are her achievements as ten-time consecutive World Champion. While Irina Slutskaya of Russia won her seventh European Championship in 2006 to become the most successful ladies' skater in European Championships, Henie retains record of most consecutive titles, sharing it with Katarina Witt of Eastern Germany/Germany (1983–1988). Towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, and Hedy Stenuf. However, she held off these competitors and went on to win her third Olympic title at the 1936 Winter Olympics, albeit in very controversial circumstances with Cecilia Colledge finishing a very close second. Indeed, after the school figures section at the 1936 Olympic competition, Colledge and Henie were virtually neck and neck with Colledge trailing by just a few points. As Sandra Stevenson recounted in her article in The Independent of 21 April 2008, "the closeness [of the competition] infuriated Henie, who, when the result for that section was posted on a wall in the competitors' lounge, swiped the piece of paper and tore it into little pieces. The draw for the free skating [then] came under suspicion after Henie landed the plum position of skating last, while Colledge had to perform second of the 26 competitors. The early start was seen as a disadvantage, with the audience not yet whipped into a clapping frenzy and the judges known to become freer with their higher marks as the event proceeded. Years later, a fairer, staggered draw was adopted to counteract this situation". During her competitive career, Henie traveled widely and worked with a variety of foreign coaches. At home in Oslo, she trained at Frogner Stadium, where her coaches included Hjørdis Olsen and Oscar Holte. During the latter part of her competitive career she was coached primarily by the American Howard Nicholson in London. In addition to traveling to train and compete, she was much in demand as a performer at figure skating exhibitions in both Europe and North America. Henie became so popular with the public that police had to be called out for crowd control on her appearances in various disparate cities such as Prague and New York City. It was an open secret that, in spite of the strict amateurism requirements of the time, Wilhelm Henie demanded "expense money" for his daughter's skating appearances. Both of Henie's parents had given up their own pursuits in Norway—leaving Leif to run the fur business—in order to accompany Sonja on her travels and act as her managers. Henie is credited with being the first figure skater to adopt the short skirt costume in figure skating, wear white boots,[4] and make use of dance choreography. Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics.[5] Professional and film career Sonja Henie appeared on the cover of Time magazine on July 17, 1939. After the 1936 World Figure Skating Championships, Henie gave up her amateur status and took up a career as a professional performer in acting and live shows.[3] While still a girl, Henie had decided that she wanted to move to California and become a movie star when her competitive days were over, without considering that her thick accent might hinder her acting ambitions. In 1936, following a successful ice show in Los Angeles orchestrated by her father to launch her film career, Hollywood studio chief Darryl Zanuck signed her to a long term contract at Twentieth Century Fox, which made her one of the highest- paid actresses of the time. After the success of her first film, One in a Million (1936), Henie's position was assured and she became increasingly demanding in her business dealings with Zanuck.