In 1994 two Norwegian guys started up the Qvisten Animation Studio in Oslo. Now, 30 years later, their vision is still standing strong: To create positive, formative experiences for children and families through stories with heart and humour that will remain with them for life. But every now and then there’s room for a film that is a bit different. Like the one in the pipeline right now, called SPERMAGADDON.
One of Qvisten’s founding fathers Rasmus Sivertsen was a member of this year’s Animation Jury in the Zlin Film Festival. “I can hardly believe this film is actually getting made; SPERMAGADDON is such an insane project! It tells about the sperm cells’ race for the egg cell; you could call it ‘the ultimate race for life’. Basically it’s a quite silly and probably provocative story. We meet a young boy on a trip to the countryside where he will meet a girl and have sex for the first time. We see bodies preparing themselves – so up to a certain degree you could consider it to be educational. We play around with multiple taboos in a SOUTH PARK-kind-of-way. First sexual experiences are seldom glamorous, but rather awkward, which makes our story somehow demystifying, but also totally, utterly crazy.”
One might wonder about the target audience for such a film. Sivertsen: “I expect it’s going to be rated 12+ in Norway, but in the US it will probably be rated R. According to our American distributor, he “can’t believe a film like this really exists.” We have a festival version out, but the cinema version should be ready by January 2025.”
An interview with Rasmus Sivertsen will be available in the next ECFA Journal (September). Find more information about SPERMAGEDDON here.