View source for Torill Kove

{{Short description|Norwegian-Canadian animator and film director}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
[[File:Torill Kove - 2018.jpg|thumb|{{center|Torill Kove in 2018}}]]
'''Torill Kove'''  is a Norwegian-born [[Canadians|Canadian]] film director and animator. She won the 2007 [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film]] for the film ''[[The Danish Poet]]'', co-produced by Norway's Mikrofilm AS and the [[National Film Board of Canada]] (NFB).

==Life and career==
Torill Kove was born in [[Hamar]], in the south of Norway near [[Oslo]].

In 1982 she moved to [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], Canada  to continue her academic studies in [[urban planning]] at [[Concordia University (Quebec)|Concordia University]] earning a master's degree at [[McGill University]], later changing her major to animation.<ref name=Fraiman>{{cite news|url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/movies/canada-meets-scandinavia-in-unsung-oscar-veterans-films/|title=Canada meets Scandinavia in an unsung Oscar veteran's films|last=Fraiman|first=Michael|date=20 February 2015|work=[[Maclean's]]|accessdate=20 February 2015}}</ref>
[[Image:Johannes Jensen hos Dr. Fjeld.jpg|thumb|Characteristic illustration by Torill Kove; from Norwegian children's book ''Johannes Jensen føler seg annerledes'' (''Johannes Jensen feeling strange'') from 2003]] {{Portal|Children's literature}}

==Career==
Kove has stated that she in fact did not watch much animation until she was in her thirties. Unemployed in the fall of 1991, rather than look for work she spent time at the NFB's former public access facility on St. Denis Street, where every day she would watch films. "Two things happened as I was sifting through the NFB animation collection: one was excitement at having discovered such a wonderful treasure of films, and the other was a voice in me that said loud and clear 'I want to do this.'"<ref name="Kove">{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/torill-kove/animation-nfb_b_5784264.html|title=On Animating True and Not So True Family Stories|last=Kove|first=Torill|date=8 September 2014|work=[[HuffPost|The Huffington Post]]|accessdate=9 October 2014}}</ref>

Her first Academy Award nomination was for ''[[My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts]]'' in 2000, inspired by the story of her own grandmother who had ironed the shirts of Norway's [[King Haakon VII]] for many years.

In 2013 she directed the Danish-Norwegian-Swedish animated feature ''[[Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins]]'', based on the [[Alfie Atkins]] books by Swedish children's book author Gunilla Bergström.

Kove's 2014 animated short, ''[[Me and My Moulton]]'', produced by Mikrofilm AS and NFB, is an autobiographical film about a little girl’s desire to fit in, premiering at the [[2014 Toronto International Film Festival]].<ref name="Wolfe">{{cite news|url=http://www.awn.com/news/seven-nfb-films-screen-tiff-2014|title=Seven NFB Films to Screen at TIFF 2014|last=Wolfe|first=Jennifer|date=7 August 2014|work=[[Animation World Network]]|accessdate=8 August 2014}}</ref> It was then nominated for an Academy Award on 15 January 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kove|first1=Torill|title=Today, My Short Film Was Nominated For an Oscar|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/torill-kove/me-and-my-moulton_b_6475864.html|accessdate=15 January 2015|work=Huffington Post|publisher=HPMG News|date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

Her films ''[[The Danish Poet]]'' and ''[[My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts]]'' were included in the [[Animation show of shows|Animation Show of Shows]].

In February 2015, Kove stated that her next film would be based on her life in Montreal, specifically in the [[Shaughnessy Village]] neighbourhood.<ref name=Fraiman/> In May 2016, Kove stated on the NFB's blog that she was in production on a more minimalist film, ''[[Threads (2017 film)|Threads]]'', inspired by her experiences as an adoptive parent:
{{Blockquote|...''Threads'' has been an experiment in working simply. I’m drawing on a basic tablet, using [[Toon Boom Animation|Toon Boom Harmony Software]] — and in the end I’ve opted for one of the basic pre-set brushes. I’ve set myself the challenge of making a five-minute film within a year, and that’s part of the appeal. Keeping it simple makes it easier to try new things with the visual universe that I want to create.<ref name="Kove on Threads">{{cite web|url=http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2016/05/17/thin-red-line-new-animation-torill-kove/|title=The Thin Red Line: New Animation from Torill Kove|date=17 May 2016|work=NFB Blog|publisher=National Film Board of Canada|accessdate=18 May 2016}}</ref>}}

In addition to directing and animating short films, she has also illustrated several children's books. On 3 September 2015, she received the [[Anders Jahre Culture Prize]], Norway's top cultural prize.<ref name="Thill">{{cite news|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/torill-kove-receives-norways-top-cultural-prize-118563.html|title=Torill Kove Receives Norway’s Top Cultural Prize|last=Thill|first=Scott|date=3 September 2015|work=[[Cartoon Brew]]|accessdate=8 September 2015}}</ref>

In 2024, Kove released her short film ''[[Maybe Elephants]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Chris |date=2024-06-04 |title=10 Shorts You Won't Want To Miss At Annecy 2024 |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/10-shorts-you-wont-want-to-miss-at-annecy-2024-241401.html |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=Cartoon Brew |language=en-US}}</ref> described as a sequel to ''[[Me and My Moulton]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolfe |first=Jennifer |date=2024-06-12 |title=Exploring the Gap Between Reality and Memory: Torill Kove’s ‘Maybe Elephants’ (Extended Interview) |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/2024/06/exploring-the-gap-between-reality-and-memory-torill-koves-maybe-elephants-extended-interview/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>  which received critical success in various festivals<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skwigly |date=2024-10-10 |title=Award winners announced for 2024 SPARK ANIMATION Festival |url=https://www.skwigly.co.uk/2024-spark-animation-festival-awards/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=Skwigly Animation Magazine}}</ref> throughout the world. 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nfb.ca/directors/torill-kove176198/ Films by Kove] at National Film Board of Canada (nfb.ca) 
*{{LCAuth|n2008011511|Torill Kove|4|ue}}
*{{IMDb name|468380}}

{{Torill Kove}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kove, Torill}}
[[Category:Canadian women film directors]]
[[Category:Canadian children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Canadian women children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Norwegian children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Norwegian women children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Norwegian film directors]]
[[Category:Norwegian women film directors]]
[[Category:Norwegian animated film directors]]
[[Category:Canadian animated film directors]]
[[Category:Norwegian animators]]
[[Category:Norwegian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Concordia University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Hamar]]
[[Category:National Film Board of Canada people]]
[[Category:Directors of Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners for Best Animated Short]]
[[Category:Artists from Montreal]]
[[Category:Film directors from Montreal]]
[[Category:Norwegian women animators]]
[[Category:Canadian women animators]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:Women animated film directors]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]